Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

Sunday, February 9, 2014

What’s a Kyrie?

Many Sundays, including this Sunday, we sing a “Kyrie” in worship.  What’s a Kyrie and why do we keep singing this odd word regularly?

The phrase Kyrie eleison is Greek, and translates as “Lord, have mercy.”  We also sing Christe eleison, which translates as “Christ, have mercy.”  A common pattern we often use is Kyrie/Christe/Kyrie; this three-fold repetition is symbolic of the Trinity, yet the whole gesture is directed toward Christ.

While the phrase “Lord, have mercy upon us” can be found in the Bible, the particular phrase Kyrie eleison has its origins in pre-Christian use.  In Asia Minor, it was an acclamation or gesture of praise and respect shouted at the passing of the emperor, an important ruler, landowner, or “lord.”  More a shout of respect than a penitential plea, the phrase does suggest subservience. 

In its earliest forms, Christian worship began with a silent entrance into the room by the bishop, deacon, or minister, followed by a short greeting and the reading of the scripture texts.  By the fifth century, some sources indicate that Christians had adopted the Kyrie into the liturgy for a couple of reasons.  One, the phrase, which carried the connotation of pagan sun worship, was being shouted by some Christians despite attempts to suppress it and church leaders adopted it and gave it some theological justification.  Its common use was as a response to a litany, or series of prayerful supplications.  Two, as worship in Rome became more grandiose, a need arose for an extended entrance procession rite that would allow the bishop to enter the large Basilica at the beginning of worship.  In this case, the Kyrie was repeated more times, with a nine-fold repetition common.  The extended rite was necessary, since with the growth of Christianity, the bishop of Rome was expected to visit and preside at a number of services within the city.  The procession from one Basilica to another became a grand spectacle.

Even as the language of worship in the west changed from Greek to Latin, the Greek phrase persisted.  In meaning, the phrase took on the character of a penitential plea for forgiveness.  The individual petitions of a litany, or prayer disappeared, and the simple three-fold repeated phrase remained.   

In the twentieth century, a renewed interest in liturgical studies yielded the development of another form of the Kyrie that we often encounter in our Sunday worship.  This form, which begins with the petition “In peace let us pray to the Lord,” followed by the response “Lord, have mercy” combines the Greek phrase with a Byzantine Litany of Peace. 

Even though the Kyrie is one of the parts of the Mass “Ordinary” – the historic form of Western liturgy – it is a part of our worship that can be used with some flexibility.  It may be omitted at times when an emphasis upon the celebratory nature of a season is desired, such as during Easter when the gathering rite usually includes the hymn of praise “This is the Feast.”  Or the traditional Kyrie may be replaced by another rite of supplication, such as the Great Litany, or a penitential hymn . 

The question of “why” remains.  Perhaps a simple answer is this:  at the beginning of our worship, this text directs our focus toward Christ, with the acclamation “Lord” and often the prayer for “peace.”