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.
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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Kyrie eleison
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.
Latin and everybody else
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.