That’s Greek to me! The next Mass part we are covering isn’t Latin, but in fact Greek. The first is so short, that we will do two today.
The priest or cantor sings:
Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy
Literally:
Kyrie = Lord
Eleison = have mercy.
Christe = Christ
Eleison = have mercy.
We all sing:
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus. Dóminus Deus Sábaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra glória tua. Hosána in excélsis. Benedíctus qui venit in nómine Dómini. Hosána in excélsis.
Translation:
Sanctus = holy
Dóminus = Lord
Deus = God
Sábaoth = of heavenly armies
Pleni = full of
sunt = are
caeli = heaven
et = and
terra = earth
glória = glory
tua = your
Hosána = praise or adoration
excélsis = the highest
Benedictus = blessed
qui = who
venit = (He) comes
in nómine = in the name
Dómini – of the Lord.
Literal translation:
Holy, holy holy is the Lord of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of Your Glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Dear Fr. Finelli,
I am currently setting the text of the Ordinary Mass to music.
Of course, spelling all the words correctly is a good place to start!
For example, the word heaven (in Latin or Greek, I don’t know which)
has been written at least three ways; caelis, cælis, or coelis.
(in case the computer doesn’t transfer, the middle spelling is with a & e touching).
My preference is to get as close to the original as possible. Your help in doing so is very much appreciated. With kindest thanks, Frank