ns as follows:
I. _The Invocations_ being earnest appeals for mercy to each Person
in the Godhead, first separately and then collectively. II. _The
Deprecations_, being those petitions having as their response,
"Good Lord, deliver us." III. _The Obsecrations_, being the last
three petitions having as their response, "Good Lord, deliver us,"
beginning with the petition, "By the mystery," etc. IV. _The
Intercessions_, including all the petitions to which the people
respond, "We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord." V. _The
Supplications_, beginning, "O Christ hear us," down to VI. _The
Prayers_ with which the Litany closes. By reason of its responsive
character the Litany is a very soul stirring and heart searching
supplication, is designed to keep the attention constantly on the
alert and to enliven devotion by calling upon the congregation to
make their petitions for those deliverances and blessings recited
by the minister. {172}

Litany Desk.--A kneeling desk, sometimes called a faldstool, from
which the Litany is read. Its customary place in the Church is on
the floor of the nave in front of the chancel in accordance with
the Injunction issued during the reigns of Edward VI and Queen
Elizabeth. The significance of this position may be seen by
reference to the words of the prophet Joel read on Ash Wednesday
as the Epistle, "Let the Priests, the Ministers of the Lord, weep
_between the porch and the Altar_, and let them say, Spare Thy
people, O Lord."

Liturgical Colors.--(See CHURCH COLORS.)

Liturgy.--The word "Liturgy" is derived from the Greek _leitourgia_,
meaning a public work or duty, whether civil or religious. It then
became generally used with reference to sacred offices, whence arose
its ecclesiastical use to signify the solemnization of the rites of
the Christian Church. Afterwards, it came to be especially applied
to the office for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and as such
the term is technically used in Church History. The Liturgy being
the Office of the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, it has for
its nucleus our Lord's words of Institution. These with their
accompanying Divine acts form the centre around which all subsequent
prayers, praises and ritual customs gathered, and the history of
these is the history of Liturgies. Liturgies have been used in the
Christian Church from the beginning as the ancient Liturgies
demonstrate. Of these there are many still extant in MSS. some of
them fully