As I mentioned in my last post on Psalm 147, when the Old Testament was translated into Greek, the translators chose to render the Hebrew word for lovingkindness (chesed) as έλεος, a Greek word most often translated as mercy or compassion.
Some of you may have wondered whether that Greek word eleos might be connected with the short prayer we sing or say in every Sunday worship: Kyrie Eleison (Lord, have mercy). Indeed it is. "Kyrie Eleison" is the latinized version of the Greek phrase, Κύριε ελέησον. "Eleison" is a form of a verb "eleeo" derived from the noun eleos; that verb means "to show mercy, to show compassion, or to extend help".
Here's a song by American pop/rock band Mr. Mister, from their 1985 album Welcome to the Real World. Released in late 1985, it hit the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in March 1986, where it was #1 for two weeks. It also hit the top spot on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart for one week.
Kyrie Eleison, kyrie Eleison, kyrie
The wind blows hard against this mountain side,
across the sea into my soul
It reaches into where I cannot hide,
setting my feet upon the road
My heart is old, it holds my memories,
my body burns a gem like flame
Somewhere between the soul and soft machine,
is where I find myself again
Kyrie eleison, down the road that I must travel
Kyrie eleison, through the darkness of the night
Kyrie eleison, where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie eleison, on a highway in the light
When I was young I thought of growing old,
of what my life would mean to me
Would I have followed down my chosen road,
or only wished what I could be
Kyrie eleison, down the road that I must travel
Kyrie eleison, through the darkness of the night
Kyrie eleison, where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie eleison, on a highway in the light
oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Kyrie eleison, down the road that I must travel
Kyrie eleison, through the darkness of the night
Kyrie eleison, where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie eleison, on a highway in the light.
Mr. Mister lead vocalist and bass Richard Page, said in interviews that he was initially reluctant to record the song because it seemed "too religious" for rock music, but that his writer pushed him to take on this unusual project: an entire prayer spoken in the musical language of Rock.
"The lyric was written mostly by John Lang, my co-writer on most of the Mr. albums. Once the song was recorded and it started to take on a life of its own, there was no going back."
Page found that fans had trouble understanding the Greek phrase, often mishearing the words as “Carry a laser,” or “Carry a raisin.”
Scholars have long known that the acclamation "Kyrie eleison" is much older than Christian worship and that it is the one part of western liturgy that remained in Greek throughout the Middle Ages.
The Kyrie acclamation was used in various forms of pagan worship including the imperial cult in which the emperor was called kyrios (lord). But there are also many places in the New Testament where the phrase "Son of David, have mercy on us" is used.
Nevertheless Kyrie litanies where not common in the Church until after the Age of Constantine (4th century). The fourth-century nun Egeria reported in her Travels that worshippers sang the acclamation during the lamplighting ceremony of vespers in Jerusalem.
Throughout its long history the Kyrie always has had aspects of both, supplication and praise.
No one who has ever sung J.S. Bach's B Minor Mass will ever forget its opening four measure cry, “Kyrie Eleison,” and especially the following five-voice fugue. I remember memorizing the tenor line for our performance and singing the fugue theme on the subway platform.
On the day of the performance, it was such a thrill to hear the oboes begin the fugue, and then to join them in Bach's immensely complex structure in which singers, strings, flutes, oboes and continuo weave in and out in both supplication and praise.
When you worship, you won't always "carry a laser", but chances are that you'll always encounter the old prayer, Kyrie Eleison, Lord Have Mercy Upon Us.
....
Mr. Mister - Kyrie:
http://youtu.be/9NDjt4FzFWY
Bach B Minor Mass Kyrie Eleison 1:
http://youtu.be/uKiCphIiO6c
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