Litany of the Saints

Following the invocation of the saints, the Litany concludes with a series of supplications to God to hear the prayers of the worshippers.

It is most prominently sung during the Easter Vigil, All Saints' Day, and in the liturgy for conferring Holy Orders, the Consecration of a Virgin and reception of the perpetual vows of a religious or a diocesane hermit.

[2] The current edition was published in 1974,[3] and contains a statement of approval from the Congregation for Divine Worship issued 24 June 1972.

The fourth section includes a list of petitions ending te rogamus audi nos ("we beseech you to hear us") from which the appropriate prayers can be chosen for a particular occasion, but always ending with petitions for the whole church, for the ministers of the church, for the lay faithful and for all humanity.

The final part of the litany consists of a brief invocation calling on Christ to hear the prayers, and a closing collect.

At this Mass, adults who have chosen to become Catholic receive the Sacraments of Initiation in the form of Baptism, or simple Reception, with Confirmation and Holy Communion.

An extended form of the litany is also permitted for baptisms, beginning with a Kyrie, and followed by the same selection of saints used for the Easter Vigil (as listed above).

The saints are followed by brief invocations of Christ and then petitions which include "Give new life to these chosen ones by the grace of baptism".

In the late 1960s, Roman Catholic liturgical texts were changed according to the directives of Sacrosanctum Concilium, a key document of the Second Vatican Council.