The Litany of the Saints is a perfect prayer for All Saints Day or to supplement any lesson you teach about the lives of the saints. You can certainly use the official Litany of the Saints (found below), or try this variation on this wonderful intercessory prayer for Catholic schools and parish religious education programs.
Preparing for the Class Litany of the Saints
1) Pick a Saint
First have your students pick a saint that matches up with their name. They can use their first name or middle name. If they aren’t named after a saint, then they can pick a saint that sounds like their name. Or, give them the chance to pick a saint that is especially important to them. At last resort, have them use the saint of your school or parish.
It might be beneficial to have them read and research about this saint ahead of time or you can assign this extra reading afterwards for homework.
2) Write an Intercession
Have the students write down a specific intercession that they will ask their saint to pray to God for them. Warn them that they will be saying these intercessions out loud with the class, but that the prayer will be heard and relayed directly by the saint they have chosen.
How To Do A Class Litany of the Saints
Option #1: The leader will read the majority of the prayer and the class read the italics. During the litany, your students will read their intercessions and then state the name of their saint to pray for us. For example:
“For my mom who is sick. St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.”
If the students have chosen any of the saints that are already in the Litany of the Saints, then mark that spot on the list and invite the student to offer up their intention at that point, stating the name of that saint to pray for us.
If two students have chosen the same saint, then invite them both to state their intention and the name of the saint individually. It’s OK to ask for the saint’s intercession more than once.
Option #2: If you want to focus only on the students, the saints, and their intercessions then you can pray without the entire, official Litany of the Saints. This might be prudent for the younger grades especially. The structure, therefore, would look something like this instead:
[Intercession.] St. John Paul, pray for us.
[Intercession.] St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us.
All you holy men and women, pray for us.
I encourage you, however, to expose your students to this full Litany of the Saints. They may not get many opportunities to experience it. Plus, why not ask all these extra saints to pray for them and get the extra graces?
A Class Litany of the Saints
Sign of the Cross
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us. (repeat after each line)
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Ghost,
Holy Trinity, one God,
Holy Mary, pray for us. (repeat after each line)
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
St. Michael,
St. Gabriel,
St. Raphael,
All you holy angels and archangels,
All you holy orders of blessed spirits,
St. John the Baptist,
St. Joseph,
All you holy patriarchs and prophets,
St. Peter,
St. Paul,
St. Andrew,
St. James,
St. John,
St. Thomas,
St. James,
St. Philip,
St. Bartholomew,
St. Matthew,
St. Simon,
St. Thaddeus,
St. Matthias,
St. Barnabas,
St. Luke,
St. Mark,
All you holy apostles and evangelists,
All you holy disciples of our Lord,
All you holy innocents,
St. Stephen,
St. Lawrence,
St. Vincent,
SS. Fabian and Sebastian,
SS. John and Paul,
SS. Cosmas and Damian,
SS. Gervase and Protase,
All you holy Martyrs,
St. Sylvester,
St. Gregory,
St. Ambrose,
St. Augustine,
St. Jerome,
St. Martin,
St. Nicholas,
All you holy bishops and confessors,
All you holy doctors,
St. Anthony,
St. Benedict,
St. Bernard,
St. Dominic,
St. Francis,
All you holy priests and levites,
All you holy monks and hermits,
St. Mary Magdalen,
St. Agatha,
St. Lucy,
St. Agnes,
St. Cecilia,
St. Catherine,
St. Anastasia,
[Here begin reading the students’ intercessions and prayers to the saints.]
All you holy virgins and widows,
All you holy men and women, saints of God, intercede for us.
Be merciful, spare us, O Lord.
Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord.
From all evil, deliver us, O Lord. (repeat after each line)
From all sin,
From Thy wrath,
From a sudden and unprovided death,
From the deciets of the devil,
From anger, and hatred, and all ill-will,
From the spirit of fornication,
From lightning and tempest,
From the scourge of earthquakes,
From plague, famine and war,
From everlasting death,
By the mystery of Thy holy incarnation,
By Thy coming,
By Thy nativity,
By Thy baptism and holy fasting,
By Thy Cross and Passion,
By Thy Death and burial,
By Thy holy Resurrection,
By Thine admirable Ascension,
By the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete.
On the day of judgment.
We sinners, we beseech Thee, hear us. (repeat after each line)
That Thou wouldst spare us,
That Thou wouldst pardon us,
That Thou wouldst bring us to true penance,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to govern and preserve Thy Holy Church,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to preserve our Apostolic Prelate, and all ecclesiastical orders in holy religion,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to humble the enemies of holy Church,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to give peace and true concord to Christian kings and princes,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant peace and unity to all Christian peoples,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to ring back to the unity of the Church all who have strayed away, and lead to the light of the Gospel all unbelievers,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to confirm and preserve us in Thy holy service,
That Thou wouldst lift up our minds to heavenly desires,
That Thou wouldst render eternal blessings to all our benefactors,
That Thou wouldst deliver our souls, and the souls of our brethren, relatives, and benefactors from eternal damnation,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to give and preserve the fruits of the earth,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant eternal rest to all the faithful departed,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe graciously to hear us, Son of God,
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Additional Thoughts On A Class Litany of the Saints
Here are some additional thoughts on how to make this work for your classroom:
