This litany,
which comes from The Golden Manual (1850), is
for private use only. Litanies approved for public use can be found on
the Litanies page. This litany can be
downloaded in pdf format: The Golden Litany
(pdf)
Note that this is a very long litany; if leading a group in prayer, it
need be printed out only once: aside from the very first and last
lines, the response throughout is always the same: "have mercy on us."
The Golden Litany
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ have
mercy
on us; and grant us strength of soul, inward and outward, that we may
serve Thee to the pleasure of Thy will.
O Lord God, Father of heaven, by Thy heavenly virtue, have mercy on us.
O Son of God, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
O Holy Ghost, one God, with the Father and the Son, have mercy on us.
O Lord God, by Thine increate and undivided Trinity, have mercy on us.
By Thy godly being, have mercy on us.
By Thy godly nature,
have mercy on us.
By Thine infinite beauty, have mercy
on us.
By Thyself, and all goodness that thou beholdest in Thyself, have mercy on us.
By the creation of heaven and earth, and all things that are in them, have mercy on us.
By Thy goodness, which Thou hadst in the creation of man to Thine image
and likeness, have mercy on us.
By that great love, wherewith Thou didst predestinate to repair fallen
man, have mercy on us.
By that ineffable love, whereby Thou chosest Mary, most pure virgin, to
be Thy mother, have mercy on us.
By that most holy name, Mary, which descended and flowed from the high
throne of the glorious Trinity, have
mercy on us.
By the Immaculate Conception of Thy blessed Virgin Mother, have mercy on us.
By her most holy nativity, have
mercy on us.
By her virginity and great meekness, have
mercy on us.
By that meek affection and love which drew Thee from the bosom of the
Father into the womb of the Virgin, have
mercy on us.
By the humility of Thy high majesty, which disdained not to descend
into the womb of the Virgin Mary, have
mercy on us.
For the frailty of man, which Thou loathedst not to take willingly for
our sins, have mercy on us.
For Thy holy Nativity, wherein Thou didst vouchsafe to be born of a
woman, have mercy on us.
For that unspeakable delight and gladness, which Thy blessed Mother had
in Thy Nativity, have mercy on us.
By that cold crib Thou layest in, wrapped in poor clothes and fed with
maiden's milk, have mercy on us.
By the great joy of the shepherds, who worshipped Thee lying in the
crib, have mercy on us.
For that painful Circumcision and shedding of Thy precious Blood, and
for the virtue of Thy Holy Name Jesus, and all Thy blessed names, have mercy on us.
For the oblation and the prayers of the three kings, have mercy on us.
For that blessed oblation, wherein Thou wert offered to Thy Father in
the temple, have mercy on us.
For Thy flight into Egypt, and all the pains Thou sufferedst there with
Thy blessed Mother, have mercy on us.
For Thy coming again from Egypt unto Nazareth, and Thy meek obedience
wherewith Thou didst willingly subject Thyself to Thy parents, have mercy on us.
For Thy meek and lowly conversation during three and thirty years on
earth, have mercy on us.
For Thy meek obedience and great patience, have mercy on us.
For Thy most holy meditations, words, and works of mercy, have mercy on us.
For Thy holy Baptism, and the glorious appearing of the Holy Trinity, have mercy on us.
For Thy holy fasting, contemplation, genuflexions, and the tempting of
devil in the desert, have mercy on
us.
For Thy thirst, hunger, cold, and heat, which Thou sufferedst in this
vale of misery, have mercy on us.
For Thy heaviness, labour, and weariness, have mercy on us.
For the detraction and evil words, wherewith Thy enemies reviled Thee, have mercy on us.
For Thy watching and prayers, have
mercy on us.
For Thy wholesome doctrine and benefits, and Thy mighty resistance,
whereby Thou gavest no place to Thine enemies, have mercy on us.
For the wonderful signs and miracles Thou wroughtest, have mercy on us.
For Thy meek and holy conversation, have
mercy on us.
For Thy holy tears, and meek enthronisation in Jerusalem on the day of
palms, have mercy on us.
For that cursed council, wherein the malicious Jews conspired Thy
death, have mercy on us.
By that fervent and charitable desire that Thou hadst to redeem us, have mercy on us.
By that great lowliness, which Thou shewedst in washing the feet of Thy
disciples, and of Judas who betrayed Thee, have mercy on us.
For Thy most noble and worthy institution of the sacrament of Thy most
precious Body and Blood, have mercy
on us.
For that profound love, whereby Thou sufferedst St. John the Evangelist
to rest upon Thy breast at supper, have
mercy on us.
For peace which Thou gavest to Thy disciples, have mercy on us.
For Thy holy words and sermons, have
mercy on us.
For the inward and great heaviness which Thou hadst, when Thou prayedst
to Thy Father in the garden beside the Mount of Olives, have mercy on us.
By the virtue of Thy holy prayer, that Thou prayedst there three times, have mercy on us.
For Thy fearful dread of Thy death, have
mercy on us.
For that Agony wherein Thou offeredst Thyself willingly to death,
obeying Thy Almighty Father, and for Thy Bloody Sweat, have mercy on us.
By that great meekness wherewith Thou didst vouchsafe to be comforted
by an angel, so comfort me in every time, have mercy on us.
By Thy mighty and victorious courage, wherewith Thou wentest to meet
them that sought Thee to the death, have
mercy on us.
For Thy great goodness, in that Thou refusedst not the kiss of Judas,
Thy betrayer; and the ear of Malchus that Peter smote off, Thou didst
restore and heal, have mercy on us.
For those holy bonds that Thou wert bound with, and led as a prisoner,
and the opprobrious words that Thou sufferedst all that night, have mercy on us.
For the buffet Thou enduredst in the presence of the high priest Annas,
and other shame done to Thee, have
mercy on us.
For that love and charity that Thou hadst, when Thou wert brought bound
before the high priest Caiphas, have
mercy on us.
By the false witnesses brought against Thee, and Thy unrighteous
condemnation, have mercy on us.
By the spitting on Thee, and the scourging of Thee, have mercy on us.
By the buffets and sore strokes given to Thee, have mercy on us.
By the binding and blindfolding of Thy holy eyes, shames and
reproaches, that Thou sufferedst all that night, have mercy on us.
For that merciful look wherewith Thou beheldest Peter, and for all that
labour and torment, secret and unknown, which Thou sufferedst all that
night, have mercy on us.
By Thy presentation before Pilate, and the accusations that the Jews
made against Thee, have mercy on us.
For the contempt and mocking that Thou sufferedst of Herod, and the
white garment that he sent Thee in again to Pilate, have mercy on us.
For all the shames, labours, upbraidings, and reproofs, which Thou
sufferedst going from one judge to another, have mercy on us.
For Thy great patience and stillness, have
mercy on us.
For the shameful stripping of Thy clothes, and the binding of Thy most
holy body to a pillar, have mercy on
us.
For Thy scourgings and cruel beatings, have mercy on us.
For Thy innumerable wounds, and the plenteous shedding of Thy blood, have mercy on us.
For all Thy pain, sorrow, cold, and trembling, have mercy on us.
For Thy purple garments and Thy crown of thorns violently pressed upon
Thy head, have mercy on us.
For the grievous pain that Thou sufferedst in Thy head, crowned with
thorns, when it was smitted with the reed, have mercy on us.
By the scornful worshipping of the Jews, and their salutations, when
they said, Hail, King of the Jews, have
mercy on us.
By the spitting on Thy godly face, and cruel beatings, have mercy on us.
For that heaviness of heart, which Thou hadst when Pilate brought Thee
before the multitudes of the people, wearing the crown of thorns and
the purple vesture, and said to them, Behold the man, have mercy on us.
For that fearful sentence of death and shameful leading to the Mount of
Calvary, have mercy on us.
For Thy great love shewed to us, when Thou bearedst Thy heavy cross
upon Thy shoulders, to the place where Thou sufferedst Thy most painful
passion; and the labour, anguish, slanders, and beatings that Thou
sufferedst by the way, have mercy on
us.
For all Thy bloody steps, that Thou madest going to Thy death, have mercy on us.
By that great weariness that Thou hadst in Thy shoulders, bearing the
cross, until Thou fellest down, have
mercy on us.
By the great compassion of Thy heart, that Thou hadst when, bearing the
cross, Thou mettest Thy blessed Mother sorrowing and making
lamentation, have mercy on us.
By Thy heaviness of soul and the going up the Mount of Calvary, where
Thou wert crucified, have mercy on
us.
By the stripping of Thy clothes to Thy great shame, in the sight of Thy
blessed Mother and all the people, have
mercy on us.
By that cold sitting, wherein Thou sattest piteously, full of wounds,
in the cold winds, so abiding until Thy cross was ready, have mercy on us.
For those sore and painful steps Thou madest going to Thy cross, have mercy on us.
For Thy great anguish, mournings, and weepings, have mercy on us.
For the great stretching of Thy sinews and veins, and all Thy members, have mercy on us.
By the nailing of Thy right hand and shedding of Thy precious blood,
cleanse us, Lord, from all sin and
have mercy on us.
By the nailing of Thy left hand, and Thy most holy wound and precious
blood, save us, and have mercy on us.
For the nailing of Thy most holy feet, and by the wounds in them, and
the precious blood flowing out of them, have mercy on us.
Purge us, enlighten us, and reconcile us to God the Father, and have mercy on us.
For the lifting up of Thy most holy body on the cross, and Thy sore
bruising thereof, that gave to all parts of Thy body an incredible pain, have mercy on us.
For the heaviness of Thy heart, and all the powers of Thy soul, save
us, deliver us, and have mercy on us.
For the parting of Thy clothes, and the lot that they cast upon Thy
coat, that was made without seam, Thou beholding it, have mercy on us.
For Thy great love, whereby Thou didst hang alive upon the cross three
hours, have mercy on us.
For the opprobrious and scornful words, which, hanging on the cross,
Thou heardest spoken to Thee, have
mercy on us.
For the blaspheming, sorrow, and confusion which Thou sufferedst on the
cross, have mercy on us.
For all the sorrow and pain that Thou sufferedst in Thy ribs, reins,
shoulders, in times of Thy crucifying, have mercy on us.
For all the pain Thou sufferedst in Thy hands and feet, and the
straining of all Thy members on the cross, have mercy on us.
For that wonderful charity, wherewith Thou prayedst Thy Almighty Father
for Thine enemies, have mercy on us.
For Thy great mercy, wherewith Thou promisedst paradise to the thief
hanging on Thy right side, have
mercy on us.
For the tender care that Thou hadst for Thy Mother in Thy torments,
commending her to Thy well-beloved disciple John, have mercy on us.
For the sword of sorrow that went through the soul of Thy blessed
Mother, and her great compassion and tears, that, standing by the
cross, lamentably she shed, have
mercy on us.
For those holy tears that Thou sheddest on the cross, and in all Thy
lifetime, have mercy on us.
For Thy thirst and tasting of gall and vinegar, grant us to taste the
sweetness of Thy spirit, and have
mercy on us.
For all those holy words that Thou spakest on the cross, and in all Thy
life, have mercy on us.
For that piteous cry, in the which Thou commendest Thy soul to Thy
Father, our souls be commended to Thee, and have mercy on us.
By the departing of Thy holy soul from Thy blessedly godly body, have mercy on us.
By the resting of Thy most blessed head upon Thy breast, incline, most
sweet Jesus, to us, and have mercy
on us.
By the bitterness of Thy death, and the intolerable pains wherewith Thy
heart brake, have mercy on us.
By the opening of Thy side with a spear, and the flowing out of Thy
most precious blood, smite through, good Lord, my heart with the spear
of Thy godly love, and have mercy on
us.
By that precious blood and water that ran out of Thy most holy heart,
wash and cleanse us in the same most holy water and blood from all our
sins, and have mercy on us.
For that great mercy that Thou shewedst to Longinus the soldier, and to
the centurion, and all Thy mercies that Thou has ever shewed to man, have mercy on us.
By the descending of Thy holy soul to Hell, have mercy on us.
By that might and strength of Thy blessed soul, whereby Thou brakest
the gates of hell, and deliveredst the souls of Thy friends, have mercy on us.
For the taking down of Thy most holy body from the cross, and the
solemn burying thereof; and great lamentation of Thy blessed Mother,
Mary Magdalene, and others, Thy friends, have mercy on us.
For all Thy painful labours, weariness, sorrow, and heaviness, which
Thou sufferedst from the day of Thy Nativity unto the hour that Thy
soul departed from Thy body, have
mercy on us.
For Thy glorious Resurrection in body and soul, have mercy on us.
For that ineffable joy and gladness of Thy blessed Mother, and others,
Thy friends, in Thy glorious Resurrection, have mercy on us.
For that special grace, when Thou appearedst in a glorious body, after
Thy Resurrection, to Mary Magdalene, to the women, and to Thy
disciples, have mercy on us.
For Thy wonderful and glorious Ascension, comfort us, good Lord, in all
necessities, and have mercy on us.
For Thy godly and comfortable sending of the Holy Ghost to Thy
disciples, comfort us, hallow us, strengthen us in faith, hope, and
charity, and have mercy on us.
For Thy glory, and the divine majesty and virtues of Thy Holy Name,
save us and govern us now and forever, and have mercy on us.
For the love that rested both in Thy Godhead and manhood, have mercy on us.
For that joy whereby Thou hast fruition in Thyself, have mercy on us.
For Thyself and all goodness and merits that Thou beholdest both in
Thee and in Thy blessed Mother, have
mercy on us.
For the ministering of St. Michael, and my good angel deputed for my
keeping, and all other spirits of heaven, have mercy on us.
By the intercession and merits of SS. Peter and Paul, St. John the
Evangelist, and all the apostles,
have mercy on us.
By the merits and intercession of Thy holy martyrs, Laurence, Stephen,
and all the others, have mercy on us.
By the merits and prayers of the holy fathers and confessors, Austin,
Anthony, and all the others, have
mercy on us.
By the merits and prayers of SS. Anne, Catherine, Barbara, and all
other holy virgins, widows, and chaste livers, have mercy on us.
By the merits and prayers of all Thy chosen saints which are, have
been, and are to come in heaven and in earth, have mercy on us.
Succour us, most sweet Jesus, in that fearful day of the strict
judgment; and grant us in this transitory life all the things necessary
to the health of body and soul; and after this life, to live and
rejoice with Thee everlastingly. Amen.
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