The Litany of the Saints is a prayer of invocation. Invocation of the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the intercession of the saints. In other words, the invocation of the power of the heavenly court upon those to be ordained. According to Rev. Father Sebastine Adigwe, SJ, a liturgy lecturer at Hekima University College, the invocation not only occurs at ordination but also at the final vows of religious men and women, as well as during baptism.
“No one gets baptized in the Catholic Church without invocation of the power of the heavenly hosts, and thus the Litany of Saints is first done at Baptism, which is the first of the initiation sacraments of the Catholic Church. While at ordination and final vows for the religious life, the candidates lie down, at baptism, the infants cannot lie down, but in case of adults or teenagers, they kneel.” Fr. Adigwe explained, adding that the act of lying down signifies total submission. “You cannot do anything else when lying prostrate,” he said.
The significance of this invocation is that, as human beings, we do not have the power of our own. We rely on the powers from heaven; it is through the power of God that we can accomplish anything. Therefore, at that moment when ordination candidates lie down while the Litany of the Saints is being chanted, it is a moment of submission; self-submission, self-entrusting to the power of the heavenly beings over them. And so as they get up, the bishop imposes his hands over them.
According to Jonathan Englert’s book, The Collar: Inside a Catholic Seminary, published in 2006, ordination is believed to bring about an ontological change—a change in being—in the men being ordained. The rituals and practices during an ordination ceremony include readings from the Old and New Testaments, the calling of candidates, their presentation before the congregation, their election by the bishop, and the congregation’s consent.
“We rely on the help of the Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ,” the bishop announces, “and we choose these men, our brothers, for the diaconate/priesthood in the presbyteral order.” Then comes the homily, the examination of the candidates, and their profession of obedience. The men then lie down, prostrating themselves before the bishop, and the congregation and the bishop sing a repetitive chant of the Litany of the Saints. The bishop then silently lays his hands on the candidates, and, in priestly ordination, other priests present at the ceremony do the same. The bishop then speaks the prayer of consecration. Next, the investiture of the candidates takes place.
At the moment when they lie down and the litany is being chanted, what happens to the candidates? Fr. Adigwe explains that the candidates are expected to recite a prayer and possibly chant along with the litany of saints. Still, even if you don’t chant along, it’s the activity of the church over them, not their own activity. It’s a prayer of the church over them, not their own prayer.
“But I mean, many of us in our pious act are saying our private prayers at that moment, invoking the prayers, the powers that have been invoked upon us in our own way. At that moment, it is not our prayer. It’s not a prayer of the one being ordained. It is a prayer of the whole church. Triumphant, suffering, and militant Church: the three-dimensional aspect of the church is being evoked over these men who are going to be agents of Christ.”
So what goes on in the minds of the candidates at that particular moment when they are lying down prostrate and the litany is being chanted? For Deacon Martin Kyalo Kiswili, CMI, one of the Hekima Jesuit School Theology students who was recently ordained a deacon on March 1, 2025, it was a moment of mixed feelings: joyful and humbled, with a sense of a special responsibility being laid upon him.
“When we were lying down there, it was a moment of good experience whereby I joined together with the faithful in the reciting of the litany of the saints. As I lay down there, I had a bit of mixed feelings. I felt tears well up in my eyes when I thought about the fact that the Holy Spirit was being invoked upon me. All the saints whose names were mentioned during the litany were specifically being asked to pray for us, which made me too emotional,” Deacon Martin explained.
Fr. Adigwe pointed out that the responses from the candidates regarding how they felt when lying prostrate as the Litany of the Saints was being read differ from one candidate to another because the experience is individual, not collective. Some candidates would chant along, while others would lie quietly and say private prayers, and yet others might experience a deep sense of peace that would even cause them to fall asleep.
“That is why, if you noticed during the recent ordination ceremony, I had to be present to make sure that once the Litany of the Saints gets to the end, I had to make a very loud amen so that everyone would hear.”
All in all, the ordination ceremony is a special experience for each individual who has the opportunity to be ordained. What happens during and after is a testimony that only those who have been ordained can feel and know. For Deacon Martin, it is time to change from his old self to a new person who is ready to fully embrace the call by taking the responsibility and its needs more seriously. It is now not just about himself but also about those who look up to him.
“From my ordination experience, I can say that something has indeed changed, as evidenced by the way I conducted myself before ordination, when I did not feel as much responsibility on my shoulders. Being a deacon means that I am the same person, but with greater responsibilities; I am now not only accountable for myself, but also for the people who look up to me. I know that, being ordained a deacon, I am entrusted with a greater responsibility that demands a lot of accountability, journeying with others, giving consolation, and preaching the Word of God, which at the same time requires that I live and practice what I preach,” The deacon expressed.
By Pamela Adinda, HUC Communications Coordinator