RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Liturgies
number of times in the Old and New Testaments, and probably formed a recognized part of the Jewish ritual, from which it passed over into the Christian. The way in which it is men- 5. Kyrie tioned by the authorities for the sec- Eleison. ond half of the fourth century — the Apostolic Constitutions (VIII., vi. 1, 2, viii. 3), Chrysostom, and the Peregrinatio Silvice (ed. Gamurrini p. 78, Rome, 1888) — implies oldestablished and wide-spread use. Prayers in the form of litanies seem to have grown up, in which this response was made by the people to the deacon; they were frequently of an intercessory character. The use of the Kyrie eleison as an independent prayer seems to have been later. In this way it is used twelve times in the liturgy of St. James, and three times in that of St. Mark and the Alexandrian liturgy of St. Basil, before the act of communion; it also occurs in the preparation and the dismissal, and was used sometimes in solemn processions. The Greek form is preserved throughput in the Coptic, Abyssinian, and Syriac liturgies. As for Western usage, it may be inferred from the Peregrinatio Silvice that the Latin form Miserere Domine but not the Greek was familiar to her Gallic fellow countrymen. The same inference may be drawn from the next oldest witness, also Gallic, the second Synod of Vaison (529), which prescribes the " more frequent use " of the Kyrie eleison at mass and morning and evening prayers. It was familiar to the Gallic monks, as is shown by the Regula ad monachos of Bishop Aurelian of Aries (d. 550), where it appears as an independent prayer, sung three times, so also in the rule of St. Benedict. This development on different lines from the East is shown again by a passage in Gregory the Great's letters (IX., xii), from which the conclusions follow that the Latins, unlike the Greeks, had by this time the response Christe eleison; and that Gregory was thinking not of the response to the deacon's bidding-prayer, but of an independent formula repeated a definite number of times. This number is first positively fixed by a ninth-century ordo published by L. Duchesne {Origines du culte chretien, p. 442, Paris, 1889), in which it is directed to be sung nine times, three for each invocation, as it is to-day in the Roman mass. Before the discovery of this ordo, Honorius of Autun (d. 1120) was the oldest witness known for the ninefold Kyrie. In the Milanese liturgy the Kyrie appears after the Gloria in excelsis, after the Gospel, and at the end, three times in each place. In the Mozarabic liturgy it occurs only in one mass, where it is probably due to Roman influence. In a word, the general use of the prayer probably grew up in Rome and spread thence throughout the West. In the Eastern form of a response to the deacon it occurs in the African liturgy, in the Celtic as exhibited in the Stowe Missal, and in a Lenten litany at Milan. Luther retained the Kyrie eleison nine times in the Formula missce, but only three times in the Deutsche Messe; and thus it remains (in either German, Latin, or Greek) in nearly all Lutheran service-books. The Reformed liturgies dropped it altogether, and the Anglican ritual, while retaining it in the Litany, the Visitation of
the Sick, and the Churching of Women (omitted in the latter place by the American book), substituted in a corresponding position the recitation of the Commandments with the response after each "Lord, have mercy upon us, and- incline our hearts to keep this law." In the American ritual, however, the Kyrie is to be said if the summary of the Decalogue (Matt. xxii. 37-40) is substituted in the Ante-Communion for the Decalogue itself.
The Jewish form of salutation " Peace be unto you," used by the risen Christ to his disciples (John xx. 19, 21, 26), passed into liturgical usage as the greeting of the bishop to the congre- 6. Pax gation at the beginning of public worvobiscum, ship. In the form eirene pasin, " peace Dominus be to all," it is found in nearly all vobiscum. Eastern liturgies, usually with the response "And to thy spirit." The formula was frequently used at the beginning of a new division of the service; thus it occurs ten times in the liturgy of St. Mark. In the West Pax vobis or vobiscum is attested by Augustine, Optatus of Mileve, and Ambrose, but it was gradually replaced by Dominus vobiscum (derived from II Thess. iii. 16), probably originating at Rome, and originally used in the introduction to the Preface, where it appears in the Canones Hippolyti (in Greek), in the Gelasian and Gregorian sacramentaries, and in the first Ordo Romanus, as well as in the oldest Milanese liturgy. It is likewise found in the Ethiopic and Egyptian liturgies, and, in an extended form, in the Mozarabic, but does not occur in the Syrian or Byzantine rites. In the Roman Mass of to-day the old custom of the kiss of peace, though preserved only in a symbolic form, is accompanied by the phrase " the peace of the Lord be always with you," with the response " And with thy spirit." The Dominus vobiscum is used regularly before collects, both in the mass and in the choir offices; when the latter are recited by laymen without a priest, the versicle and response " O Lord, hear my prayer " " And let my cry come unto thee " are substituted; just as in the early Middle Ages a distinction was made between Fax vobiscum as the episcopal and Dominus vobiscum as the priestly salutation.
In the Formula missce Luther retained the Pax vobiscum and the response before the Preface, but not after the Gloria, while in the Deutsche Messe he ignored it entirely. The majority of Lutheran liturgies of the sixteenth century, like Zwingli, on the other hand, retained it after the Gloria, but not before the communion. Modern Lutheran liturgies likewise place it after the Gloria before the collect. In the Anglican Prayer-Book the Dominus vobiscum and its response are placed after the Creed in morning and evening prayer, and it is also used in confirmation. (P Drews.)
Bibliography: I. -II.: Much literature that is pertinent will be found cited under Breviary; Common Prayer, Book of; Eucharist; Litany; Lord's Supper; Mass; and Worship. A vast body of sources and discussions is indicated in the three sections of the British Museum Catalogue devoted to liturgies, the entries being admirably arranged for consultation under convenient captions, making reference easy. The following list comprises principally later works. Lists of Mss. are: W H. J. Weale, Bibliographica liturgica catalogus missalium ritus Latini. London,
Liturgies Liudger, Saint