‘Kyrie, eleison’ is Greek for ‘‘Lord, have mercy’‘.
Kyrie is the usual name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy. In less formal terms, it is a way of asking for help.
More specifically it is part of the introductory rites of the Roman Catholic Mass and is a song by which the faithful praise the Lord and implore his mercy.
The beginnings of the Kyrie eleison can be found in the Holy Scripture, mostly in the book that served as the Church's first prayer book, the Book of Psalms (‘‘Have pity on me, O Lord ...’’ Psalm 6:3).
But wait, I know what you’re thinking, why are the Romans speaking Greek and not Latin? Well, it harks back to the earliest years of the Church, when Greek was still the predominate language used in Rome and Greek stayed as the language of worship up until around the middle of the third century. Kyrie elesion was the only remaining Greek prayer after the switchover. Probably because it’s so darn catchy, right?
Nowadays, in modern Anglican churches, it is common to perform either the Kyrie or the Gloria in Excelsis Deo, but not both. Usually the Kyrie will be said in penitential seasons such as Advent or Lent, while the Gloria is said the rest of the year.
Kyrie eleison was also the first track of The Electric Prunes’ album Mass in F Minor. Released in 1968 the album consisted of a mass sung in Latin and arranged in the psychedelic style synonymous with the band. The song also appeared a year later (1969) on the soundtrack to the cult classic movie Easy Rider.
Elsewhere in movie trivia, in the film version Lord of the Flies (1963), based on William Golding’s novel of the same name, the choir boys sing ‘Kyrie eleison’ and it can also be heard in Disney's 1996 movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame in some musical numbers and songs.
Kyrie is the usual name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy. In less formal terms, it is a way of asking for help.
More specifically it is part of the introductory rites of the Roman Catholic Mass and is a song by which the faithful praise the Lord and implore his mercy.
The beginnings of the Kyrie eleison can be found in the Holy Scripture, mostly in the book that served as the Church's first prayer book, the Book of Psalms (‘‘Have pity on me, O Lord ...’’ Psalm 6:3).
But wait, I know what you’re thinking, why are the Romans speaking Greek and not Latin? Well, it harks back to the earliest years of the Church, when Greek was still the predominate language used in Rome and Greek stayed as the language of worship up until around the middle of the third century. Kyrie elesion was the only remaining Greek prayer after the switchover. Probably because it’s so darn catchy, right?
Nowadays, in modern Anglican churches, it is common to perform either the Kyrie or the Gloria in Excelsis Deo, but not both. Usually the Kyrie will be said in penitential seasons such as Advent or Lent, while the Gloria is said the rest of the year.
Kyrie eleison was also the first track of The Electric Prunes’ album Mass in F Minor. Released in 1968 the album consisted of a mass sung in Latin and arranged in the psychedelic style synonymous with the band. The song also appeared a year later (1969) on the soundtrack to the cult classic movie Easy Rider.
Elsewhere in movie trivia, in the film version Lord of the Flies (1963), based on William Golding’s novel of the same name, the choir boys sing ‘Kyrie eleison’ and it can also be heard in Disney's 1996 movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame in some musical numbers and songs.
