I was discussing the Litany with my choir at my last job when we had baptisms at the Vigil. I made reference to the "very boring setting of it that only uses one note for the response" and a chorister who loves the Becker said something to the effect that we can't have anything boring. So I responded "of course, that's why we'll be doing the Gregorian chant! You can't get more fun than that!"

All litanies of the saints are structured the same:

Right, but where is that structure prescribed?

For instance, who says that John the Baptist and St. Joseph come at the end of the Prophet (if any)? Where is it written, or is it just custom, that parochial patronal additions should come in chronological order of their deaths but within their "categories", or is it just custom? Who says martyrs come after Apostles? (St. Stephen died first, no?)

Save the Liturgy, Save the World

Janet,

I'll send you this but I have to go over to the seminary library to get it in Latin. I have it in English here at home and can send it now.

Blessings,
Paul

Dr. Ford... thank you so much! I have the English version from my pastor...

my email address is: j_gorbitz at yahoo dot com

P.S. It is not traditional that an entire schola sing this kind of litany. Choose your two best cantors, put them in albs, and have them kneel behind the ordinandus as they sing the litany. Now, THAT's traditional!

Thank you, thank you, Dr. Ford!

I put the correct Litany of Saints into a Word doc. with all the chant notation notes... attached is a .pdf file of it for any who need it in the future.

Of course... I forgot that my laptop software for pdf's doesn't work for Meinrad font... did it again on the other computer and replaced the file... hope it works better now.

thanks again,

Janet.

Off the top of my head, the Litany of Saints is an alternate for the entrance on the First Sunday of Lent (my original response was wrong, it was due to an old memory of this.)[thanks for Paul Ford for the memory jog]

THE LITANY OF THE SAINTS FOR SOLEMN OCCASIONS

Worshipping communities are encouraged to restore the ancient practice of singing the Litany of the Saints for Solemn Occasions for the entrance procession at the principal Mass for the First Sunday of Lent. [See the Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts, dated January 16, 1988, of the Congregation for Divine Worship, §22, and the Ceremonial of Bishops, §261. The Litany takes the place of the Entrance Song and all the Introductory Rites up to the Opening Prayer. In the solemn form of the procession, the people assemble in a suitable place other than the church. The presider is dressed in alb, stole, and cope. After a suitable gathering song, the presider greets the people and he (or another priest or a deacon) gives a brief introduction. The presider then says an opening prayer (several alternatives are suggested in the Ceremonial) and then puts incense in the censer. The deacon announces, Let us go forth in peace, and the procession moves to the church. When it reaches the church, all go to their places; the presider reverences and incenses the altar; then the presider goes to the chair and exchanges the cope for a chasuble. At the end of the Litany, the presider sings or says the Opening Prayer of the Mass.]

St. Mark’s Day (April 25), the three days before the Ascension, St. Isidore and St. Mary’s Day (May 15) are also days when litanies to implore God’s protection against calamity and God’s blessing on the crops are traditionally sung. This litany can be especially effective on All Saints Day as the Entrance Song or the General Intercessions.

The Litany of the Saints for Solemn Occasions may also be used during the principal celebration of the six special periods of prayer mentioned in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, §373, and the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, §§45 through 47 (the precise dates can be found in the particular calendar which applies to each community):

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Week/Day of Prayer for General Needs of Humankind
Weekdays of Preparation for the Coming of the Holy Spirit
Week/Day of Prayer for Human Rights and Equality
Week/Day of Prayer for Harvest and Fruits of the Earth
Week/Day of Prayer for World Justice and Peace.

In those sections which contain several sets of invocations marked by A and B, one or the other may be chosen as desired as indicated by the “Or” on the left. It is also possible to sing the more familiar sections of the litany in Greek and Latin, indicated by the “or” in the center. The names of other saints may be added in the appropriate place in the litany (for example, patrons, titular saints of churches, founders, and the like). Petitions adapted to the place and the occasion may be added to the petitions for various needs. Such additional names and petitions need to be set in a different kind of type or enclosed in parentheses (as in the litany which follows).

If the litany is to be printed in its entirety, the surnames and cognomens (e.g., Becket, Chrysostom) should be enclosed brackets and not sung; this is the tradition when the litany is sung in Latin. However, St. John the Baptist and St. Mary Magdalene are always invoked with their cognomina; and St. John Mary Vianney is always invoked by his first and middle names. The Blessed Virgin Mary may be invoked in the litany under several titles, but restraint is advised. If the litany is not to be printed for the assembly, sing the surnames and cognomens in brackets.

Paul F. Ford wrote:

"This litany can be especially effective on All Saints Day as the Entrance Song or the General Intercessions."

Thank you for the very detailed answer, which I'm going to bookmark for future reference.

Regarding All Saints, if the Litany is sung as the Entrance Song, is that on the basis of "alius cantus aptus" or is it on the same basis (and subject to the same rubrics) as described above for the First Sunday of Lent?

If the Litany is sun for the General Intercessions, what is the rubrical basis for that?

I like both ideas, I just want to be able to explain the rubrical basis for both to our pastor, who asked me to look into this.

At one time the Raccolta contained the authorised form of the Litany of the Saints and other Litanies.

I recall that at the funeral of Pope John Paul II a revised Litany of the Saints was chanted that wasn't in any of our books at the time. It included St. Maximilan Kolbe and St. Faustina and others.

At our EF Mass last All Saints, the sacred ministers processed around the nave of the church - figure 8 - before entering the Sanctuary. This is the historic form of a "procession". I chanted the LoS from the loft, and stopped when they reached the Communion rail.

With the OF Mass, the Entrance IS a procession, even if it is short, and in a straight line. If you are not chanting an Introit, then I guess you would qualify it as the "aca" option, though.

I am not positive on the second question, but pretty sure. I was told once that the Prayers of the People are petitions to be directed to God the Father. While the opening and closing parts of the LoS might fit that definition, I'm not as sure about simply replacing the PotP with the LoS.

"Isn't your soprano tired of doing the same thing every year?"

Unfortunately, no! She actually looks forward to it. :-(

I need to get a Latin music setting for the Litany of Saints to be used at our Easter vigil. Can someone point me to a resource?

Considering the genre, here is a very well-done recording of the Becker litany, which includes Origen (?).

Litany à la Lounge

It goes without saying that music composed in this style has absolutely nothing to do with true Sacred music.

When I'm giving little lectures about how we can tell what music is not appropriate for the public worship of the Catholic Church, I've been known to pull this one out. It speaks volumes.

As an aside, I was once fired (from an OF parish) because I refused to sing that lounge song during Mass.

Jeffrey, to be clear, the recording is technically of a high calibre.
But it is likewise obviously clear that the singer appears enamoured of his own voice due to many reasons: the breathy frame around the formant tone, the overdub of his own voice doing the responses, the affectations that seem meant to portray some emotional or spiritual pathos, yada yada yada. Ergo, this version is, IMO, designed to attract attention to the artist's abilities, not to represent any aesthetic, musical or spiritual value of the Becker setting.
It would be disingenuous to presume that this recording represents the appropriate manner inwhich the setting could and should be rendered. I'm not claiming that the Becker is inherently worthy or appropriate, but that your using this version to buttress your argument confuses the issue between judging the music on its own merits versus by its performance attributes.
I don't think you would purposefully choose a schola of warbling, overly-seasoned senior sopranos mangling "Ego sum panis vivus" to demonstrate the viability of chant; nor the recording of the last castrati singing the Schubert "AM" as proof that the art song is inherently beautiful. Wouldya?

I never knew who precisely to blame for that "litany" - now there's a name. The whole piece is embarrassing in so many horrid ways.

i have never understood peoples love of the becker setting. talk about boring! Also wasnt there a time when his list of saints included mahatma Ghandi and other (admittidly) incredable non christians. I also had a DRE who said "since we're all saints be sure to include all the names of our graduating 8th grade class" So, with the support of the pastor, we prayed to St. Tiffany and St. Amber.
In my present parish I put my foot down about the becker. It has been handed over to the secular authorities to be burned and so far, not one complaint.

Paul F Ford (Nov 1st 2008):
All litanies of the saints are structured the same:

G (Nov 1st 2008):
Right, but where is that structure prescribed?

Paul F Ford (Sep 6th 2009):
This litany can be especially effective on All Saints Day as the Entrance Song or the General Intercessions.

WJA (Sep 7th 2009):
If the Litany is sun for the General Intercessions, what is the rubrical basis for that?

WJA (Sep 11th 2009):
repeated request


I, too, would like these clarified.
It is unclear from the posts as to whether
the info is personally accumulated summaries
or direct quotations from some resources (Church Docs or other).
Which resources? Where do quotations begin and end?
Yes, I saw some (bracketed) references, but these do not satisfy the above questions.

My danger-meter moved when scanning "Worshipping communities" and "especially effective".

Also, I am having trouble reconciling ...

solemn procession described above
VERSUS church aisle walks

universal prayer described at
http://www.pford.stjohnsem.edu/ford/courses/sacramental-theology/docs/Universal Prayer.pdf
VERSUS using the litany at that time

"We're all saints!" Wonderful! My work in this life is done, and now I can rest in the assurance that I have achieved perfection.

God will be so happy when I tell Him. One less thing for Him to worry about

Gee, I suppose you wouldn't like the little ditty we were asked to sing for a Eucharistic procession once, "Now We Are Saints," IIRC, from GIA.

(Save the Liturgy, Save the World)

And for the time-challenged who will not read the document whether in DOL or the PDF ...

"The samples of sets of intentions provided here generally correspond to the sets of chants for Mass in the
Graduale simplex (Vatican Polyglot Press, Vatican City, 17 April 1966)."

Monotonous tonal piece?

Yes, that's how I have always felt. That chant stuff is miserable and is the reason that so many people have LEFT THE CHURCH!

Now, if only someone would write a litany of saints that would be UPLIFTING! With Guitars and Fertility Drums! And, well, so many of them led miserable sad lives so let's get rid of their names and replace them with happy dead Catholics!

Are you sure that you are on the right list? (smiling ;))

Yes, the Litany of the Saints is not worth expending effort on. The Catholic Encylopedia concurs, though I can't seem to find the reference to its monotony:

As the Encylodpedia says:


The model of all other litanies, of great antiquity.

History

It was used in the "Litania Septiformis" of St. Gregory the Great, and in the procession of St. Mamertus. In the Eastern Church, litanies with the invocation of saints were employed in the days of St. Basil (d. 379) and of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (d. about 270) (Basil, Ep. lxiii; Socrates, VI, viii, Sozomen, VIII, vii). It is not known when or by whom the litany was composed, but the order in which the Apostles are given, corresponding with that of the Canon of the Mass, proves its antiquity (Walafr. Strabo, "De Reb. Eccl.", xxiii).

Structure and content

First part

The litany begins with the call for mercy upon God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, in the "Kyrie eleison", "Christe eleison", Kyrie eleison". Then, considering Christ as our Saviour and Mediator, we ask Him to hear us. In order to render more secure the hearing of our prayers, we again ask each of the Persons of the Holy Trinity for mercy, and, adding those titles which give us a claim to Their consideration, we call upon the First Person: God, the Father of Heaven, to whom we owe existence and life; the Second: Redeemer of the world, to Whom we owe our salvation; the Third: Holy Ghost, to whom we owe our sanctification; and then on the Holy Trinity, one God.

To render God propitious, we, aware of our own unworthiness, ask the intercession of those who have become His special friends, through a holy life, the saints in lasting communion with Him. Foremost among these stands Mary, the chosen daughter of the Father, the undefiled mother of the Son, the stainless bride of the Holy Ghost — we call upon her with the triple invocation: Holy Mary, Mother of God, Virgin of virgins. We then invoke the blessed spirits who remained firm in their allegiance to the Almighty during the rebellion of Lucifer and his adherents: Michael, prince of the heavenly host; Gabriel, "fortitude of God", the trusted companion of Tobias; and the other angels, archangels, and orders of blessed "ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). Next in our confidence is he of whom Christ says "There hath nor risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist" (Matthew 11:11), the precursor of the Lord, the last of the Prophets of the Old Law and the first of the New.

Next in order come St. Joseph, the foster-father of the Incarnate Word; and all the Patriarchs and Prophets who saved their souls in the hope of Him Who was the expected of the nations. Then follow the saints: Peter, prince of the Apostles, vice-regent of Christ; Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles; Andrew, who first heeded the call of the Master; James the Greater and John the Evangelist, the beloved disciple, who, with St. Peter, were most favoured by Christ; Thomas, called Didymus, who received from Christ signal proofs of His Resurrection; James the Less, first Bishop of Jerusalem; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew, once called Levi, the toll-gatherer, who wrote the First Gospel; Simon the Zealot; Jude Thaddeus; Matthias, who was chosen to fill the place of Judas Iscariot; Barnabas, called to the Apostolate by the Holy Ghost (Acts 13:2); Luke, the physician, writer of the Third Gospel and the Acts; Mark, the Evangelist, disciple of St. Peter; all the Apostles and Evangelists; the holy disciples of the Lord; the Holy Innocents, the infant martyr-flowers, "Who, slain at the command of Herod, confessed the name of the Lord not by speaking but by dying" (Rom. Brev.).

The glorious martyrs are then invoked: Stephen the Deacon, protomartyr, stoned at Jerusalem whilst praying for his executioners (Acts 7:58); Laurence, the Roman archdeacon; Vincent, the deacon of Saragossa in Spain; Fabian, the pope, and Sebastian, the soldier; John and Paul, brothers at the Court of Constantia, daughter of Constantine; Cosmas and Damian, renowned physicians of Ægea in Cilicia; Gervasius and Protasius, brothers at Milan; after which follows a collective impetration of all the holy martyrs. The litany now asks the prays of St. Sylvester, the pope who saw the triumph of the Crucified over paganism; of the Doctors of the Church; Sts. Gregory the Great, pope; Ambrose of Milan; Augustine of Hippo, in Africa; and Jerome, representing Dalmatia and the Holy Land; of the renowned Bishops Martin of Tours; Nicholas of Myra; of all the holy bishops and confessors; of all the holy teachers; of the founders of religious orders: Anthony, father of the anchorites of the desert; Benedict, patriarch of the Western monks; Bernard; Dominic; Francis; of all holy priests and levites; of monks and hermits. We then invoke Mary Magdalen, the model of Christian penance and of a contemplative life, of whom Christ said: "Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memory of her" (Matthew 26:13); the virgins and martyrs: Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Catherine, and Anastasia the Younger; and in conclusion of the holy virgins and widows; all the holy men and women.

Second part

The second part of the litany begins with another cry of "Be merciful to us, spare us O Lord; Be merciful to us, graciously hear us O Lord". We then enumerate the ills from which we hope to be delivered: From all evils; from sin; the wrath of God; sudden and unprovided death; the snares of the devil; anger, hatred, and all ill will; the spirit of fornication; lightning and tempest; the scourge of earthquake; plague, famine, and war; from everlasting death. To make our prayers more effective, we present to Christ all that He did for us through the mystery of the Incarnation, through His coming, nativity, baptism and holy fasting, cross and passion, death and burial, holy resurrection, admirable ascension, the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, and we conclude by the petition, "In the day of judgment, O Lord, deliver us."

Third part

In the third part we humbly acknowledge our unworthiness: "We, sinners, beseech Thee, hear us", and add the list of favours that we wish to obtain: that the Lord spare us; pardon us; and bring us to true penance; that He govern and preserve His holy Church; preserve our Apostolic prelate, and all orders of the Church, in holy religion; humble the enemies of the Church; give peace and true concord to Christian kings and princes; peace and unity to Christian nations; strengthen and preserve us in His holy service; raise our minds to heavenly desires; reward with eternal good all our benefactors; deliver us, our brethren, kinsfolk, and benefactors, from eternal damnation; give and preserve the fruits of the earth; and grant eternal rest to the faithful departed. We ask all this in calling upon the Son of God, thrice invoking the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We repeat the "Kyrie", as in the beginning, and add the prayer taught by Christ Himself, the Our Father. Then follow Psalm 69, "O God, come to my assistance", etc., and a number of verses, responses, and prayers, renewing the former petitions. We conclude with an earnest request to be heard, and an appeal for the faithful departed.

Forms

Three forms of the Litany of the Saints are at present in liturgical use.

First form

The form given above is prescribed by the Roman Ritual at the laying of the corner-stone of a new church, at the blessing or reconciliation of the same or of a cemetery, in the rite of blessing the people and fields in virtue of a special papal indult, for the major and minor Rogation Days, in the procession and prayers to obtain rain or fine weather, to avert storms and tempests, in time of famine or war, to escape mortality or in time of pestilence, in any tribulation, during the translation of relics, in solemn exorcisms of the possessed, and at the Forty Hours' Devotion. The Roman Pontifical, besides the occasions given in the Ritual, orders its recitation in the conferring of major orders, in the consecration of a bishop, benediction of an abbot or abbess, consecration of virgins, coronation of a king or queen, consecration of a church, expulsion and readmission of public penitents on Maundy Thursday, and in the "Ordo ad Synodum".

Second form

Another form is given in the Roman Missal for Holy Saturday and the Vigil of Pentecost. It is an abbreviation of the other. Each verse and response must be duplicated in this litany and in that chanted on Rogation Days (S.R.C., 3993, ad 4).

Third form

A third form is in the "Commendatio" of the Roman Ritual, in which the invocations and supplications are specially chosen to benefit the departing soul about to appear before its Maker (Holzhey, "Thekla-Akten", 1905, 93). This and the preceding form may not be used on other occasions (S.R.C., 2709, ad 1).

Formerly it was customary to invoke only classes of saints, then individual names were added, and in many places local saints were added (Rock, "The Church of Our Fathers", London, 1903, 182; "Manuale Lincopense", Paderborn, 1904, 71). To obtain uniformity, changes and additions to the approved were forbidden (S.R.C., 2093, 3236, 3313).


[my goodness! This unimportant bit of liturgical fluff seems to have generated an article that takes more time than the regrettable monotonous singing of it takes! And...S.R.C., 2093, 3236, and 3313 would seem to ban adding names....]

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@ Noel -- what's wrong with listing people's confirmation saints in the Litany? As long as they're actually saints, isn't that the point... the Litany of the Saints? Am I missing something?

Considering the genre, here is a very well-done recording of the Becker litany, which includes Origen (?).

WHAT. ORIGEN WAS A FLAMING HERETIC. I researched up on him once, there's TWELVE crazy anathemas against the guy. His teachings are basically like twelve heresies all rolled into one.

Well, don roy said that at his place they put the kids' secular names in the litany--but amanda.palister and CharlesW said that they added their confirmation names, and don't confirmation names have to be the names of saints?


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