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Kyrie eleison is not Latin

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Haruo's picture
Tue, 07/22/2014 - 18:27 — Haruo

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"Kyrie eleison" is not in Latin even when used in the Roman Church, let alone when sung by the Russian Orthodox.


Comments

Wed, 07/23/2014 - 10:21 — dianneshapiro

It is Greek text that has been so incorporated into a Latin mass that it can be considered Latin as well as Greek; in the same way that "Amen" has been incorporated into English hymns and "pizza" and "spaghetti" incorporated into the English language.

Wed, 07/23/2014 - 15:10 — Haruo

I think Kyrie eleison / Christe eleison, along with Amen, Hosanna, Alleluia/Hallelujah, Abba, and probably a few other words and phrases of Greek, Hebrew, Latin or Aramaic origin are so universally naturalized in Christian liturgy that they should not be considered "foreign language" items in a hymnic or liturgical context. To identify the language of the Kyrie as Latin, unless it is in the context of a Latin mass, seems specious to me. And a Russian Orthodox mass is not a Latin mass. Sorry about the rant. ;-) It's just the way I get sometimes.

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