Kyrie: Why Did It Remain In Greek?

[fides quarens intellectum]

In the Latin Rite, why wasn't the Kyrie mass part translated into Latin?

[cappie]

Written origins of the Kyrie can be traced to the fourth century. In 390 A.D. the Gallic pilgrim lady Aetheria tells how in Jerusalem at the end of Vespers one of the deacons read a list of petitions and "as he spoke each of the names, a crowd of boys stood there and answered him each time, 'Kyrie eleison' ... their cry is without end."

The Kyrie was finally incorporated into the Latin sacramentary in the sixth century for Matins, Mass and Vespers, according to Canon 3 of the Synod of Vaison (529).

Thus, the Kyrie entered the Western Mass much later than in the Eastern liturgy and was introduced, most likely, because it became popular as a litany, which was sung in Greek in the East and then kept the same form when it moved to the West. Thus, the popularity of it kept it in Greek, rather than changing it into Latin.