crossing the threshold into lent

Beloved ones, let us walk – process – together into Lent this first Sunday of Lent with The Great Litany. The Episcopal Church tells us of the history of this ancient prayer. It is:

“an intercessory prayer including various petitions that are said or sung by the leader, with fixed responses by the congregation. It was used as early as the fifth century in Rome. The Litany was the first English language rite prepared by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. It was first published in 1544. Cranmer modified an earlier litany form by consolidating certain groups of petitions into single prayers with response. The Litany’s use in church processions was ordered by Henry VIII when England was at war with Scotland and France.” https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/great-litany-the/

You will find the Litany on page 148 in your Book of Common Prayer. (If you don’t have one at home, I will give you one!)

The Choir and Clergy will process around the Sanctuary while the Litany is chanted. We invite you, if you wish, to ‘fall in’ and process a turn around the Sanctuary with us, returning to your seat as the prayer concludes. (Directions will be given in the Welcome.)