See DIMISSORY LETTER.)

Letter of Orders.--The name given to the certificate of Ordination
to the Sacred Ministry, with the {170} Bishop's seal, and given by
him to each Priest or Deacon whom he ordains. The form of this
certificate varies in the use of different Bishops.

Letter of Transfer.--Canon 12, Section I, Title 2 of the Digest
provides that, "A communicant removing from one parish to another
shall procure from the Rector (if any) of the parish of his last
residence, or if there be no Rector, from one of the Wardens, a
certificate stating that he or she is a communicant in good standing;
and the Rector of the Parish or Congregation to which he or she
removes shall not be required to receive him or her as a communicant
until such letter be produced."

Lights on the Altar.--(See ALTAR LIGHTS.) In addition to what is
set forth in the article to which the reader is referred, we
reproduce from Wheatley on the Prayer Book the following: "Among
other ornaments of the Church were _two_ lights enjoined by the
Injunctions of King Edward VI to be set upon the Altar as a
significant ceremony to represent the Light which Christ's Gospel
brought into the world. And this, too, was ordered by the very same
Injunction which prohibited all other lights and tapers that used
to be superstitiously set before images or shrines. And these
lights, used time out of mind in the Church, are still continued
in most, if not all, Cathedral and Collegiate churches and
chapels, . . . and ought also by this rubric, to be used in all
parish churches and chapels."

Linen Cloth.--(See FAIR LINEN CLOTH.)

Litany, The.--The word "Litany" is of Greek origin, from _litancia_,
derived from _lite_, meaning a {171} "prayer." In the early Church
Litany included all supplications and prayers whether public or
private. Afterwards it came to mean a special supplication, offered
with intense earnestness, and this will explain the title of
the Litany in the Prayer Book, viz.: "The Litany, or General
Supplication." The Litany as now used is substantially the same as
that compiled by Gregory the Great at the end of the sixth century.
It is a separate and distinct service, but is commonly used as a
matter of convenience after Morning Prayer, and may be used after the
Evening Prayer. It is appointed to be read on Wednesdays, Fridays and
Sundays, and like all other prayers is said kneeling. An examination
of the Litany shows it to be divided into six divisio