Kyrie eleison

Kyrie eleison [Gr.,=Lord, have mercy], in the Roman Catholic Church, prayer of the Mass coming after the introit, the only ordinary part of the traditional liturgy said not in Latin but in Greek. It has nine lines: "Lord have mercy (thrice), Christ have mercy (thrice), Lord have mercy (thrice)." As the first invariable hymn, the Kyrie is often the first piece in a musical Mass. An English version is used in the Anglican liturgy and in the reformed Roman Catholic vernacular liturgy. The phrase Kyrie eleison used by itself is, of course, common in the Eastern rites, but without the phrase Christe eleison. The corresponding prayer in the Russian Orthodox church is often called a Kyrie.

Kyrie eleison (Greek for ‘Lord, have mercy’). A prayer for Divine mercy used in the worship of the Church from at least the 4th cent. in the E., and the 6th cent. in the W. In a letter of 598 Gregory I mentions that at Rome the ‘Kyrie eleison’ is supplemented by a similar prayer, ‘Christe eleison’ (‘Christ, have mercy’), not found in the East, and the two seem soon to have been placed in what became the traditional place at the beginning of the Mass. The ninefold Kyrie (that is ‘Kyrie eleison’ recited three times, followed by ‘Christe eleison’ three times, and ‘Kyrie eleison’ three times), found in the 8th–9th cent., became the traditional pattern of the Roman Mass until 1970. In the RC Church a sixfold Kyrie (each of the three petitions being said by the celebrant or sung by the choir and repeated by the people as a response) now forms one of the penitential acts at the beginning of Mass, and the Kyrie may also be used as the people's response in the Prayer of the Faithful.

In the C of E the Kyrie in the Eucharist was replaced in the 1552 BCP by the Ten Commandments, but its use was revived in the 19th cent. and is permitted in modern Anglican liturgies. Its use (in English) at Mattins, Evensong, and in the Litany has been continuous.

Kyrie (Gr.). Lord. The section of the Ordinary of the Mass which follows the Introit. Has 3 parts, Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison, thrice repeated (‘Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy’). In medieval times, the Kyrie was set as an independent movt., but after Du Fay it was incorporated as the 1st movt. of a series.