7.0. Liturgy of the Catechumens. Start. Great Litany. Prayer of the 1st antiphon. Scheme of rites, the meaning of prayers and sacred rites.

Litany (εκτενή – intense, diligent prayer)

The litany is usually read by a deacon, standing on the pulpit facing the altar. Extending his right hand, he holds the orarion in it and after each petition makes the sign of the cross. Sometimes, in the absence of a full-time deacon, a priest may read the litany at the service. In the Greek Church this was so historically, and only in the Russian Church was it always customary to also have a deacon in the service.

During the Liturgy there is commemoration at litanies (about health and repose). A litany is a series of short petitions, one after another, serving as an invitation to prayer, ending with an exclamation. On non-holiday days, when the remembrance of the dead occurs, a funeral litany is also pronounced during the Liturgy in memory of the deceased members of the Church.

The litany is always read in dialogue with the choir. The response words of the choir are called acclamations. There are four different acclamations at the litany: “Lord, have mercy” “Give, Lord” “To you, Lord” “Amen” is the final one. The litany ends with the exclamation of the priest, to which the choir responds: “Amen!” The exclamation of the priest in most cases is a loudly voiced ending to the silently read prayer prescribed at this time.

According to the content and number of petitions in Russian church practice, they distinguish between great, small, special and supplicant.

The first type is the great litany. Its place in the service is the first, it is the first litany at each service: at the liturgy, at Vespers, at Matins, and it is distinguished by its special completeness and sublimity of content. Petitions are arranged in it as if from top to bottom. First, we pray for heavenly peace and the salvation of our souls - the most important request, and then for those floating, traveling, and the sick; The litany descends from the highest to the simplest human needs.

The next type is the small litany. It always begins with the words “Pack and pack” - again and again, let’s pray to the Lord again. The Small Litany contains only two petitions.

The litany of petition begins with the words “Let us fulfill our prayer to the Lord,” and the words “evening” or “morning” may be added. And it differs in that, starting from the second or third petition, the choir sings not “Lord, have mercy,” but “Give, Lord.” The petitions here are of a different nature than in the Great Litany.

And finally, a special litany. The word “subtle” itself means “double”, “strengthened”. After reading the Gospel, a special litany is pronounced, into the text of which additional petitions are inserted for living members of the Church who are in various needs. Although the litany is called double, “Lord, have mercy” is sung there three times. The special litany begins with the words “Rtzem everything with all our soul, and from all our thoughts Rtzem” (“Rtzem” means “we will speak”). Contains mainly petitions about persons: the Patriarch, the ruling bishop, the country (rulers and troops), about deceased Christians (primarily the creators of the temple), as well as about all those who perform divine services in it and perform various obediences, and also about upcoming ones. To each petition pronounced by a deacon or priest, the choir responds with three times “Lord, have mercy.” It can be complete, that is, it can begin with the words “We say everything with all our souls, and with all our thoughts we say…” - let’s say with all our souls, with all our thoughts - or abbreviated: immediately with the petition “Have mercy on us, O God,” after which “Lord, have mercy” is sung three times.

In some parishes there is a tradition of inserting petitions for the sick, for those traveling, etc., as part of the special litany. The special litany is not a prayer service, but can be included in the sequence of the prayer service.

Those who do not have the opportunity to visit the monastery can order a custom litany through our website online:

Litany of Vilenskaya

Litany of Petition, Vilna:

Deacon: Let us fulfill our prayer to the Lord. Lik: Lord, have mercy. Deacon: Let us pray to the Lord for the Honest Gifts offered. Lik: Lord, have mercy. Deacon: For this holy temple, and with faith, reverence and fear of God who enter it, let us pray to the Lord. Lik: Lord, have mercy. Deacon: Let us pray to the Lord that we may be delivered from all sorrow, anger and need. Lik: Lord, have mercy. Deacon: Intercede, save, have mercy and preserve us, O God, by Your grace. Lik: Lord, have mercy. Deacon: We ask the Lord for a perfect, holy, peaceful and sinless day. Lik: Grant it, Lord. Deacon: Peaceful angel, faithful mentor, guardian of our souls and bodies, we ask the Lord. Lik: Grant it, Lord. Deacon: We ask the Lord for forgiveness and forgiveness of our sins and transgressions. Lik: Grant it, Lord. Deacon: We ask the Lord for kindness and benefit to our souls and for peace. Lik: Grant it, Lord. Deacon: We ask the Lord to end the rest of our life in peace and repentance. Lik: Grant it, Lord. Deacon: The Christian death of our life is painless, shameless, peaceful and we ask for a good answer at the Last Judgment of Christ. Lik: Grant it, Lord. Diacon: to the Blessed, the Most Holy, the Carious, the glorious lord of the Virgin and the appendage of Maria, with all the holy saints, Sami to himself, and each other, and all our liveliness is betrayed by Christ. Lik: To you, Lord. Proclamation: Through the bounty of Your Only Begotten Son, with Him are You blessed, with Your Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Lik: Amen.

(download)

Requester є3ktenіS vi1lenskaz:

Deacon: Let us sing our prayer to God. Li1k: Have mercy. Deacon: The honest gifts offered, where we will pray. Li1k: Have mercy. Deacon: With this temple, and3 with faith, reverence and3 fear of those who enter the world, where we will pray. Li1k: Have mercy. Deacon: We will get rid of all sorrow, anger and need, where we will pray. Li1k: Have mercy. Deacon: Intercede2, save2, have mercy and3 preserve2 us with your grace. Li1k: Have mercy. Deacon: The day is always perfect, holy, peaceful and sinless, and so forth. Li1k: Give me some water. Deacon: She is peaceful, faithful mentor, guardian of our souls and bodies, and here we go. Li1k: Give me some water. Deacon: Forgiveness and 3 removal of our sins and 3 sins, and we forgive. Li1k: Give me some water. Deacon: Good and 3 useful to our souls, and 3 world peace, and here we go. Li1k: Give me some water. Deacon: The rest of the time we are in the world and until the end, and here we go. Li1k: Give me some water. Deacon: Christians are finished with our lives, painless, non-posthonic, peaceful and 3 good answers to the terrible judgments of our people. Li1k: Give me some water. Deacon: Our most blessed, most blessed, glorious Father, and3 the ever-present God, with all those we have remembered, ourselves, and3 each other, and3 all our living beings we have betrayed to God. Li1k: You're welcome. Exclamation: Generous є3dinor0dnagw сn7а thyгw2, with єn1mе blessing є3сi2, with the pres™hмъ и3 blgi1мъ and3 life-giving єm ¦m, nhne и3 pri1снw, and3 forever and ever. Li1k: Umi1n.

Author: Administrator

Publication date: 08/30/2019

Responses (375)

You must be logged in to leave a response.

Small funeral litany with censer.

Kontakion, tone 8

With the saints, rest, O Christ, / the souls of Your servants, / where there is no pain, no sorrow, no groaning, / but endless life.

Ikos: You Yourself are the only immortal, / who created and created man: / we, mortals, were created from the earth, / and we will go to the same earth, / as You commanded, creating me and telling me: / “You are the earth, and you will go to the ground,” / where all of us mortals will go, / turning funeral sobs into the song “Hallelujah!”

Synaxarion first from the Menaion, and then for the repose.

Song 7

Irmos: In the beginning you founded the earth / and established the heavens with a word, / blessed are You forever, O Lord, / God of our fathers!

In piety of those who have died from time immemorial / commemorating, we cry: / “Blessed are You forever, O Lord, / God of our fathers!”

Those who died suddenly in piety, / and from various things that fell on them: / wood, iron, every stone, / God rest the faithful departed.

At Your terrible coming, O Merciful One, / at the right hand with Your sheep, place / in the Orthodox life of You, Christ, those who served / and reposed to You.

In the choir, Christ, Your chosen ones / place Your servants, so that they cry to You: / “Blessed are You forever, O Lord, / God of our fathers!”

From the dust of the earth he created flesh / and

her
with the Spirit , O merciful Savior, / give rest to those whom You have accepted, O God, / in an ageless life.

Glory, Trinity: Like three suns, let the Divinity be glorified / in a single mixture of light: / Father, and Son, and Divine Spirit, / One - by Nature, but Three - by Hypostases.

And now, the Mother of God: we sing David’s hymn to You, / calling You, Virgin, the mountain of God, / in which the Word, having dwelt in the flesh, / has spiritually deified us in Himself.

Katavasia: In the beginning he who founded the earth:

Song 8

Irmos: On the holy mountain of the One who was glorified / and by fire in the thorn bush to Moses / the Ever-Virgin One who revealed the mystery - / Sing to the Lord and extol throughout all ages.

Having first crushed the shadow of death, / shining like the sun from the tomb, / make sons of Your Resurrection, O Lord of glory, / all who died in the faith forever.

Hidden and secret Knower! / When You reveal the deeds of darkness / and the intentions of our hearts, / then do not demand a strict

/ for all who have fallen asleep in faith.

When you intend to sit on the throne / and order those gathered to appear before the court / with a trumpet from the ends of the earth, / then spare everyone, O Christ, / as the Most Merciful.

Those who died suddenly from accidents: / from a loud cry and fast running, / from a slap in the face, a blow with a fist or a foot, / in the faith of the deceased, O Lord of glory, / free them forever.

Let us bless the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Lord.

As the Unity in Being I glorify Thee, / as the Trinity in Persons I honor Thee: / Father, and

Son and Holy Spirit; / I glorify the beginningless power of Your Kingdom forever.

And now, the Mother of God: You appeared as a sealed source of Living Streams, O Virgin Mother of God: / for having given birth to the Lord without a husband, / you will water the faithful with immortal water forever.

We praise, bless, worship the Lord, chanting and exalting Him

in all ages.

Irmos: On the mountain of the holy Glorified One:

Song 9

Irmos: Previously revealed on the mountain of the lawgiver / in fire and in a thorn bush / Nativity of Christ

from the Ever-Virgin / for the salvation of us, the faithful, / we magnify with incessant chants.

There

, where is the dwelling of those who rejoice / - Thy saints, O Lord, / all who have fallen asleep in faith and hope / from all eternity / with joy.

Destroyed by the wrath of God: / with all kinds of deadly thunderstorms, / brought from heaven, / into

the earth opened up,
the
sea surging, / Christ, give rest to all the faithful.

All ages: old and young, / young and already

matured, / children and prematurely
born
babies, / male and female, / rest, O God, the faithful received by You.

From the poisonous wounds of the deceased, / from the devouring of snakes, / from being trampled by horses and strangled, / and those strangled by hand

rest your neighbor/those who served You with faith.

Each by name / of those who have died in faith from eternity / and from generation to generation without condemnation, will you be honored, O Word, / at Your coming.

Glory, Trinity: One God in the Trinity, / glory to Thee unceasing! / After all, although God is Each of the Three

, / but He remains one Nature: / Father, and Son, and Spirit, /
distinguished
by three-light properties.

And now, the Mother of God: Your generations are beyond understanding: / for You give birth to the Pre-existent, / and with milk you indescribably nourish / the food of Him who gives to the world: / and in the manger

you believe that He holds everything, / Christ is our only Redeemer, All-Immaculate!

Katavasia: Previously revealed on the mountain to the lawgiver:

Small ordinary litany.

Exapostilary

Over the living and the dead/ruling as God! / Give rest to Your servants in the abodes of the chosen: / for although they sinned, Savior, / they did not depart from You.

Glory: Give rest to Thy servants / in the land of the living, O Lord, / from where torment fled, / and sorrow along with groaning; / graciously blot out

, as a Lover of Mankind, /
everything
in which they have sinned in life: / for You alone are sinless and merciful, / Master of the dead and the living!

And now, Mother of God: Mary, Bride of God! / Before Christ, unceasingly intercede / for us, Thy servants, with the theological prophets / and the hosts of martyrs, and hierarchs with the saints, and all the righteous, / that we may stand with them

heirs / of the Heavenly Kingdom.

On praise stichera, on 4, tone 8

Come, all brethren, before the end / contemplating our dust, and the weakness of our nature, / and our insignificance, and we will see the end, / and the instruments of the vessel of the flesh; / and that man is dust, food for worms and decay, / that our bones are dry, having no breath at all. / Let's look into the graves: where is the glory? / Where is the beauty of appearance? Where is the sweet tongue? / Where is the eyebrow? Or where is the eye? Everything is dust and shadow: / therefore, have mercy, O Savior, on us all!

Why does a man deceive himself when he boasts? / What worries in vain / the one who

clay, and in a short
time
,
will it become
itself?
/ What does dust not imagine, / that dust is its
composition, / and rotting and decay is the property?
/ If we humans are clay, / then
why are we stuck to the earth?
/ And if we have united with Christ, / why do we not resort to Him? / And, having rejected all fleeting and flowing life, / not
follow the incorruptible life, / which is Christ, / enlightenment [and propitiation] for our souls!

By Thy hand, O Savior, who created Adam, / and set the limit / between incorruption, and mortality, and life in grace; / and, from the decay of us

liberated, / transported to the original life!
/ Your servants, O Lord, / whom You took from us, / rest with the righteous and in the assembly of the elect; / and having written their names in the book of life, / and
raised them up with the voice of the Archangel and the sound of the trumpet, / honor them with Thy Heavenly Kingdom!

Christ rose again, / having loosed the bonds of the primordial Adam, / and destroying the power of hell. / Take courage, all you dead: / death has been put to death, / and hell has been plundered with it, / and Christ has reigned, crucified and risen. / He gave us the incorruptibility of the flesh, / He raises us up and gives us resurrection, / and with joy he honors all who fervently believed in Him with unshakable faith.

Glory, voice 2, for the repose: As a color fades and as a dream passes, / so

every person is destroyed. / But again with the sound of a trumpet / the dead, as if in an earthquake, will all rise / to meet You, Christ God. / Then, Master, those whom Thou hast displaced from us, / establish in the abodes of Thy saints, / regardless of their sins, O Compassionate One!

And now, Theotokos: Rejoice, Mary Mother of God, / The temple is indestructible, and most importantly, holy, / as the prophet cries: / “Your Temple is holy, wondrous in truth.”

On the stichera of St. Theophan in the current voice of Octoechos

Glory, tone 6, Damascene: It became a misfortune for Adam / to eat in ancient times from the tree in Eden, / when the serpent

poured out poison: / for because of him death entered the world, / devouring man and all
his
. / But the Lord came and cast down the dragon / and gave us peace. / Let us call to Him: / “Spare, O Savior, those whom You have accepted, / and rest with Your chosen ones, (as the Lover of Mankind!”)

And now, O Mother of God, the same voice: You are our God, who created and fills everything with wisdom! You sent prophets, O Christ, / to predict Your coming, / and apostles - to proclaim Your great deeds

. / And some predicted Your coming, / while others enlightened the nations with baptism. / The martyrs, having suffered, achieved what they desired, / and their common choir intercedes before You / together with She who gave birth to You. / Rest, O God, the souls of those whom You have accepted, / and make us worthy of Your Kingdom, / Who endured the Cross for the sake of me, the condemned, / My Redeemer and God!

It is good to glorify the Lord: Trisagion, Troparion: With the deepest wisdom: Glory, even now: In You we have both a wall and a refuge: The first hour and dismissal.

AT THE LITURGY

Blessed are hymns 3 and 6 from the canon of the Triodion.

Troparion, tone 8

With the deepest wisdom, lovingly governing everything / and giving useful things to everyone, / One Creator, rest, O Lord, the souls of Your servants, / for they have placed their hope in You, / the Creator, and Provider, and our God.

Glory, kontakion, the same voice: Rest with the saints, O Christ, / the souls of Your servants, / where there is no pain, no sorrow, no groaning, / but endless life.

And now, O Mother of God, the same voice: In you we have both a wall and a refuge, / and an Intercessor, pleasing to God, / Whom You, the Mother of God, who did not know marriage, gave birth to, / the salvation of the faithful.

Prokeimenon, tone 6: Their souls / will be placed among blessings. Verse: To Thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul, O my God.

Orthodox Life

Priest Andrei Chizhenko explains.

The word “litany” translated from Greek means “diligent prayer” or “zealous, drawn-out prayer.” In a church you can hear a priest or deacon say certain short prayers, to which the choir responds with either “Lord have mercy,” or three times “Lord have mercy,” or “Lord grant.”

There are several types of litanies:

Great (peaceful) litany. It is called so because, firstly, it is the longest in time, and secondly, it expresses the fullness of the benefits that fallen humanity dares to ask from God. It is called peaceful because it begins with the words “Let us pray to the Lord in peace.”

The Small Litany is a shortened version of the Peaceful Litany. It begins with the words “Again and again let us pray to the Lord in peace,” that is, “Again and again let us pray to the Lord in peace.”

Extra (intensified) litany. The choir responds to the priests’ requests with an amplified threefold “Lord, have mercy.”

Litany of petition. The choir responds to her petitions with “Grant, Lord.”

The funeral litany is pronounced at funeral services: burials, memorial services, litias, and in certain places of the Divine Liturgy.

Litany about the catechumens , i.e. about those people who have a desire to be baptized and are undergoing a course of Christian education (catechumens in Church Slavonic). The litany and prayers for the catechumens always follow at the end of the Liturgy of the Catechumens, before the beginning of the Liturgy of the Faithful. An unbaptized person cannot be present at this part of the Divine Liturgy, so the Church offers prayers for the catechumens and before the Cherubic Hymn they are removed from the church.

The outline of any litany is the petition of a priest - priest or deacon as an intercessor before the Lord for the people, addressed to God. This petition strengthens the chorus with the words “Lord, have mercy” or “Give, Lord.” This sound pattern is an echo of the fact that in ancient times all the parishioners of the temple sang the above-mentioned prayers “Lord, have mercy” or “Give, Lord” together, unanimously on behalf of all humanity, asking God for certain benefits.

So, the great (peaceful) litany.

It begins any service, such as Vespers, Matins, Liturgy. If you listen carefully to her prayers, you will hear that the petitions of the peaceful litany begin with a request for the most important spiritual benefits and end with requests for earthly prosperity. Therefore, her petitions are like a ladder leading from heaven to earth, where each prayer is a specific step.

The beginning of “Let us pray to the Lord in peace” is twofold. On the one hand, it symbolizes peace as the fullness of Orthodox humanity living in the Church, on the other hand, spiritual peace as a special prayerful mood.

Each litany ends with a priestly exclamation, in which in one way or another the priest thanks the Lord for his benefits to humanity. If the petitions of the litany can be pronounced by a deacon, then the exclamation can only be pronounced by a priest or bishop.

And in this construction of the litany we see an image of the structure of the Church itself, an image of Its fullness and power.

Ideally, the deacon takes the blessing from the priest, who liturgically, in the liturgical sense, represents Christ. That is, God himself blesses the deacon, and with him the entire Orthodox people for prayer. The deacon goes to the pulpit and raises his right hand with the orarion up. The deacon is often called the “director” or “conductor” of the service, because he tunes people to prayer, like a tuning fork. So, the deacon, standing facing the altar, raises his hand with the orarion upward. Why does the clergyman stand facing the altar? Because he is directed towards God, and in this case he is an intercessor for the people before Him. Why is the hand raised up? Because the heart is raised to grief. And the deacon shows that we must spiritually and mentally leave the earth and direct our attention to heaven, to prayer - to God. To each deacon’s petition, the choir on behalf of the entire people responds with “Lord, have mercy” or “Give, Lord.” This is a symbol of the fact that the entire human Christian universe is praying at this moment - the entire fullness of the earthly Church.

The litany ends with the exclamation of the priest, who, purely before the Throne of God, intercedes for the people for all those spiritual and material benefits that people ask from their Creator. He raises the litany to an even higher level - the angelic level, the level of thanksgiving and glorification of the Holy Trinity. It is this that is the core of every priestly exclamation. The choir, on behalf of all those praying, answers “Amen,” which is translated from Hebrew as “so be it,” “truly so.” This confirms the fact that all believers in this prayer are unanimous with the priest and seem to be One soul directed towards God - His Beloved Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Priest Andrey Chizhenko