The Electric
Prunes released Mass in F Minor in 1968. It didn't
attract a lot of attention. It got a little bump when the film Easy
Rider used the Kyrie for
the acid-dropping
scene, then it sank into relative obscurity. I liked it then,
and still do. I'm a sucker for the West Coast Psychedelic sound.
I like
that they decided to do it straight, take it seriously, without irony; to just compose a mass for their time and place. Old wine in new bottles, to twist the parable.
Doing
this post, it occurred to me to wonder how that one little snippet of
Greek, the Kyrie,
wound up in the Latin Mass. I did some research . . . and I'm still
wondering. The answer seems to be, "Well, that's just the way it
happened."
2 comments:
I remember that band, but had to look up what they had done. I think "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night" was played on the radio.
Little known fact - Kenny Loggins was a member of that band. But that's all I know about them, and I had to read their Wiki page to learn that.
It looks like there are two schools of thought as to how this Greek snippet ended up in the Latin mass, with the first regarding it as a carryover from the original Greek liturgy used in Rome before the Roman Mass was translated into Latin.
The second explanation conveys an element of intent that moves its inclusion beyond happenstance to see its presense there as the result of a "deliberate and significant" choice.
Whatever happened, I like the connection back to oil, wounds and the highlighting of the beauty and depth in this explanation:
"the words “Kyrie eleison” were not a remnant of the Greek, but were added centuries later into the Roman Rite. This means the inclusion of the Greek words in the Latin Mass was deliberate and significant.
It is believed that the primary reason why the phrase “Kyrie eleison” wasn’t translated into Latin is that the words would have lost their original meaning. The book Orthodox Worship describes the true meaning of the phrase.
“The word mercy in English is the translation of the Greek word eleos. This word has the same ultimate root as the old Greek word for oil, or more precisely, olive oil; a substance that was used extensively as a soothing agent for bruises and minor wounds. The oil was poured onto the wound and gently massaged in, thus soothing, comforting and making whole the injured part. The Hebrew word which is also translated as eleos and mercy is hesed, and means steadfast love. The Greek words for ‘Lord, have mercy,’ are ‘Kyrie, eleison’ that is to say, ‘Lord, soothe me, comfort me, take away my pain, show me your steadfast love.’ Thus mercy does not refer so much to justice or acquittal a very Western interpretation but to the infinite loving-kindness of God and his compassion for his suffering children! It is in this sense that we pray ‘Lord, have mercy,’ with great frequency throughout the Divine Liturgy.”
In light of this explanation, the phrase comes alive and highlights the beauty and depth of God’s mercy. It shows a loving God who wants to bind our wounds like the Divine Physician he is. Instead of standing in front of a tribunal at the beginning of Mass asking for mercy from a powerful judge, we are face-to-face with a compassionate God, who is ready to pick us up when we fall down.
So while it may seem strange to speak Greek words at Mass, the Church chose those words centuries ago specifically for their deep and powerful meaning."
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