Litany of Saint Anthony

Today I have prayed this litany, for the intentions of an internet friend and her situation with an adolescent son. I have also prayed for our family's intentions - Gerry ( dh) is unhappy with some recent turn of events and worries about our family and sons.

I thought I'd share the litany here, as our family has a special fondness for St Anthony of Padua. Maybe you'd like to pray along with us?

Litany of Saint Anthony

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us.Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary,

St. Anthony of Padua,

St. Anthony, glory of the Friars Minor,

St. Anthony, ark of the testament,

St. Anthony, sanctuary of heavenly wisdom,

St. Anthony, destroyer of worldly vanity,

St. Anthony, conqueror of impurity,

St. Anthony, example of humility,

St. Anthony, lover of the Cross,

St. Anthony, martyr of desire,

St. Anthony, generator of charity,

St. Anthony, zealous for justice,

St. Anthony, terror of infidels,

St. Anthony, model of perfection,

St. Anthony, consoler of the afflicted,

St. Anthony, restorer of lost things,

St. Anthony, defender of innocence,

St. Anthony, liberator of prisoners,

St. Anthony, guide of pilgrims,

St. Anthony, restorer of health.

St. Anthony, performer of miracles,

St. Anthony, restorer of speech to the mute,

St. Anthony, restorer of hearing to the deaf,

St. Anthony restorer of sight to the blind,

St. Anthony, disperser of devils,

St. Anthony, reviver of the dead.

St. Anthony, tamer of tyrants,

From the snares of the devil,

St. Anthony deliver us.

From thunder, lightning and storms,

St. Anthony deliver us.

From all evil of body and soul,

St. Anthony deliver us.

Through your intercession,

St. Anthony protect us.

Throughout the course of life,

St. Anthony protect us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,

spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,

graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,

have mercy on us.

V. St. Anthony, pray for us.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let Us Pray

O my God, may the pious commemoration of St. Anthony, your Confessor and Proctor, give joy to your Church, that she may ever be strengthened with your spiritual assistance and merit to attain everlasting joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

There is value in both liturgical, traditional prayer and in spontaneous prayer. C.S. Lewis wrote about mistrusting spontaneous prayers in church. How can you pray along with someone, he asked, when that person may be spouting wrong theology?

We can recognize that for most of church history, Christians have relied on liturgical, memorized prayer. And, in fact, most of the prayers included in the Bible, including all of the Psalms, had a liturgical use.