A Marian litany, in Christian worship, is a form of prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary used in church services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions.
In the Eastern Church litanies are always a part of the official liturgy, and they have at least three different forms: Synaptae (Collect), Ektenie ("intense" prayer of intercession and pardon based in part on Psalm 50)and Aitaesis (intercessory prayer for peace, pardon and protection). Marian litanies are numerous in the Eastern church and may cover a multitude of themes, some dogmatic, others of moral and patriotic character.
In the liturgy of the Western Church the word litany is derived from the Latin litania, meaning prayer of invocation or intercession. It also meant, up to the twelfth century, a procession with intercessory character, also known under the designation of rogation.
The only approved Marian litany in the Western Church is the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as the Litany of Loreto, for its first-known place of origin, the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, Italy, where its usage was recorded as early as 1558. The Litany of Loreto was approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V.