For the First Sundays of Advent and Lent, we will read The Great Litany in place of the Prayers of the People. The Great Litany is a historic and comprehensive prayer of intercession and supplication, rooted in the Anglican tradition. It is a structured, responsive liturgy that includes petitions led by an officiant (often a priest or deacon) with fixed responses from the congregation, such as “Good Lord, deliver us” or “We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.” With its thorough focus on  repentance, leaving no stone unturned, many people will pray through the Litany each day during Lent as part of their spiritual disciplines.

Its origins trace back to 1544, when Archbishop Thomas Cranmer composed it as the first English-language rite for public worship, drawing from earlier sources like the Sarum Rite, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and Martin Luther’s Latin litany. This makes it one of the oldest continuously used liturgies in the Anglican tradition, predating even the first Book of Common Prayer of 1549. Learn more below. Read More