both in German and Latin for use at Wittenberg. It was accepted by Archbishop Hermann of Cöln for his own diocese, and was certainly used as a basis for the Litany in Marshall's Primer of 1535. The Primer of Bishop Hilsey of Rochester in 1539 returns to the Sarum Litany, though it reduces the number of saints whose prayers are asked. From Luther's Litany, if we can rightly give the name of Luther to such a medieval work, are derived the petition for magistrates, the words 'in all time of our tribulation in all time of our wealth,' the words 'to bring into the way of truth all such as have erred and are deceived,' and practically the whole of the Litany from 'strengthen such as do stand' to the end of the petition for enemies, persecutors, and slanderers.' Luther's influence is also shown in the prayer which follows the Lord's Prayer. Luther has :1 Vers. O Lord, deal not with us according to our sins. O God, merciful Father, that despisest not the sighing of the contrite, and spurnest not the desire of the sorrowful, assist our prayers which we make before Thee in the troubles which continually oppress us, and graciously hear us, etc. This collect occurs in the Sarum Missal in the 'Mass for those in trouble of heart,' and Luther must have known the same collect or a variation of it. But Cranmer's translation adheres more closely to Luther's version than to the Sarum version, for he inserts the words merciful Father,' alters the words 'to Thy goodness' into 'before Thee,' and says 'graciously hear' instead of 'graciously regard.' And Cranmer sometimes turned from Marshall and Hilsey to Luther, as can be seen from the petition that Christ will beat down Satan under our feet,' a petition which is less 1 The versicle and response occur in the Sarum Litany, but are not followed by the prayer. M accurately translated in Marshall's rendering of Luther, and does not occur in Hilsey. After the long prayer, which was modified through Luther's influence, our Litany returns to the Sarum Litany for Rogation Monday. O Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us for Thy Name's sake. This is the ancient antiphon, Exsurge Domine (Psalm xliv. 26), and it is still appropriately continued with the words, O God, we have heard with our ears,' etc. (Psalm xliv. 1). After this the Gloria used to be sung, and the Exsurge was repeated. It is an ordinary antiphon shortened. By a grotesque modern mistake the Exsurge is now printed and sung as if it were a kind of Amen said by the choir to the previous collect. The collect ought to end with Amen like any other collect, and Amen was printed here in the versions used in Elizabeth's chapel in 1558 and 1559. Until the revised book was printed in 1662, the clergy ended the collects with the traditional formulæ, but in 1662 Amen, though omitted in the Litany collect, was wrongly printed in the Sunday collects after the words 'Jesus Christ our Lord.' The words Who liveth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost were left out by mistake. 1 (iv) The Sarum Litany in time of war. The beautiful petitions which begin From our enemies defend us, O Christ, and end graciously hear us, O Lord Christ are translated with small changes 1 from certain verses added to the Sarum Litany for Rogation Monday in time of war. Their retention in 1544 was peculiarly appropriate, as England was then at war with France and Scotland. But there is no necessity for confining their use to times of war. Their oldest use in 1 The words Son of David are remarkable. The original was Fili Dei vivi; it seems possible that the words Dei vivi may have been so written as to be mistaken for David. England was connected with peace and joy, and dates back almost to the dawn of English Christianity. They are to be found at the conclusion of the litany appointed to be sung at the consecration of a church in the Pontifical attributed to Egbert,1 who became Archbishop of York in A.D. 732. Then come the following versicle and response: Priest. O Lord, let Thy mercy be showed upon us; In the Sarum service these words were ordinarily said on week-days at the conclusion of Lauds. The collect which follows is enlarged from the Sarum collect for the time of war. The Litany ought to end with the prayer of S. Chrysostom as in 1549. But in 1559 there was added The Grace of our Lord, etc., which now closes the Litany. This has given the Litany a false appearance of completeness by obliterating the fact that its real completion is the Eucharist, which ought to follow it immediately. It is true that in the Liturgy of S. Chrysostom The Grace of our Lord, etc., occurs at the beginning of the most solemn part of the Eucharist. But this is not sufficient justification for printing it where it stands in our Prayer Book. In 1661 our revisers placed the same words at the conclusion of Morning Prayer, and thus corroborated the popular misconception that the Litany comes to an end as definitely and absolutely as Morning Prayer. Having considered the history and sources of the Litany, it remains to add a few words to explain its structure. It may be divided into six parts: (a) THE INVOCATIONS TO THE HOLY TRINITY, invoking mercy for us as sinners. It was to ask for mercy that some of the first litanies were first instituted. The prayer 'Remember not' comes as a climax to this section. 1 Published by the Surtees Society, vol. xxvii. The Suffrages now follow immediately, as there are no longer any requests to the saints for their prayers. In the Ordination Service the special petition for those to be ordained is called the 'proper suffrage.' So the original title of the English Litany was, as we have seen, Litany and Suffrages. The Suffrages are usually distinguished as follows: (b) THE DEPRECATIONS, or prayers against evil, beginning From all evil and mischief.' They may be regarded as expansions of the clause in the Lord's Prayer, Deliver us from evil, and they are immediately addressed to our Blessed Lord as the Deliverer from all forms of evil and their injurious consequences. (c) THE OBSECRATIONS, or prayers of entreaty; i.e. prayers entreating for the assistance which is derived from all that Christ has done for us men and our salvation, beginning 'By the mystery.' These are addressed to our Blessed Lord. (d) THE INTERCESSIONS, or prayers on behalf of others, commencing with 'We sinners do beseech.' They include all sorts and conditions of men,' from the holy Church to the persecutors and slanderers of the same. These also are addressed to the Saviour of all men. (e) THE SUPPLICATIONS. These are two prayers; one for material blessings, that God will preserve to us the fruits of the earth; the other for spiritual blessings, that God will give us repentance, pardon, and the grace of the Holy Spirit. Thus conclude the Suffrages. (f) THE VERSICLES and PRAYERS are, on the whole, penitential and marked by a sense of calamity and need in accordance with their origin. The Divine Redeemer is so touched with the feeling of our infirmities that His intercession for us is as perpetual as our need, and we do wrong to imagine that we are ever free from danger and weakness, or that these prayers are ever inappropriate. |