The Great Litany has the honor of being the first service ever to be printed in English, meaning it has a long history within the Prayer Book tradition.
The Litany can be used:
- With Morning/Evening Prayer
- As an entrance rite to Holy Eucharist
- As a separate service all by itself
The Litany is a form of supplication, that is, a prayer or an intercession even. It also has a penitential nature, which is why it is considered appropriate to use it during Lent.
When used as the entrance for Holy Eucharist, the Litany takes place of everything before the Collect of the Day. It also means we can omit the Prayers of the People because the Litany is a form of intercession already. The Confession of Sin is a section of the Word of God liturgy in Holy Eucharist that "on occasion... may be omitted." When already have confessed our sins in the penitential nature of the Great Litany, it is appropriate to include this as one of those occasions.
When the Litany is the entrance rite for Holy Eucharist, the service looks a little different. Yet we still have all the necessary parts of the service right there, even if they come in a different order than usual.