CHAPTER XIII. THE LITANY-HISTORICAL OCCASION OF THE FIRST ENGLISH LITANY NOTICES OF HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS-THE PRAYER OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM PECIAL interest attaches to the Litany as being SPEC the first of the public prayers set forth by authority to be said or sung in the English tongue. Without entering on the subject of the early antiquities of litanies, or "processions" (as they were often called) it may be mentioned that beside the use of litanies enjoined in the old Breviaries for Lent and the Rogation-season, it was a common practice to use this form of devotion on the occurrence of any special trouble or calamity falling upon the country. Thus in August of 1543, the year preceding the publication of the first English Litany, we find that in consequence of excessive rain, “to the great hurt and damage of the corn and fruits now ripe upon the ground," the King directed Cranmer to command the suffragans of the province of Canterbury "to cause such general rogations and processions to be made incontinently within their dioceses, as in like case heretofore hath been accustomed in this behalf accordingly." Cranmer therefore enjoined that such public "supplications and suffrages" should be made on Wednesdays and Fridays (qualibet quarta et sexta feriis) that God, remembering His mercy, would have pity upon His people. These litanies were in the Latin tongue. In the following year (1544) heavy clouds of trouble of another kind overshadowed England. The country was engaged in war at the same time with Scotland and with France. Hertford's invasion of the former country in the May of this year, and the burning of the city of Edinburgh was a striking demonstration of the power of England, but it did not subdue the spirit of the Scots, and the war was continued with much vigour, and, unfortunately, much ferocity on both sides. The war with France was a yet more serious matter. And while the hearts of Englishmen were filled with anxiety, Henry, whose character, however shamefully discreditable, was marked by a strong vein of religious, or, if the term be preferred, superstitious sentiment, gave order for "general processions" [i.e. litanies]* "to be said or sung with such reverence as appertaineth," in all cities, towns, churches, and parishes of the realm, to the end that God would allay the "most cruel wars, hatreds, and dissensions" that prevailed so * In mediæval times the litanies were sung in procession sometimes within the church, sometimes in the churchyard, and on certain occasions along the streets or roads of the parish. Hence the word "Procession" was commonly applied to the service itself. ' widely. But in this case we have the beginnings of a great change in the worship of the English people. Forasmuch," say the royal letters, "as heretofore the people, partly for lack of good instruction and calling, partly for that they understood no part of such prayers or suffrages as were used to be sung and said, have used to come very slackly to the procession when the same have been commanded heretofore, we have set forth certain godly prayers and suffrages in our native English tongue."* Here is the first beginning of our priceless English Prayer Book. It was, then, the disturbed condition of the greater part of Europe, or, to use the King's words, "the miserable state of all Christendom . . . so plagued with the most cruel wars, hatreds, and dissensions," and more especially the wars, against Scotland and against France, in which England itself was engaged, which made the occasion for the publication of the first English Litany as enjoined for actual use. The object of the war with the Scots, it may be remembered, was to secure the person of the royal infant who afterwards figured so largely in history as the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots, as a bride for Prince Edward. A comparison of our Litany with the pre-Reformation English litanies will help us to see what was specially suggested by the circumstances of the time. Thus the petition that God would “give to all nations unity, peace, and concord" seems to be new, at least * WILKINS' Concilia, iii. 869; CRANMER'S Remains and Letters (P.S.), p. 494. in England. Again, when we remember that Henry VIII. was just about to lead his army in person into France, we can appreciate the special significance of the words with reference to the King: "That it may please thee to be his defender and keeper, giving him the victory over all his enemies." * Once again, in the same connection it may be mentioned that in one of the Sarum litanies a rubric directs that "if it shall be necessary in time of war" certain versicles or preces shall be used. These appear in our Litany, and run from (and including) the versicle "From our enemies defend us, O Christ" down to the end of "Graciously hear us, O Lord Christ." In days of national peace and prosperity good people, I suppose, understand "our enemies" in a mystical sense, as "our spiritual enemies," and so make them in a fashion not inappropriate. Yet I cannot but admire the wisdom of the mediaval Church when she practised an economy in the expression of intense and pathetic entreaty. To use such language every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday in the year is to leave us bankrupt in the day of calamity. As illustrating the purpose of the Litany of 1544 a passage may be cited from "An Exhortation to Prayer" prefixed to it when first published : "And here specially let us pray for our most dear and sovereign lord, the king's majesty, who doth not only study * The words italicised do not occur in the pre-Reformation Litanies. and care daily and hourly for our prosperity and wealth, but also spareth not to spend his substance and treasure, yea, ready at all times to endanger himself for the tender love and zeal that he beareth towards this realm and the subjects of the same: who at this present time hath taken upon him the great and dangerous affairs of war. Let us pray that it may please Almighty God, Lord of hosts, in whose hands is only wealth and victory, mercifully to assist him, sending his holy angel to be his succour, keeper, and defender from all his adversaries, and from all evils. Let us pray for our brethren that bend themselves to battle for God's cause and our defence, that God may grant them prosperous success to our comfort and the increase of his glory. Let us pray for ourselves that remain at home that Almighty God defend us from sin, sickness, dearth, and all other adversities of body and soul."* There can scarcely be a reasonable doubt that both the Exhortation to prayer and the Litany to which it is prefixed are due to the pen of Archbishop Cranmer. The literary and liturgical merits and demerits of his workmanship on this part of the Prayer Book will be considered more particularly hereafter. At present I would only call attention briefly to certain features characteristic of the period of its origin that have since disappeared. The invocation of the Saints was a striking feature in most of the medieval Litanies. Immediately after the petition in the opening, "O Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy upon us," there followed long *The Exhortation and Litany will be found printed in an appendix to Mr. Clay's volume, Private Prayers put forth by authority during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, etc. (P.S.), pp. 563 sq. |