Prayer
Illumine our hearts, O Master Who lovest mankind, with the pure light of thy divine knowledge, and open the eyes of our mind to the understanding of thy gospel teachings; implant in us also the fear of thy blessed commandments, that trampling down all carnal desires, we may enter upon a spiritual manner of living, both thinking and doing such things as are well-pleasing unto thee. For thou art the illumination of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, and unto thee we ascribe glory, together with thine unoriginate Father, and thine all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Introduction
“Why are we always repeating ‘Lord, have mercy?’ Haven’t we prayed this petition already? Just how much mercy do I need?” These questions often arise when encountering or reflecting on the litanies of the Divine Liturgy. Today we will look at several of these litanies and see how they build on each other, leading us further and further into the Kingdom.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, a litany is a series of petitions recited by the deacon or priest with a set response by the faithful, usually “Lord, have mercy.” If a deacon is serving, he will say the petitions from the middle of the solea, else the priest will intone them from in front of the altar.
While previously we’ve gone through the Divine Liturgy word by word, today we’ll be looking at larger portions and won’t cover every line. Of course, if I miss a line you’re interested in, please ask me about it.
The first litany follows right after the opening doxology, indicating that the various petitions and the Lord’s mercy are integral to his Kingdom.
Lord, have mercy
Let’s begin with the refrain of the litanies. Why do the faithful respond “Lord, have mercy” to almost every petition? I cannot express it better than St Nicholas Cabasilas who notes that all prayers have the elements of doxology, thankfulness, and confession. After discussing the opening doxology (Blessed is the Kingdom…) he writes:
The man who is discontented with his lot in life cannot have peace within him, but only he who is grateful and “in every thing gives thanks” according to the teaching of the blessed Paul. Nor will he have a pure understanding, for a pure understanding is impossible without confession. So that he who prays in peace must first have a thankful and confessed soul. And further, the very petition which they make shows them to be in a state of thankfulness and confession. For their petition is for mercy. This is indeed the supplication of the condemned who have no possible defense and no justification to put forward; they make this one last appeal to the judge, counting on obtaining what they ask not because it is just, but because of his love for mankind. These people in fact bear witness to the judge of his great goodness and mercy and to themselves of their own iniquity; the first is an act of gratitude and the second one of confession.
When his Grace, Bishop John (Abdalah) visited last, he told us that in Greek, ‘mercy’ sounds like the word for ‘oil’, reminding us of the Good Samaritan who bound up the man’s wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Mercy then is medicine healing our wounds inflicted by the world, the devil, and sin. He also related that in Arabic the words ‘mercy’ and ‘womb’ are related, calling to mind such passages as from the prophet Isaiah, “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
Throughout the Bible we see the faithful calling out to God for his mercy; this is especially evident in the Psalms such as 122 where the Psalmist cries ‘Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.’ Furthermore, the prophet Jeremiah reminds us that the Lord’s mercy is new every morning and does not come to an end. It is for this reason that we the faithful so frequently call out to the Lord for his mercy. As we spoke in weeks past, the laity’s participation is vital in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. As we go through these litanies we will see that often the priest or deacon addresses the petitions to the faithful, “let us pray” and we complete the prayer, addressing it to the Lord.
Litany of Peace
After the initial proclamation of doxology, the Divine Liturgy starts with the Litany of Peace, the first petitions of which are: “In peace, let us pray to the Lord,” “For the peace from above and the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord,” and “For the peace of the whole world, the good estate of the holy churches of God and the union of all men, let us pray to the Lord.”
These introductory petitions give an overview of what we ask for throughout the entire service. This peace from above is given by God alone, which passes all understanding. Peace with God, with others, and with ourselves is necessary for our salvation. When Christ was born on earth, the angels heralded “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill among men.” Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount declares, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God.” Christ himself is our peace as the Apostle writes in the context of bringing the nations into the church and reconciling heaven and earth:
“For [Christ] himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility … that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
We then move into a series of petitions asking for this in various ways, for our local church and bishop, for our city and countryside and its leaders.
Let us comment upon praying for our cities and lands: The prophet Jeremiah tells Judah that their exile into Babylon will not be short as the false prophets prophesy, but will last 70 years. He encourages the exiles to “seek for the peace of the land into which I have exiled you there, and pray to the Lord on their behalf, because in their peace there will be peace for you.”
We then pray for healthful seasons and the abundance of crops along with peaceful times. In this we recognize that all we have comes from God, we don’t pray like Jimmy Stewart’s character in the movie Shenandoah, “Lord, we cleared this land. We plowed it, sowed it, and harvested it. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t be eatin’ it if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for this food we’re about to eat.”
No, we rather recognize that sunshine, seasonable rain, and fertile soil come from God. The prophet Joel describes an army of locusts who utterly devour the land.
What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
And what is the result of this? Not only starvation, but “The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD.” Even our ability to worship the Lord aright is dependent on him. But he is a merciful God, and the prophet counsels the people to return to the Lord in repentance, weeping, for “Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering.”
We pray next for travelers, the sick, suffering, and captives, recalling the Sunday of the Last Judgement where Christ declares how we treat the least one of our brothers or sisters is how we treated him.
Lastly, we pray for ourselves, that by God’s grace we are delivered from adversity and necessity, and the deacon addresses God directly in the last two petitions asking that the Lord save and keep us by his grace, and we remember all the saints and especially the most holy Theotokos that we may offer our whole lives to Christ our God. We’ll address these two petitions soon as they appear again and again in the Divine Liturgy.
The priest then exclaims that all glory, honor, and worship are due to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages and ages.
Little Litanies
The Divine Liturgy then progresses into a series of prayers and hymns known as the antiphons. Punctuating these (and appearing in other parts of the service) is the Little Litany. It consists of a reminder that we pray in peace “Again and again, in peace, let us pray to the Lord,” and the last two petitions of the Litany of Peace: “Help us; save us; have mercy upon us; and keep us, O God, by thy grace,” and “Calling to remembrance our all-holy, immaculate, most blessed and glorious Lady the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary, with all the saints, let us commend ourselves and each other and all our life unto Christ our God.”
We are reminded that we fight against sin and work for our salvation, not by ourselves but by Christ our God, who has redeemed countless others before us who intercede for us upholding us in our struggle. Chief among these holy ones is our all-holy, immaculate, most blessed and glorious Lady the Theotokos. She is our great example who bore Christ in the flesh. As St James states “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working,” and we covet her intercessions for us.
Litany of Supplication
Moving on to the Liturgy of the Gifts, during the Great Entrance there is another litany, but we will discuss it when we cover the Great Entrance. After the Entrance is concluded and the priest places the gifts on the altar, there is another litany, the Litany of Supplication, wherein we all pray for our purification before consecrating and partaking of the Divine Gifts. Fittingly, these petitions are more spiritual in nature and an alternate name for this litany is the Spiritual Litany.
We ask first for the gifts ‘now set forth’ that they be acceptable unto the Lord and of benefit to us, for as we mentioned previously we receive no blessing that is not from the Lord.
The following three petitions are from the Litany of peace: for this holy house and the faithful; our deliverance from affliction; and help us, save us.
The litany continues, elevating and expanding on those petitions. To these petitions we respond, ‘Grant this, O Lord’ for they speak to our destiny and final salvation; the ultimate realization of peace in our lives.
The deacon asks that the whole day may be perfect, holy, peaceful and sinless. This is possible only through the grace of God and in light of that day, the eighth day, which has no evening.
We ask God to grant us an angel of peace to guide us. This calls to mind our guardian angels granted to us in baptism who are assigned to protect us. The deacon then leads us in asking for forgiveness of sins and everything good and profitable for our souls, and for peace in the world. King David writes, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”
The final two petitions before invoking the Theotokos ask that we may complete our lives in peace and repentance and that we may have a Christian ending to our life and a good defense before the fearful judgement seat of Christ.
Along my journey into the fullness of the faith, into Orthodoxy, I asked our previous priest Fr Philip, “what is this good defense before the fearful judgement seat of Christ?” He pointed me to the repeated refrain “Lord, have mercy” explaining that the Lord himself provides our defense by his mercy. Likewise, one of the precommunion prayers of St Basil asks that “I may partake of a portion of thy holy things without condemnation, … as a provision for eternal life, and for a good defense at thy fearful judgement seat; so that I … with all thine elect, may also receive those undefiled good things which though hast prepared for them that love thee, O Lord, in whom thou art glorified forever. Amen.”
The priest then prays that God would accept the offering that was placed upon the altar through his compassion toward us.
Litany Before the Lord’s Prayer
The last litany before Holy Communion occurs after the Gifts have been consecrated and is known as the Litany before the Lord’s Prayer. The deacon directs the faithful to pray for the precious gifts now spread forth and sanctified, that God (who loves mankind) would receive them on his heavenly altar as a savor of spiritual sweetness and send down the Holy Spirit upon us in his grace.
What an amazing revelation; the altar that we see is the same as the heavenly altar, on which Christ offered himself as a sweet aroma. We offer God bread and wine, but he gives us himself in Christ and sends down the Holy Spirit to indwell us.
The next few petitions are taken from previous litanies, and the final petition asks for the unity of faith and the communion of the Holy Spirit. This is why communion is reserved for the faithful, for those who have been given the Holy Spirit in baptism, for while it life to us it is death to those who are perishing. Coming to the holy God in an unworthy manner is unwise as the story of Nadab and Abihu offering strange fire in the tabernacle teaches us.
The priest then prays that we may partake worthily and that this Holy Communion be unto the forgiveness of sins, and inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven. He then leads us in the Lord’s prayer with the boldness given from above, a petition of which is “thy kingdom come”.
Litany of Thanksgiving
After we partake of Holy Communion, we pray a short Litany of Thanksgiving wherein we give thanks to the Lord for his provision of himself to us. The priest declares that God himself is our sanctification, for as the Scriptures teach us, every good gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.
Conclusion
We have seen therefore, as St Nicholas Cabasillas writes,
To beg for God’s mercy is to ask for his kingdom, that kingdom which Christ promised to give to those who seek for it, assuring them that all things else of which they have need will be added unto them.
The litanies repeatedly ask for the peace of God, for without it we cannot worship and cannot inherit his Kingdom. Yet God is merciful and provides our salvation and a way to walk therein. We started this talk by asking ‘How much mercy do I need?’ Let us answer that with the words of the hymn of today’s Feast of the Transfiguration; we need as much mercy as far as we are able to receive it. For by receiving the Lord’s mercy we too will be transfigured in the pattern of Christ our Lord.
Are there any questions? {Questions and maybe answers.}
Thank you, let us close with prayer.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Through the prayers of St Nicholas of Thessaloniki, and all our holy fathers and mothers in the faith, O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy upon us and save us. Amen