A litany is a form of prayer whereby a leader speaks a series of petitions and the assembly replies with a set response. The most common liturgical litanies are the Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy), the Oratio Fidelium (Prayer of the Faithful), and Agnus Dei (Lamb of God). Diaconal litanies, in which the deacon expresses a petition and the people respond are evident in the 4th century in the East. They were modified as they passed to the West. The Litanies of the Saints are a development of these earlier forms of liturgical litanies.

I have composed 49 litanies as a way of reframing this venerable form of prayer for the Church in the 21st century. They include mysteries of faith, saints, angels and victims associated with the ongoing renewal of the Church, Our Lady, one litany based on Pope John Paul II's encyclical "The Gospel of Life", and one litany of consolation based on the terrorist attacks of 9-11-01. Certain litanies are available in other languages as indicated below. If you would like to use any of these litanies, please contact Rev. Paul G. Mast (see contact page) for copyright permission.

1. Litany For Our Lady of the Cenacle


2. Litany For Our Lady of the New Millennium - (Available in Spanish)


3. Litany For The Sabbath


4. Litany For Advent/Christmas


5. Litany of Blessed Junipero Serra


6. Litany of Christ the King


7. Litany of Consolation (9-11-2001) - (Available in Spanish)


8. Litany of Divine Mercy


9. Litany of Forgiveness - Women


10. Litany of Fr. Michael McGivney


11. Litany of God, the Benevolent Father


12. Litany of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin


13. Litany of Lent/Easter


14. Litany of Our Lady of the Rosary


15. Litany of Role Models for Fatherhood


16. Litany of Saints & Victims


17. Litany of St. Aloysius Gonsaga


18. Litany of St. Andrew the Apostle


19. Litany of St. Catherine of Siena


20. Litany of St. Columba


21. Litany of St. Edith Stein


22. Litany of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton


23. Litany of St. Francis of Assisi


24. Litany of St. Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney - "Cure D'Ars" - (Available in Spanish)


25. Litany of St. Jeanne Jugan


26. Litany of St. Joan of Arc


27. Litany of St. John XXIII


28. Litany of St. Joseph - (Available in Spanish)


29. Litany of St. Josephine Bakhita


30. Litany of St. Katharine Drexel


31. Litany of St. Lawrence - Deacon & Martyr


32. Litany of St. Martin de Porres


33. Litany of St. Martin of Tours


34. Litany of St. Paul the Apostle


35. Litany of St. Peter the Apostle


36. Litany of St. Therese Couderc - (Available in French)


37. Litany of St. Vincent de Paul


38. Litany of the Blessed Trinity


39. Litany of the Evangelists


40. Litany of the Gospel of Life


41. Litany of the Holy Angels


42. Litany of the Holy Cross


43. Litany of the Holy Family


44. Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus


45. Litany of the Holy Twins - Benedict & Scholastica


46. Litany of the Homeless


47. Litany of the Most Blessed Sacrament - (Available in Spanish)


48. Litany of the Sacred Heart


49. Litany to the Holy Spirit