What's the difference between litany and prayer?

Litany


Definition:

  • (n.) A solemn form of supplication in the public worship of various churches, in which the clergy and congregation join, the former leading and the latter responding in alternate sentences. It is usually of a penitential character.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Before issuing the ruling, the judge Shaban El-Shamy read a lengthy series of remarks detailing what he described as a litany of ills committed by the Muslim Brotherhood, including “spreading chaos and seeking to bring down the Egyptian state”.
  • (2) A well-meaning litany of no-nos: don't be racist, don't be sexist, don't be homophobic, don't shill the World Cup to countries with human-rights issues .
  • (3) Resorting to outside help to solve a problem that even the most patriotic of politicians now readily concedes is homegrown – the result of a litany of mistakes committed over the past 30 years – was never an option.
  • (4) The details in the report – including 13 incidents in which a total of 179 people died – rehearse a litany of horror.
  • (5) These challenges include: declining demand for power in the UK, currently falling at 1% a year as energy-saving measures take effect; a three-fold jump in the UK’s interconnection capacity with continental Europe by 2022, massively increasing the country’s ability to import cheaper supplies; and “a litany of setbacks” in Finland, France and China for EdF’s European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) model, the same type as planned for Hinkley Point.
  • (6) It's not just the kidneys – I could give you a litany of things that are wrong with me.
  • (7) The report, seen by the Guardian, is “deeply confused and deeply misleading” and a “litany of errors and false assumptions, clearly written ultimately as a disinformation tool”, according to two financial experts.
  • (8) An emotional Obama ran through a litany of Isis human-rights abuses, from rape to enslavement, calling them “cowardly acts of violence.” In a vague reference to Americans held captive by Isis or near its path in Iraq, Obama said the US would “do everything we can to protect our people,” a formulation that has preceded US military action in the past.
  • (9) Lahn said they found “a litany of pilots that have failed”, either due to lack of funding or broken equipment that wasn’t maintained.
  • (10) On appeal, he found his paperwork contained a litany of errors: it stated he had been a cat C prisoner (he was cat D); was in prison for murder (it was GBH); and had been moved from open conditions after six days for behaviour issues (he had been in an open prison for two years without incident and returned to closed conditions to be assessed for a course).
  • (11) National security state officials also decreed that it would "not be in the public interest" to report on the Pentagon Papers, or the My Lai massacre, or the network of CIA black sites in which detainees were tortured, or the NSA warrantless eavesdropping program, or the documents negating claims of Iraqi WMDs, or a whole litany of waste, corruption and illegality that once bore the "top secret" label.
  • (12) Place names and plant names assume the status of chants or litanies: spectral taxa incanted as elegy, or as a means to conjure back.
  • (13) Blair Jenkins, chief executive of Yes Scotland, said Cameron's speech "was the same litany of empty threats and empty promises we have come to expect from the no campaign – and he is the prime minister who has been orchestrating the campaign of ridiculous scaremongering being directed against Scotland".
  • (14) There was nothing like the usual litany of careful gratitude towards the local political machinery.
  • (15) A vast and completely incomprehensible litany of activities is forbidden there.
  • (16) This is a litany of economic and public health disasters from just one bill.
  • (17) One activist, Alexei Navalny, has launched a new website detailing the litany of corruption allegations surrounding the Games, claiming that the 10 Olympic venues cost more than twice as much as necessary.
  • (18) On Monday Hywood told Fairfax staff not to believe the “litany of bizarre commentary on the state of the industry” and the “speculative lies” about Fairfax Media, including that it would stop printing the Monday to Friday metropolitan newspapers by the end of the year.
  • (19) The HSE's latest report on Sellafield, posted online, discloses a litany of problems at the crowded site which sprawls over six square miles on the edge of the Lake District and is home to more than a thousand nuclear facilities, some dating back more than 50 years.
  • (20) In response to this litany of misery, politicians of all parties point to the only metric that matters to them and cry: but crime is falling.

Prayer


Definition:

  • (n.) One who prays; a supplicant.
  • (v. i.) The act of praying, or of asking a favor; earnest request or entreaty; hence, a petition or memorial addressed to a court or a legislative body.
  • (v. i.) The act of addressing supplication to a divinity, especially to the true God; the offering of adoration, confession, supplication, and thanksgiving to the Supreme Being; as, public prayer; secret prayer.
  • (v. i.) The form of words used in praying; a formula of supplication; an expressed petition; especially, a supplication addressed to God; as, a written or extemporaneous prayer; to repeat one's prayers.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Tolokonnikova was given a two-year sentence for her part in Pussy Riot's "punk prayer" in Moscow's largest cathedral, calling on the Virgin Mary to "kick out Putin".
  • (2) The Chiefs chairman and chief executive, Clark Hunt, released a statement that said: "Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families and everyone affected by the heartbreaking events of last Saturday.
  • (3) Tragedy was averted because there was a little delay as the prayers did not commence in earnest and the bomb strapped to the body of the girl went off and killed her,” he added.
  • (4) His "Oh God" prayer was actually written after the England team failed in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but is likely to be useful in all future tournaments as well.
  • (5) King was 16th on an official programme that included the national anthem, the invocation, a prayer, a tribute to women, two sets of songs and nine other speakers.
  • (6) Video of Mecca pilgrim on 'hoverboard' divides opinion Read more The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, whose country is home to tens of millions of Muslims, said on Twitter: “My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives in the crane crash in Mecca.
  • (7) In the silence, I heard a car reversing in the courtyard and then the Þrst slow notes of the call to prayer.
  • (8) US agricultural secretary Tom Vilsack said: "I get on my knees every day, and I'm saying an extra prayer right now.
  • (9) Our fast will continue for as long as we prayerfully discern that we stand in need of repentance as a Church.
  • (10) They marched to the police roadblock, and performed a 21-gun salute for a fallen veteran and a prayer ceremony on the bridge.
  • (11) Pittman later told the AFP news agency: “She wanted to pay tribute, she loves this city.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Madonna and son David sing Like a Prayer at the place de la République in Paris.
  • (12) "The thoughts and prayers of all in the taskforce are with his family and friends at this tragic time."
  • (13) He looks heavenward in prayer: "Pardon, Richard; they know not what they do."
  • (14) "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this very sad time."
  • (15) The prayer appeals for “grace to debate the issues in this referendum with honesty and openness”.
  • (16) For example, he is able to use the school's washing facilities and do a daily prayer at lunchtime if he wishes, entirely at his own discretion.
  • (17) He was speaking as 670 bishops prepared to leave the University of Kent campus after 18 days of reflection, prayers, conversations and efforts to hold a divided communion together.
  • (18) In the past week, much has been made of her quoting St Francis of Assisi's prayer, in her first words from Downing Street in 1979.
  • (19) We ask all of you to hold the victims, their families, and all those affected in your hearts and prayers.” Take That, who were playing a show at the Liverpool Echo Arena when the attack happened, cancelled the following night’s show in the city and postponed the dates they were due to play in Manchester on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
  • (20) In Paris Femen activists protested nude in front of the Tunisian embassy, mimicking the Muslim prayer in the street.