A Litany of Thanksgiving

If you hear or use the word “litany” in a non-church setting, it probably has a slightly negative connotation. We don’t hear people talk about having “a litany of blessings.”

We hear “a litany of complaints” or “a litany of side effects.” Both of those examples are provided by Merriam Webster’s online dictionary as common uses of the word.

Merriam Webster defines litany as “a prayer consisting of a series of invocations and supplications by the leader with alternate responses by the congregation.” This is how we use the word in the Episcopal Church. A second definition, which comes out of the practice of the first, includes three descriptions, “a: a resonant or repetitive chant; b: a usually lengthy recitation or enumeration; c: a sizable series or set.” None of these are inherently negative. However, long lists are counter-cultural in a time of sound bites and headlines and the desire to give and receive information quickly. The implication is that if you have a long list, you must be complaining. And that’s really too bad.

A litany can certainly be prayed alone, but by design, they are meant to be prayed corporately. The litanies in the BCP are written as “call and response,” with a leader and the congregation alternating lines. That makes a litany not a boring list, but an opportunity to join together as the Body of Christ, all sharing the work of prayer. This is not a negative thing at all.

The Book of Common Prayer includes four litanies: The Great Litany (BCP 148), Litany at the Time of Death (BCP 462), The Litany for Ordination (BCP 548), and A Litany of Thanksgiving (BCP 836). According to the Rev. Marion Hatchett’s Commentary on the American Prayer Book, The Great Litany, constructed by Thomas Cranmer from various existing litanies, was the first liturgy published in English, predating the first Book of Common Prayer by five years. In contrast, A Litany of Thanksgiving was written by the Rev. Dr. Massey H. Shepherd and first included in the 1979 BCP for use on Thanksgiving Day.

I invite you to read over A Litany of Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day this year. Consider including it in your Thanksgiving rituals or use it as a source of inspiration for the prayer you share before your meal.

A litany is a good thing. You are part of the litany of blessings in my life.