litany
ˈlɪt(ə)ni/
noun
- 1.a series of petitions for use in church services or processions, usually recited by the clergy and responded to in a recurring formula by the people.
- 2.a tedious recital or repetitive series.
From Wikipedia
"In certain highly evolved societies, the intellectual élites progressively detach themselves from the patterns of traditional religion. The periodical resanctification of cosmic time then proves useless and without meaning. [...] But repetition emptied of its religious content necessarily leads to a pessimistic vision of existence.
When it is no longer a vehicle for reintegrating a primordial situation [...] that is, when it is desacralized, cyclic time becomes terrifying; it is seen as a circle forever turning on itself, repeating itself to infinity."
