'This ancient form of supplication': The Lesser Litany at Matins and Evensong
He roots their use in the daily office in a canon of the second council of Vaison (539AD) in southern Gaul, adopting the practice from Byzantine usage in the East and in the churches of Italy (which then followed Byzantine practice):
The second council of Vaison observes, that in the East, and the provinces of Italy, an useful and agreeable custom prevailed of frequently saying this supplication, "Lord have mercy upon us," with great devotion and contrition: and enacts that in the Gallic church, it shall be introduced into the Morning and Evening Prayer, and the office of the holy communion. In our daily service these versicles are placed before the repetition of the Lord's Prayer, to which they form a proper introduction. For no prayer requires greater preparation than that divine form which proceeded from the lips of our Lord. Sometimes it is preceded by confession and absolution, but more generally by this shorter Litany, which instructs us to acknowledge our unworthiness, bewail our misery, and supplicate the mercy of God. After this we may with humble confidence look up to our heavenly Father, and pray to him for farther blessings.
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