Litany for the Winter Quarter, beginning with Advent

THE LITANY.

LORD, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

O God eternal Creator of all things,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Father of Glory, and Lord of Heaven and Earth,
Father of mercies, and God of all comfort,
Who hast made us to thy own image,
Who hast redeemed us by thy only Son,
Who hast adopted us thy children,

Have mercy on us.

Who hast given thy angels charge over us,
Who hast encompassed us with all blessings,
Who hast prepared for us an eternal kingdom,
Who hast called us into the fellowship of thy Saints,
Who givest a good spirit to those that ask it,
Who showest mercy to those that seek it,
Who art blessed on thy throne of glory,
Who art adored by all the blessed,
Who art the happiness of the elect,
Who art served by all creatures,
Who permittest us, wretched sinners, to praise thy name,
Who art the comfort of our pilgrimage, and object of our hope,

Have mercy on us

Be merciful, O Lord, and spare us.
Be merciful, O Lord, and hear us.

From the spirit of infidelity,
From profaneness and irreligion,
From the contempt of thy worship,
From the abuse of those places which are sacred to thee,
From the neglect of our prayers,
From all kind of irreverence in thy holy presence,
From sloth, coldness, and indevotion in time of prayer,
From a dissipated and worldly spirit at that holy time,
From dejection and want of hope,

O Lord. deliver us.

We sinners, beseech thee hear us.

That we may be ever thankful for whatever opportunities thou art pleased to give us of meeting in thy worship,
That we may lay hold of all such opportunities for thy greater glory, and the good of our souls,
That we may ever appear before thee with a sense of our unworthiness, and of thy awful majesty, in whose presence the pillars of heaven tremble,
That we may come before thee, as sinful creatures, admitted into the choirs of blessed spirits, with them to join our praises, and permitted to adore before thy throne,
That we may come before thee as petitioners whose wants are infinite, who can have no supply but from thy bounty,
That we may come before thee, as poor wretched creatures, perishing under variety of distempers, who have no hopes of help but from thy hand,
That we may come before thee, as humble and unhappy criminals, who stand sentenced to the torments of an everlasting death, and can have no deliverance but from thy mercy,
That hence, as often as we appear before thee, it may ever be with a reverence becoming thy Majesty, with a heart fixed on thy goodness, and with a fervency answerable to our wants,
That thou wouldst vouchsafe to give a like spirit to all the faithful, that so all indecencies, irreverences, abuses, and scandals, may be removed from all places of thy worship,
That as to us, thou hast mercifully enlarged the liberties of thy worship, so throughout the world all restraints may be removed,
That thou wouldst mercifully assist us in preparing our hearts to be the temples of the Holy Ghost, that so thou, O God, mayest ever abide within us.
That while we serve thee with outward decency, we may be likewise solicitous to adore thee in spirit and truth,
That thou wouldst vouchsafe graciously to hear us,
Son of God,

We beseech thee, hear us.

Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.—Christ, graciously hear us.

Let us pray.

SHOW mercy to us, O God, and grant these our requests; not only to us, but to all the faithful, that all may serve thee in spirit and truth: that all abuses, irreverences, and scandals being banished from the places of thy worship, they may become the houses of prayer, and nothing be admitted there but what is well pleasing in thy sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints, be our intercessors with the Lord, that we may be succored and secured by him, who liveth and reigneth to everlasting ages. A. Amen.