Here’s
an example of a litany for All Saints Day. It comes from the Christian Church Foundation website. The
author notes that “Biblical, historical, denominational, congregational names
can be changed.”
All Saints Litany
Gracious
God,
you
are to be praised
for
the women and men whose faithful witness to your love
inspires
each generation of your people:
Abraham
and Sarah,
who
believed your promise
even
when they were old and barren;
Isaiah
of Jerusalem,
who
in a time marked by terror,
proclaimed
that the lion would lie down with the lamb;
Ruth,
whose
loyalty to Naomi
became
a model for people of every time and place;
Esther,
who
risked her life before the king to save her people;
Paul
of Tarsus,
who
was beaten and shipwrecked
while
carrying the Gospel to us, the Gentiles;
Mary
Magdalene,
who
ran from the tomb crying out that Jesus was alive;
Martin
Luther,
who
spoke afresh of salvation by grace alone through faith;
Thomas
Campbell, Barton Stone, and Alexander Campbell,
who
yearned for a church with the vitality of the New Testament church;
Caroline
Neville Pearre and Matilda Hart Younkin
who
created missions throughout the world
and
benevolence throughout the nation.
All
the saints of this congregation whom we name before you today:
(reading of names)
Let
us pray.
God
of all people,
we
recall the names of these witnesses,
we
pray they will inspire us with their extravagance:
excessive
love,
flagrant
mercy,
radical
affection,
exorbitant
charity,
immoderate
faith,
and
intemperate hope
as
in the way of Jesus Christ. Amen.
~
from “Celebrating All Saints Day: Resources for Congregational Ministry and
Worship,” Rev. Richard J. Hull II, Contributing Author. http://www.christianchurchfoundation.org/userfiles/files/allsaintsdayworshipresource2012.pdf
