Ectenia

Semi-Autonomous: An ektenia (from Greek: ἐκτένεια, romanized: ekténia; itself from Greek: ἐκτενής, romanized: ektenés; literally, "diligence"), often called by the better known English word litany, consists of a series of petitions occurring in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic liturgies.

In Greek: συναπτή, romanized: synaptê is the prevalent ecclesiastical word for this kind of litany, while in Church Slavonic: ектенїѧ, romanized: yekteniya is the preferred word.

A litany is normally intoned by a deacon, with the choir or people chanting the responses.

When there is no priest present during the canonical hours, the litanies are not said; rather, the reader replaces them by saying "Lord, have mercy," three, twelve, or forty times, depending on which litany is being replaced.

There is also a special form of litany called a lity (Greek: Λιτή/Litê; Slavonic: Литїѧ/Litiya)[1] which is intoned at great vespers, consisting of several long petitions, mentioning the names of numerous saints, to which the choir responds with "Lord, have mercy," many times.