Kyrie, atransliteration ofGreekΚύριε,vocative case ofΚύριος (Kyrios), is a common name of an importantprayer of Christianliturgy, also called theKyrie eleison (/ˈkɪri.eɪɛˈleɪ.isɒn/KEER-ee-ay el-AY-eess-on;Ancient Greek:Κύριε ἐλέησον,romanized: Kýrie eléēson,lit. 'Lord have mercy').[1]
The prayer,Kýrie, eléison, "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greekἐλέησόν με κύριε,'have mercy on me,Lord', is theSeptuagint translation of the phraseחָנֵּנִי יְהוָה often found in thePsalms (6:2,9:13,31:9,86:3, and123:3).
In theNew Testament, the Greek phrase occurs three times inMatthew:
In the Parable of thePublican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9–14) the despised tax collector who cries out "Lord have mercy on me, a sinner" is contrasted with the smugPharisee who believes he has no need for forgiveness.
Luke 17:13 hasepistates,'master', instead ofkyrios,'lord', (Ἰησοῦ ἐπιστάτα ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς), being less suggestive of thekyrios'lord' used aseuphemism forYHWH in the Septuagint.
There are other examples in the text of the gospels without thekyrie'lord', e.g. Mark 10:46, where blindBartimaeus cries out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."
In the biblical text, the phrase is always personalized by an explicit object (such as "on me", "on us", "on my son"),[2] while in the Eucharistic celebration it can be seen more as a general expression of confidence in God's love.[3]: 293
The phraseKýrie, eléison (Ancient Greek:Κύριε, ἐλέησον), whether in Greek or in other languages, is one of the most oft-repeated phrases inEastern Christianity, including theEastern Orthodox,Oriental Orthodox,Assyrian, andEastern Catholic Churches. The Greek phrase,Kýrie, eléison, is for instance extensively used in theCoptic (Egyptian) Christian liturgy, which uses both the Coptic and the Greek languages.
The variouslitanies, frequent in Eastern Orthodox rites, generally haveLord, have mercy as their response, either singly or triply. Some petitions in these litanies will have twelve or even forty repetitions of the phrase as a response.
The phrase is also the origin of theJesus Prayer, beloved by Eastern Christians as a foundation of personal prayer, and is increasingly popular among some Western Christians.
The prayer is simultaneously a petition and a prayer of thanksgiving; an acknowledgement of what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will continue to do. It is refined in theParable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9–14), where the Publican prays "God, have mercy on me, a sinner", thus showing more clearly its connection with the Jesus Prayer.
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In Rome, the liturgy was first celebrated in Greek. Josef Jungmann suggests theKyrie in the Roman Mass is best seen as a vestige of an openinglitany like those in some Eastern churches, which was retained even after Latin became normative.[3]: 335f. TheKyrie is positioned after thePrayer of Thanksgiving in the Lutheran Mass.[4]
As early as the sixth century,Pope Gregory the Great noted that there were differences in the way in which Eastern and Western churches sang theKyrie. In the Eastern churches it is sung in unison by those present, whereas in the Western church the clergy sing and the people respond. Also, the Western church would singChriste, eléison as many times asKýrie, eléison.[1][5] In theRoman Rite liturgy, the variantChriste, eléison, is a transliteration of Greek,Χριστέ, ἐλέησον.
Kýrie, eléison may also be used as a response of the people to intentions mentioned in the Prayer of the Faithful. Since 1549,Anglicans have normally sung or said theKyrie in English. In the 1552Book of Common Prayer, theKyrie was inserted into a recitation of theTen Commandments. Modern revisions of the Prayer Book have restored the option of saying theKyrie without the Commandments. Other denominations, such asMethodism, also use theKyrie in their liturgies.[6]
In theTridentine Mass form of theRoman Rite,Kýrie, eléison is sung or said three times, followed by a threefoldChriste, eléison and by another threefoldKýrie, eléison. Collectively, the nine invocations are said to unite the petitions of the faithful to those of the ninechoirs of angels in heaven.
Kýrie, eléison (Κύριε, ἐλέησον)
- 'Lord, have mercy'
Christe, eléison (Χριστέ, ἐλέησον)
- 'Christ, have mercy'
TheKyrie is the first sung prayer of theMass ordinary and is usually part of anymusical setting of the Mass, one exception being theearly English school, whose liturgy featured atropedKyrie that was thereforeproper to the day.Kyrie movements sometimes have aternary (ABA) musical structure that reflects the symmetrical structure of the text.Polyphonic settings can be found in five (or four) movements, calling foralternatim performance, i. e. alternating withGregorian chant or withorgan versets. Musical settings exist in a variety of styles.
Reflecting its original liturgical function, theKyrie is the standard beginning for public and private litanies in the Roman Rite, such as theLitany of the Saints or theLitany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[7]
The termsaggiornamento (bringing up to date) andressourcement (light of the Gospel) figure significantly into the documents ofVatican II: “The Church carries the responsibility of scrutinizing the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel” (Gaudium et spes, 4).[8]Louis Bouyer, a theologian at Vatican II, claimed that there was a distortion of theEucharistic spirit of theMass over the centuries, so that "one could find merely traces of the original sense of the Eucharist as a thanksgiving for the wonders God has wrought.”[9] TheGeneral Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) notes that at theCouncil of Trent "manuscripts in the Vatican ... by no means made it possible to inquire into 'ancient and approved authors' farther back than the liturgical commentaries of theMiddle Ages ... [But] traditions dating back to the first centuries, before the formation of the rites of East and West, are better known today because of the discovery of so many liturgical documents" (7f.).
Consonant with these modern studies, theologians have suggested that there be a continuity in praise of God between theopening song and the praise of theGloria. This is explained by Mark R. Francis ofCatholic Theological Union inChicago, speaking of theKyrie:
Its emphasis is not on us (our sinfulness) but on God’s mercy and salvific action in Jesus Christ. It could just as accurately be translated "O Lord, you are merciful!" Note that the sample tropes all mention what Christ has done for us, not how we have sinned. For example, “you were sent to heal the contrite,” “you have shown us the way to the Father,” or “you come in word and sacrament to strengthen us in holiness,” leading to further acclamation of God’s praises in the Gloria.[10]
In this same line,Hans Urs von Balthasar calls for a renewal of the focus at the Eucharist:
We must make every effort to arouse the sense of community within the liturgy, to restore liturgy to the ecclesial plane, where individuals can take their proper place in it…. Liturgical piety involves a total turning from concern with one’s inner state to the attitude and feeling of the Church. It means enlarging the scope of prayer, so often narrow and selfish, to embrace the concerns of the whole Church and, indeed – as in the Our Father – of God.”[11]
In theNew Dictionary of Sacramental Worship, the need to establish communion is reinforced as it quotes the GIRM to the effect that the purpose of the introductory rites is “to ensure that the faithful who come together as oneestablish communion and dispose themselves to listen properly to God's word and to celebrate the Eucharist worthily” (GIRM, 46, emphasis added).[12]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Kyrie Eleison".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Kyrie Eleison".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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