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A '''Litanies litany''' (gr. Εκτενής ; sl. Ектения - Ektenija) is a prayerful sequence of supplications which are intoned by a [[deacon]] or the [[priest]] in the name of all those praying. After each petition the choir, or people, sing, ''"Lord, have mercy,"'' "Grant this, O Lord" (orin some translations, ''"Grant thisit, O Lord"), or "To Thee, O Lord" (or "To You, O Lord")."''

Each of litany concludes with an [[exclamation ]] (doxology) said by the priest glorifying the [[Holy Trinity]].

The [[ Great Litany]] (Greek: Συναπτή μεγάλη/Synaptê Megalê; Slavonic: Ектенїѧ Великаѧ/Ekteniya Velikaya) --so called not only because of its length, but because of its importance, coming near the beginning of major services such as the [[Divine Liturgy]], [[Matins]], [[Vespers]], [[Baptism]], or [[Great Blessing of Waters]], etc. This ektenia is also called the Litany of Peace, begins with (Greek: Εἰρηνικά/Eirênika; Slavonic: Мирнаѧ Ектенїѧ/Mirnaya Ekteniya) because of the words opening petition: "In peace, let us pray to the Lord." It contains many different petitions for prosperity and salvation of various groups.

The [[Small Litany]] (Greek: Αἴτησις/Aitêsis or Μικρὴ Συναπτή/Mikrê Synaptê; Slavonic: Ектенїѧ Малаѧ/Ektenia Malaya) is a shortened form of the Great Litany. It begins with the words: ''"Again and again , consisting in peace let us pray to the Lord."'' It contains only three petitions.  ==Augmented Litanyof Supplication==The [[Augmented Litany]] is so called because it consists of the petitions contained in the [[Litany of Fervent Supplication]](Slavonic: Просительная ектения; Greek: Δέησις, Πληρωτικά), sometimes called ''augmentedLitany of Completion'' , is characterized by two petitions at the beginning: ''its first petition, "Let us say with all complete our soul prayer unto the Lord," and by its petitions that end with all our mind, "let us say:ask of the Lord,"'' and ''to which the faithful respond "Grant this, O Lord Almighty, ." The petitions beseech ("supplicate") the Lord for the spiritual well-being of the God faithful. The initial petition may be modified to denote time of day (e.g. "Let us complete our Fathers, we pray Thee, hearken and have mercyevening prayer unto the Lord."'' The responses to these augmented petitions), unlike those taken from and therefore the Litany of Fervent Supplicationmay be called the "Evening Litany" or "Morning Litany, consist " depending on the service in which it is said. In the [[Divine Liturgy]], which is considered to be "outside of a single ''"Lord have mercytime,"'' instead the Litany of Supplication does not denote a time of threeday.

The [[Litany of Fervent Supplication]] (Slavonic: Ектенїѧ Сугубаѧ/Ekteniya Sugubaya)-- this litany is remarkable because of its fervency, indicated by the threefold response of the choir, "Lord, have mercy" (thrice). At the Divine Liturgy, this litany may also be augmented with special petitions, according to need as the presiding clergyman sees fit. ==Augmented Litany==The [[Augmented Litany]] is characterized so called because it consists of the petitions contained in the [[Litany of Fervent Supplication]], augmented by two petitions at the three-fold ''beginning: "Let us say with all our soul and with all our mind, let us say:" and "O LordAlmighty, the God of our Fathers, we pray Thee, hearken and have mercy." The responses to these augmented petitions, unlike those taken from the Litany of Fervent Supplication, consist of a single "Lord have mercy''," instead of three. The Augmented Litany may also be "augmented" with special petitions at times of need, such as for peace at times of war, for the health of a graevely-ill parishioner, the blessing of a new [[Marriage]], etc.

This litany ==Litany for the Departed==The [[Litany for the Departed]] is composed of entreaties to the Lord, that He might grant rest in the one through which Heavenly Kingdom to the people pray for souls of the departed by forgiving them all their own particular needssins. It may be inserted into the [[Divine Liturgy]], as well as those of immediately following the entire Church[[Augmented Litany]], their neighborsespecially at funerals and on Soul Saturdays, but also for the newly-departed, their country and however never on a day of the entire worldResurrection (i.e. Paschal-tide & Sundays).

{{stub}}The [[Litany for the Catechumens]] (Slavonic: Ектенїѧ о Оглашенныхъ/Ekteniya o Oglashennuikh) contains petitions, offered by the Orthodox faithful, for the [[catechumen|catechumens]] of the Church. These petitions ask the Lord to guide the catechumens in their journey toward "Illumination" in the Orthodox faith. This litany traditionally ended the part of the service which the [[catechumens]] were permitted to attend. The litany concludes with a dismissal of the catechumens, and (in older times) the closing of the doors of the [[temple]] to all but baptized members in good standing. The Litany for the Catechumens is found in the Divine Liturgy, and is immediately followed by the first [[Litany of the Faithful]]. ==Litany of the Faithful==The first [[Litany of the Faithful]] dismisses the catechumens. At one time it was common for those who were not going to receive the [[Eucharist]] (among them the Catechumens) to move to the back of the church, or leave the building altogether, at the time of the [[Divine_Liturgy#Liturgy_of_the_Faithful|Liturgy of the Faithful]]. The second Litany of the Faithful is usually abbreviated as a [[Little Litany]] when no deacon is serving, but normally contains several petitions from the [[Great Litany]]. The Litanies of the Faithful uniquely contain the exclamation, "[[Holy Wisdom|Wisdom]]," just prior to their respective doxologies. ==Litany of Thanksgiving==The Litany of Thanksgiving is a short litany that occurs after the hymn "Let our mouths be filled with Thy praise..." and before the prayer behind the [[ambon]]. It consists of three petitions and an the exclamation, "For Thou art our sanctification...", and is so named because the first petition includes the phrase "...let us worthily give thanks unto the Lord," and historically it is linked to the prayer of thanksgiving which the priest says immediately after communing himself. ==The [[Litia]]== There is also a special form of litany called a ''[[Artoklasia|Litia]]''' (Greek: Λιτή/Litê; Slavonic: Литїѧ, ''Litiya'').<ref>Hapgood, Isabel F. (1922), Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church (5th ed.), Englewood NJ: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese (published 1975), pp. 13, 594</ref>  The litia, which means a fervent or intensified prayer, most commonly refers to a part of Vespers that ends with the blessing of bread, wheat, wine, and oil for the strengthening of the faithful who continue worshiping during the Vigil. The litia is chanted at [[All-Night Vigil]]s, consisting of several long petitions, mentioning the names of numerous saints, to which the people/choir responds with "Lord, have mercy" many times. In parish practice the litia is sometimes performed in the narthex of the church as the Church steps out of its blessed milieu and, in the character of the litia prayers, embraces all people. <ref>[[http://dce.oca.org/page/activity-books/]]C. K. Zebrun Gen. Ed., ''Saints Commemorated in the Litiya Prayers'', Department of Christian Education, Orthodox Church in America, 2009, pp4-5.</ref> ==Special Litanies==Special Litanies litanies occur only in particular services. These will usually be in the form of special petitions that are added to the Great Litany (such as at Baptism, or the special Kneeling Vespers at [[Pentecost]]), or unique litanies that occur in only one service (such as those at [[Molieben]] services or [[Holy Unction]]). At the [[Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts]] many of the same litanies occur as during the Divine Liturgy, some of them being altered to conform to the needs of the Presanctified. ==Notes==<div class="references-small"><references /></div> ==External links ==[[w:Ektenia|Wikipedia: Ektenia]]