A Reformed Litany of the Saints: For All Saints' Day

Clipped from: https://northamanglican.com/a-reformed-litany-of-the-saints-for-all-saints-day/
By Fr Ben Jefferies

A rticle 22 authoritatively asserts that the, “…Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.”

Indeed it is. Nowhere in the Bible has God revealed that the departed saints are capable of hearing our petitions. They may, but we cannot know, because only an authoritative revelation from God would make it certain, and we have no such revelation. Therefore, to pray to the Saints as the papists and Orthodox do (even if only to ask for their prayers) is to construct a piety on a foundation of air and uncertainty. Moreover, the history of the late Middle Ages, as well as the observable piety of many who belong to the Church of Rome or the East today, shows us that reaching out in one’s spirit to departed saints very quickly trespasses on the communication that God intends for us to have with himself alone. He alone knows our thoughts. He alone hears our cries. To take our needs to the saints is to slight the God who desires to provide for them. Worse than this, to assume that the Saints somehow take more pity on us than the Father who would give his only Son for our sake, is to insult the goodness of our God and Savior.

For all these reasons, and in the face of a morass of false-piety to the saints in heaven still tempting the saints on earth, I believe our Anglican Reformers were most blessed in their warning and prohibition to us in Article 22, and it was of great wisdom that all petitions to the saints were removed from our liturgies, and not included in the Book of Common Prayer, ever. Unlike other sometimes controversial elements of the prayerbook (I’m looking at you, Epiclesis) Invocation of the Saints has zero prayerbook precedent. It is therefore necessary that all faithful leaders of Anglican Liturgy do not import this Romish practice into our public liturgies. While the patristic precedent for a simple “ora pro nobis” may permit a priest in some circumstances to stay his hand in forbidding a mature Christian under his care to pray something similar; when it comes to public worship, it must be strictly verboten. Regardless of public/private — the received cultus of the saints today is much more developed than a simple ora pro nobis, and no part of it can be touched without great danger to the right reverence of the honor that is due to our Almighty God.

Having said all that, I admit there remains something marvelously enchanting about the great Roman martyrology. All those names. All those names. Of apostles and martyrs and virgins and bishops and teachers. With names that reveal the rich tapestry of cultures and languages from whence the Faithful have been called. A Litany that gives concrete “faces” to the abstract idea of the communion of saints. A New Covenant addition to the list that makes up the great cloud of witnesses in the letter to the Hebrews. There is something trenchant about the Litany of the Saints. And yet, as a sincere Anglican, I cannot in good faith pray ‘ora pro nobis’, and as a priest I am bound to not lead the People of God in such a vainly invented thing.

And so I would suggest a reformed Litany of Saints. I have removed the “Ora Pro Nobis”, and replaced it with “Glory to God” chanted to the same chant-tone, adding a “for” before each blessed name to make the litany make grammatical sense.

In keeping with some instances of English versions of the Litany of the Saints, and because of its excellent “face-giving” value as well as catechetical instruction, a brief description of each saint is included in the Litany. I offer it here for my fellow reformed catholics, for use at an All Saints’ Holy Communion, either during the processional, or at the prayers of the people after the petition that mentions the faithful departed.

Here is a youtube video of a small sample.

A Modified Litany of the Saints

Let us give thanks for the Communion of Saints, among which we are blessed to be found, singing, “Glory to God”

The Rev. Ben Jefferies is a sinner, grateful to the Lord for his mercy. He grew up in England, and emigrated to the United States in 1999. He went to Wheaton College, and several years later discerned a call to ministry and went to seminary at Nashotah House Theological Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Duncan in 2014. He currently serves The Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Opelika, Alabama. He served on the Liturgy Task Force of the ACNA from 2015-2019, and was the lead designer for the production of the printed prayer book. He continues as the Assistant to the Custodian of the Book of Common Prayer (2019), and serves on the board of directors of Anglican House Media Ministries. He is married with three daughters.