I know what you mean. I also know that what I am talking about is not for everone.
English Grammar and Latin Grammar are in theory directly opposed to one another. This makes Latin very hard for English speakers who can not think outside of word order to comprehend. However, almost because of this, if an English speaker can get the hang of Latin, it opens the doors to so many language possiblities. I very quickly began to see that It would be far easier for me to translate to and from Latin then English any day. Coptic to Latin, no problem. Coptic to English, well, I can make something but is it correct so that most English Speakes will understand what I am trying to say, maybe not.
Besides, for me the Latin is the great important issue but other good fruits could come about from this. Even the Catholics who decide to move next door to a Church can’t speak Latin, think about what they have done. They have made a big dicision. It isn’t the average Catholic who is going to follow this plan. Even if they just can’t get the langauge to do (but I believe Latin to be a very easy language to learn) at least they are taking huge possitive steps to increase in holiness. Imagine a neighbor hood of Catholics who are at least “trying” to learn Latin, who all live near the Church.
Again, we have seen this kind of thing work over and over again for Jews and now we even see in Israel the first stages of a final sucess in bringing Hebrew completely back to life.
Maybe there really just isn’t anyone else out there who loves the Latin as much as me but I sure wish there were and I will continue to try to get as many people (especially Catholics) to learn the langauge that I can.
We do need to christionize the English language properly. A lot of words and idioms in the English language are set up to discourage people from accepting the One True Faith that is only found in the Catholic Church. I keep a list with me to show students English words that mean almost the exact opposite of what the Latin word they come from means. English has been “tinkered” with to assist the Anglicans pull poeple away from the Church. Protestants are not making up every manner of new phrase or idiom to dazzle people. At the same time, the Catholic Church when doing Mass in English sometimes doesn’t put enough thought into how they arraing the words.
Have you ever been in Mass and just had to cringe when you heard some of the ways the the words are put together. You understand what they are trying to say but you know full well that a lot of people are going to take it the wrong way on purpose. I once was attacked as a Christ hater becaue in the Catholic Church the Mystery of Faith was sung to sound like “Aleluja Jesus is dead.” These protestants don’t miss any opportunity to insult and reprimand us.
We do need to re-Christianize the English language if we are to have any hope of teaching correct Christianity to most Americans, but at the same time, at least for me, knowing my faith in Latin is a huge help and encouragement.
I began my life as a Christians largely as an English speaker and I was instructed in English and I attended Mass in English and I learned the Liturgy of the Hours in English. However, almost from my first day as a Catholic, I started to study Latin. It is the language in my home among my family, the language I pray the Liturgia Horarum in and the Langauge I hope to see used again as the Mass in at least one Church in my new city.
My proposal is mostly with American Catholics in mind but even here in Japan where I live now this could be done. The Japanese collective mentality would even purpetuate it. There use to be several islands west of Nagasaki where Latin was spoken by Catholics who hid there. It took the second Vatican council and the Mass changing to Japanese for them to think that it was ok to send their kids to public school and learn Japanese as a first langauge. Most Japanese Catholics today would not want to go back to Latin, but some miss it and some want it.
I do not seek to replace Japanese as the language of the Mass in Japan. But all of us as Catholics should hold on to the good and useful heretage that has been left to us. It is our language now.
