Each litany concludes with an [[exclamation ]] (doxology) said by the priest glorifying the [[Holy Trinity]].

The first [[Litany of the Faithful]] dismisses the catechumens. At one time it was common for those who were not going to receive the [[Eucharist]] (among them the Catechumens) to move to the back of the church, or leave the building altogether, at the time of the [[Divine_Liturgy#Liturgy_of_the_Faithful|Liturgy of the Faithful]]. The second Litany of the Faithful is usually abbreviated as a [[Little Litany]] when no deacon is serving, but normally contains several petitions from the [[Great Litany]]. The Litanies of the Faithful uniquely contain the exclamation, "[[Holy Wisdom|Wisdom]]," just prior to their respective doxologies. ==Litany of Thanksgiving==The Litany of Thanksgiving is a short litany that occurs after the hymn "Let our mouths be filled with Thy praise..." and before the prayer behind the [[ambon]]. It consists of three petitions and an the exclamation, "For Thou art our sanctification...", and is so named because the first petition includes the phrase "...let us worthily give thanks unto the Lord," and historically it is linked to the prayer of thanksgiving which the priest says immediately after communing himself. ==The [[Litia]]== There is also a special form of litany called a ''[[Artoklasia|Litia]]''' (Greek: Λιτή/Litê; Slavonic: Литїѧ, ''Litiya'').<ref>Hapgood, Isabel F. (1922), Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church (5th ed.), Englewood NJ: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese (published 1975), pp. 13, 594</ref>  The litia, which means a fervent or intensified prayer, most commonly refers to a part of Vespers that ends with the blessing of bread, wheat, wine, and oil for the strengthening of the faithful who continue worshiping during the Vigil. The litia is chanted at [[All-Night Vigil]]s, consisting of several long petitions, mentioning the names of numerous saints, to which the people/choir responds with "Lord, have mercy" many times. In parish practice the litia is sometimes performed in the narthex of the church as the Church steps out of its blessed milieu and, in the character of the litia prayers, embraces all people. <ref>[[http://dce.oca.org/page/activity-books/]]C. K. Zebrun Gen. Ed., ''Saints Commemorated in the Litiya Prayers'', Department of Christian Education, Orthodox Church in America, 2009, pp4-5.</ref> ==Special Litanies==Special Litanies litanies occur only in particular services. These will usually be in the form of special petitions that are added to the Great Litany (such as at Baptism, or the special Kneeling Vespers at [[Pentecost]]), or unique litanies that occur in only one service (such as those at [[Molieben]] services or [[Holy Unction]]). At the [[Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts]] many of the same litanies occur as during the Divine Liturgy, some of them being altered to conform to the needs of the Presanctified. ==Notes==<div class="references-small"><references /></div> ==External links ==[[w:Ektenia|Wikipedia: Ektenia]]