The Litany of the Counsel of the Saints I

Magnificat usually has this wonderful litany in the month leading up to All Saints' Day. There will be a posting of part of this litany throughout October.

This litany is a meditation on what some of the saints have spoken or written. As we listen to these saints, we pray for a deeper personal participation in their sanctity. This litany represents only a small sampling of the vast communion of the saints. Feel free to add your favorites to it. One option is to sing the litany and its response.

R. (Saint's name), pray for us

Holy Mary, Mother of God: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." R

Saint Gabriel the Archangel: "Hail favored one! The Lord is with you." R

Saint Joseph: [pause in reverent silence] R

Saint Joseph

Saint John the Baptist: "Jesus must increase; I must decrease." R

Saint Peter: "Lord, you know that I love you." R

Saint Paul: "We had accepted within ourselves the sentence of death, that we might trust not in ourselves but in God who raises the dead." R

The Beheading of Saint Paul by Enrique Simonet, 1887