The Kyrie Eleison, or “Lord, have mercy,” is a supplication that appears in the acts of entrance in many historic liturgies. In these words, the worshipers acknowledge before a holy God their sinful state and their need of divine mercy.
The phrase “Lord, have mercy” is taken from the lips of the publican in Jesus’ parable of the two men who went up to the temple to pray (Luke 18:9–14). In contrast to the self-justifying prayer of the Pharisee, the tax collector could only cry out, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” The phrase is also used by many who begged Jesus to heal them: the blind (Matt. 9:27; 20:30–31; Mark 10:47), the lepers (Luke 17:13), a Canaanite woman whose daughter was demon-possessed (Matt. 15:22), and the father of an epileptic boy (Matt. 17:15).
The Kyrie in the liturgy usually occurs after the Gloria in Excelsis. In the early church, it was considered laudatory, although in later centuries it was considered penitential and in some liturgies, it followed the recitation of the commandments. The Kyrie is the only part of the traditional Latin Mass that remained in the Greek language. It may be spoken or sung, and like many parts of the historic Roman rite, it has inspired powerful settings such as those of Bach’s Mass in B Minor or Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Classically, it appears in worship in a responsive form:
Kyrie eleison!
Christe eleison!
Kyrie eleison!
or
Lord, have mercy!
Christ, have mercy!
Lord, have mercy!