Guilt over praing in latin

[KaneKatholic]

just recently i took up praying the rosary in latin but one night while i was doing so I began to feel guilt over it and almost as if God were telling me to stop praying it in latin. this confused me and now when i think about the concept of going to the EF of the mass again (which I ardently desire to do) or just praying in latin my heart feels atinge of guilt i can go back to saying the rosary in english but i do strongly prefer to pray it in latin
should I discontinue or just continue past it I dont understand this emotion Its as if I cannot prefer the latin anymore AM I GOING INSANE or is this possibly demonic in origin, or mabey coincidental or just my mind… I was tired at the time?

 

[followingtheway]

just recently i took up praying the rosary in latin but one night while i was doing so I began to feel guilt over it and almost as if God were telling me to stop praying it in latin. this confused me and now when i think about the concept of going to the EF of the mass again (which I ardently desire to do) or just praying in latin my heart feels atinge of guilt i can go back to saying the rosary in english but i do strongly prefer to pray it in latin
should I discontinue or just continue past it I dont understand this emotion Its as if I cannot prefer the latin anymore AM I GOING INSANE or is this possibly demonic in origin, or mabey coincidental or just my mind… I was tired at the time?

I think you might be being a little Scrupulous (if that’s the right word). It’s a great that you’re saying it in Latin. Don’t be too hard on yourself. God bless :byzsoc:

David

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

just recently i took up praying the rosary in latin but one night while i was doing so I began to feel guilt over it and almost as if God were telling me to stop praying it in latin. this confused me and now when i think about the concept of going to the EF of the mass again (which I ardently desire to do) or just praying in latin my heart feels atinge of guilt i can go back to saying the rosary in english but i do strongly prefer to pray it in latin
should I discontinue or just continue past it I dont understand this emotion Its as if I cannot prefer the latin anymore AM I GOING INSANE or is this possibly demonic in origin, or mabey coincidental or just my mind… I was tired at the time?

I don’t know why if would be wrong to pray in Latin? I don’t do it but I don’t understand why you should feel guilty about praying in Latin. If you were hispanic…would you feel guilty about praying in spanish?

I think you are making too much of it. See what happens when you are rested next time and pray in Latin.

 

[puzzleannie]

just recently i took up praying the rosary in latin but one night while i was doing so I began to feel guilt over it and almost as if God were telling me to stop praying it in latin.
this confused me and now when i ?

why would you feel guilty?
what Church law any where, any time has told us what language we must use to pray the rosary?
what law ever forbade us from praying any prayer in latin?
why would you feel guilty attending any Mass in any language as long as it is a rite approve by the Church?

If your prayer is causing you spiritual distress, see a priest
if you feel you are going insane for any reason, see a mental health professional
if you feel you are hearing either God or demons speak, see a priest, today if possible.

 

[Cristiano]

just recently i took up praying the rosary in latin but one night while i was doing so I began to feel guilt over it and almost as if God were telling me to stop praying it in latin. this confused me and now when i think about the concept of going to the EF of the mass again (which I ardently desire to do) or just praying in latin my heart feels atinge of guilt i can go back to saying the rosary in english but i do strongly prefer to pray it in latin
should I discontinue or just continue past it I dont understand this emotion Its as if I cannot prefer the latin anymore AM I GOING INSANE or is this possibly demonic in origin, or mabey coincidental or just my mind… I was tired at the time?

Do you really prefer Latin? Are you proficient in Latin? Does it really help you to contemplate on the mysteries of the rosary? Isn’t it possible that you just do it to convince yourself of something that might not be necessary or even counter productive?

Just because Latin helps you in some aspects you your spirituality, that does not mean that is good across the border. I doubt that there is any demonic influence, maybe it is just your conscience directing you along the best path for that prayer.

 

[Deckie]

If you fully understand what you are saying in Latin then continue.At school in Ireland we were taught to say prayers and Hymns in Irish and although I can still recite them,I havent got a clue what im saying.

 

[ProVobis]

Why the guilt? The Popes pray the Rosary in Latin.

youtube.com/watch?v=thinlrfjOF0

youtube.com/watch?v=2m37kbtMvGs

 

[GloriousOrder]

Being absolutely fluent in Latin, and able to speak and read it easily, would be a good reason to pray in Latin. Praying in this manner just because “it’s Latin and Latin is old and cool” is pure pride. I think your guilt here is a matter of God showing you your pride at praying in Latin. If you feel guilt, it is because you have realised that you are proud of yourself. Perhaps if you were 100% fluent and Latin was another first language, that’d be fine, but I think it’s objectionable to pray in Latin just because it’s Latin.

Pray in your own tongue, in private. That moment is entirely about you and God, together. The Liturgy is in Latin because it is the official prayer of our Church, the Body of God, within God. You may speak to Him as you are comfortable, when alone. Why not? If I were with my best friend, I wouldn’t struggle to speak in his own language if he could speak my own fluently. My dear brother in faith is German, but I am absolutely **** with German so he speaks his very good English with me. Why not?

 

[ProVobis]

Being absolutely fluent in Latin, and able to speak and read it easily, would be a good reason to pray in Latin.

But how are you going to learn it unless you work at it? It doesn’t come automatically. People aren’t born knowing Latin and how many parents make it their kid’s first language? If everyone around you tries to discourage something you think you may enjoy for whatever reason, then chances are you’ll probably stop doing it. If you want to kill Latin, then tell them it’s dead and you shouldn’t do it and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

And I’m done with this thread.

 

[KaneKatholic]

well thats a disappointment. It seems I cant genuinly like something .
Number one: the object of the rosary is contemplation and not the prayers in and of themselves. so the saying the Ave Maria vs. Hail Mary dosent matter as long as it isnt that big of a deal(you stumble on every word)
Number two: i understand the words in english and I am familliar with the prayers in other romances languages that come from latin. Iam familliar with the terms so I do know what Iam saying. I may stumble with pronounciations but i know the words prety well.
Number three: IAM SCRUPULOUS! so I do struggle with such concepts as “hearing” the voice of God in my heart. my spiritual life at times seems to be a constant dark night
Number four: YES I CHOSE TO PRAY THE ROSARY IN LATIN BECAUSE IT IS LATIN GET OVER IT! i find the language both beautiful and poetic
Numbrt five: I dont appreiate the incinuation that I am prideful or “proud of myself” because i pray in latin. I choose to PERIOD. it is a choice
Number six: as an artist I am constantly concerned with how things appear. and what deep meanings that carry. so when i chose to do it I was more concerned with deepening my spirituality.
it seems I need to seek help from a priest.

 

[midori]

I think one of the points brought up is that the Latin is distracting the OP from their prayers, rather than enhancing them. It’s up to the OP to determine where the trouble is coming from. Latin is a beautiful language, and since it’s been adopted as the official Church language, it’s a holy language as well. Exorcists will be the first to tell you that prayers in Latin have a certain impact that prayers in the vernacular cannot duplicate.

It’s ultimately up to the OP to determine why praying in Latin is distracting for them, and I think that a number of posters have done a good job of offering different theories for the OP to consider.

Latin’s also a hard language. I’m probably preaching to the choir, considering the subforum, but it bears pointing out. For example, depending on the gender and plurality of the noun it modifies and its place in speech (since Latin has no word order), there are 90 different possible ways to decline an adjective. You can’t just have a “blue” something; the word for “blue” will change depending on whether “blue” modifies a feminine, masculine, or neuter noun; whether it’s a singular or plural object; and whether you’re dealing with the subject, direct object, indirect object, or whatever. I think those sorts of things are what previous posters might have been addressing— if your fluency isn’t quite up to par so that you’re able to freely pray, it’s very easy to get bogged down in declensions and conjugations. Of course, a rigid prayer like the “Our Father” or “Hail Mary” is going to be different from a freeflowing conversation with God, but the point remains that a familiar prayer in an unfamiliar language might pose an obstacle when we’re supposed to be conversing with God and meditating on something better than grammar. Praying in Latin is a nice way to familiarize yourself with a single prayer, but regular study sessions with Wheelock’s or Miller’s are far more helpful to familiarize yourself with grammar and the language itself.

 

[GloriousOrder]

But how are you going to learn it unless you work at it? It doesn’t come automatically. People aren’t born knowing Latin and how many parents make it their kid’s first language? If everyone around you tries to discourage something you think you may enjoy for whatever reason, then chances are you’ll probably stop doing it. If you want to kill Latin, then tell them it’s dead and you shouldn’t do it and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Actually, I said it is best not to pray in Latin if you’re not fluent. Prayer is a conversation, or even a mode of being, not just something you do, and then stuff happens. We cannot hope that prayer is more efficacious in English or in Latin, but only when it is done by a righteous man. You may learn Latin all you want, but don’t practice it on God - practice it with humans, so you can make mistakes and it won’t matter.

 

[KaneKatholic]

Actually, I said it is best not to pray in Latin if you’re not fluent. Prayer is a conversation, or even a mode of being, not just something you do, and then stuff happens. We cannot hope that prayer is more efficacious in English or in Latin, but only when it is done by a righteous man. You may learn Latin all you want, but don’t practice it on God - practice it with humans, so you can make mistakes and it won’t matter.

your opinions seem to be given from a high horse the when i pray ,as in the actual conversaion with GOD, i pray in my mother tounge (english) because thats how i best express myself but the ROSARY is not dependant on the prayers but rather the meditation so if i stumble on pronounciation during prayer in latin (which i always do in english anyway and i speak it)
in the end i feel it is brought on by my scrupulosity
it runs deeper than this however and I should seek pastoral help my problem is discerning the voice of God in my heart sometimes i feel its only me talking and i would prefer a priest’s guidance

 

[Trishie]

Dear Kane, the only time it could be less desirable to pray in Latin is if a person was prideful about it and hung up on the language rather than the prayers.
…but I know you as a young person who tries very sincerely to do what is right and who is anxious to please God, and trying to find the best way.
Not everyone knows that about you…so I thought I’d mention it.

I do wonder sometimes though why people wouldn’t want to pray in Aramaic, as that was Jesus and Mary’s native language!

 

[corsair]

I pray the Rosary in latin every day (many times). No, I’m not what you’d call proficient in latin but I use latin as often as I can. Like every Friday morning I offer ALL my prayers in latin but use english the rest of the week. I do it because I like to do it that way.

 

[Oneofthewomen]

well thats a disappointment. It seems I cant genuinly like something .
Number one: the object of the rosary is contemplation and not the prayers in and of themselves. so the saying the Ave Maria vs. Hail Mary dosent matter as long as it isnt that big of a deal(you stumble on every word)
Number two: i understand the words in english and I am familliar with the prayers in other romances languages that come from latin. Iam familliar with the terms so I do know what Iam saying. I may stumble with pronounciations but i know the words prety well.
Number three: IAM SCRUPULOUS! so I do struggle with such concepts as “hearing” the voice of God in my heart. my spiritual life at times seems to be a constant dark night
Number four: YES I CHOSE TO PRAY THE ROSARY IN LATIN BECAUSE IT IS LATIN GET OVER IT! i find the language both beautiful and poetic
***Numbrt five: I dont appreiate the incinuation that I am prideful or “proud of myself” because i pray in latin. I choose to PERIOD. it is a choice ***Number six: as an artist I am constantly concerned with how things appear. and what deep meanings that carry. so when i chose to do it I was more concerned with deepening my spirituality.
it seems I need to seek help from a priest.

Re: the bolded part above.

Yes, you are right that it is a choice, and one that you are free to make as your heart tells you, but have you ever stopped to think that maybe these feelings you are having are because God is trying to tell you something?

Remember, the words of the prayer are "Thy will be done",
not "my will be done"!

Just something to contemplate!

Peace be with you on your journey!

 

[TrueLight]

I think you should just pray the Rosary in English.

If it is causing you distress, then don’t do it. It isn’t holier to pray it in Latin.

Maybe the Holy Spirit is telling you that you are too focused on the language.

 

[UnityofTrinity]

I pray my rosary in Vietnamese and I’m fluent in both languages, but to me Vietnamese is that special language that I use with my family, and God and His saints is my family

 

[jerry74383]

Actually, I said it is best not to pray in Latin if you’re not fluent. Prayer is a conversation, or even a mode of being, not just something you do, and then stuff happens. We cannot hope that prayer is more efficacious in English or in Latin, but only when it is done by a righteous man. You may learn Latin all you want, but don’t practice it on God - practice it with humans, so you can make mistakes and it won’t matter.

I’m curious as to why you (and others) suggest fluency/proficiency is necessary to pray in Latin? I would agree if one is praying the Breviary, for example, where it is not feasible for most people to memorize all of the prayers. The rosary prayers, however, can be easily memorized and one can understand what they are praying without being proficient, much less fluent, in Latin.

What type of mistakes are you thinking of? Mispronunciations? Why would these matter to God, who knows what is in his heart and mind?

To those who suggested the OP’s guilt originates with the Holy Spirit, consider the other possibility: it is caused by Satan. One reason I like to pray in Latin is that I am forced to go slower and mentally engage more in the prayer.

 

[Iotaunum]

Praying in Latin or the vernacular privately makes no difference either way. I continued to pray in English until I memorized and could understand the meaning of the Latin prayer, then I would pray the Rosary in English all but the last decade, which I would say in Latin. After you are more comfortable with the Latin, you can say more of the Rosary and eventually all of it in Latin. I had not even started learning Latin at that stage, but I was able to understand the meaning enough to pray. You don’t have to be fluent in Latin to pray in latin. For many hundreds of years even peasants who could not read nor write could say their Paters and Aves. Their prayers were heard just the same, and they knew the meaning. It is nice to pray with the exact same words as the saints prayed. If you are having difficulty in learning the meaning, practice by saying one part in latin and repeating in English; e.g. Pater noster - Our Father…Qui es in Caelis - Who art in Heaven etc. You will be able to pray the Rosary in Latin in no time.