LITANY OF LORETO

The litany in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary in common use in the Western Church. It derives its name from its association with the shrine at Loreto, where it was known and commonly used from the mid-16th century. Earlier litanies or comparable series of laudes, eulogies, and invocations honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary are known to have existed, a Gaelic example of which was in use as early as the 8th century. The Litany of Loreto did not originate at the shrine, but is traceable, according to the researches of G. G. Meersseman, to the early Middle Ages, and shows the influence of Marian devotion in the East, where lists of titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary were not uncommon. The earliest known manuscript copy of a litany approximating that of Loreto dates from c. 1200 [Der Hymnos Akathistos im Abendland, 2v. (Freiburg 1958–60) 2.220–225]. This form of the Marian litany no doubt found favor and displaced others with longer and more elaborate invocations because of its beauty and because its brevity was better adapted to public devotion. When it came into use at Loreto, thousands of pilgrims became familiar with it, and returning to their homes spread its popularity throughout Europe. Its association with the shrine at Loreto was already well established in 1558, when it was printed and published by St. Peter Canisius at Dilligen, Germany, under the title Letania Loretana. This is the oldest known printed copy of the litany, and its text, probably taken from an earlier Italian publication, is identical with that in use down to modern times, except for two minor variations in the titles by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is addressed, and its omission, perhaps by editorial oversight, of two titles.

For a short time in the 16th century it appeared that the Litany of Loreto would have to give way to a new version that was drawn up containing invocations taken more directly from the Scriptures and liturgy and thought to be more in accord with the motu proprio of Pius V of March 20, 1571, prohibiting unapproved forms of the Little Office and some litanies of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Sixtus V, however, granted his approval to the old form used at Loreto and recommended preachers to propagate its use. In time there were new titles introduced: Pius VII added that of Queen of All Saints on his return to Rome after his long captivity; Leo XIII, the titles Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Queen Conceived without Original Sin, and Mother of Good Counsel; Benedict XV, during World War I, Queen of Peace; and Pius XII, on the occasion of the definition of the dogma of the Assumption, that of Queen Assumed into Heaven [Acta Apostolicae Sedis 42 (1950) 795].

The titles of the litany fall into four categories. In the first 20, after being saluted as Holy Mary, The Blessed Virgin Mary is addressed first as Mother, then as Virgin, by titles indicative of the dignity of her relationship to God and to man, and of her excellence as prototype, after her divine Son, of Christian perfection. She is mother of God, of our Creator and Savior, and hence mother most pure, most admirable, possessed of perfect integrity of heart and perfect harmony of mind and body, of unalloyed goodness and perfect love, wise, powerful, gentle, and true. Then follow 13 beautiful titles associated with Old Testament prophecy and symbolism, and four whose origins are lost in antiquity tell of her power and office. Finally she is addressed 12 times as queen in terms that declare the broad extent and character of her queenship. The litany ends with the Collect from the common Mass of Blessed Virgin Mary, which prays for health of body and spirit and deliverance from present sorrow to a future joy.

In an attempt to draw continuities between the ordinary life of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the lives of women today, some communities have added contemporary Marian invocations that call on the Blessed Virgin Mary as "Mother of the homeless, widowed mother, mother of a political prisoner, oppressed woman, first disciple …" Such images can lend dignity to the lives of those devalued by society as well as call attention to God's liberating activity in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Bibliography: a. de santi, Le litanie Lauretane (Rome 1897); The Catholic Encyclopedia, ed. c. g. herbermann et al., 16v. (New York 1907–14) 9:287–290. g. vann, "Notes on Our Lady's Litany," Worship 30 (1955–56) 437–441. j. f. sullivan, The Externals of the Catholic Church, rev. j. c. o'leary (2d ed. New York 1959) 362–364.

[c. h. bagley/eds.]