Latin Rosary

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Whenever I pray the rosary, I use an app that has a list of the prayers and the mysteries, and every time I notice it has a separate section for the prayers in Latin. I was wondering what the reason was to pray the rosary in Latin. Is it better to pray the rosary in Latin? And if so why?
 
It’s just really for what you prefer. Some people like the different rhythm, feel of the words, in Latin rather than English (or whichever language it might be). (The same words, but ‘Ave Maria’ has a totally different sound to it than does ‘Hail Mary’, and I use and have used both). A few people are linguistic snobs as well :rolleyes:

Unless one language over another makes a real difference to the depth of one’s prayer (I’m not sure I’d pray the Rosary in Spanish for instance because I’d be way too focussed on the words themselves rather than the words being a kind of key), I can’t think it makes a great deal of difference, though. I think we can assume that anyone in the Heavenly Kingdom is a sufficient polyglot to understand!

Keep praying 🙂 And God bless you
 
I read somewhere that there are benefits to praying in Latin such as being able to focus on the prayers better and being in union with Holy Mother Church (who has chosen a dead language for her rites so as to ensure stability of meaning). I even read that demons fear Latin prayers (plus that article/site, can’t remember, said something about being united with one language counteracts what happened before at the tower in Babel, where one language become several different ones)! With those being said, I still say pray in whatever language you are comfortable with so long as you can focus on talking to God 🙂 Try to incorporate Latin if you can though as there is a greater sense of solemnity in the prayer when you do so 🙂

I myself am still trying to perfect my Latin, which I do by inserting Latin into my common prayers. Also, since I want to pray in union with the Church, I try to adapt her wording for different rites (Mass, Liturgy of the Hours) into my personal prayers. Rest assured I give due respect to the words used in the original rites 🙂
 
Whenever I pray the rosary, I use an app that has a list of the prayers and the mysteries, and every time I notice it has a separate section for the prayers in Latin. I was wondering what the reason was to pray the rosary in Latin. Is it better to pray the rosary in Latin? And if so why?
It makes NO difference to GOD in what language you pray to HIM. Rest assured of this!
What is important…IS to Pray!
Pray in whatever language you are more comfortable and happy with.
GOD bless!

 
It makes NO difference to GOD in what language you pray to HIM. Rest assured of this!
What is important…IS to Pray!
Pray in whatever language you are more comfortable and happy with.
GOD bless!

Agreed.
 
such as being able to focus on the prayers better and being in union with Holy Mother Church (who has chosen a dead language for her rites so as to ensure stability of meaning). I even read that demons fear Latin prayers (plus that article/site, can’t remember, said something about being united with one language counteracts what happened before at the tower in Babel, where one language become several different ones)!
I read somewhere that there are benefits to praying in Latin With those being said, I still say pray in whatever language you are comfortable with so long as you can focus on talking to God 🙂 Try to incorporate Latin if you can though as there is a greater sense of solemnity in the prayer when you do so 🙂

I myself am still trying to perfect my Latin, which I do by inserting Latin into my common prayers. Also, since I want to pray in union with the Church, I try to adapt her wording for different rites (Mass, Liturgy of the Hours) into my personal prayers. Rest assured I give due respect to the words used in the original rites 🙂
Source?
 
I read somewhere that there are benefits to praying in Latin such as being able to focus on the prayers better and being in union with Holy Mother Church (who has chosen a dead language for her rites so as to ensure stability of meaning). I even read that demons fear Latin prayers (plus that article/site, can’t remember, said something about being united with one language counteracts what happened before at the tower in Babel, where one language become several different ones)! With those being said, I still say pray in whatever language you are comfortable with so long as you can focus on talking to God 🙂 Try to incorporate Latin if you can though as there is a greater sense of solemnity in the prayer when you do so 🙂

I myself am still trying to perfect my Latin, which I do by inserting Latin into my common prayers. Also, since I want to pray in union with the Church, I try to adapt her wording for different rites (Mass, Liturgy of the Hours) into my personal prayers. Rest assured I give due respect to the words used in the original rites 🙂
There is a little something in what you say, I think, in that a universal language (“dead” or otherwise) does act as a kind of symbol of unity, and the idea of Catholics around the world united in not merely the same ideas in prayer but the same words, rhythms of language, is a wondrous thing. However I don’t think it makes the prayer any more effective.

(It’s also world pointing out that the Church didn’t ‘choose’ a ‘dead’ language for anything - Latin was the vernacular everyday language of the Western Roman Empire, as Greek was in the East. For a long while early in the West, the Mass was celebrated in Greek (I understand). Latin is only “dead” now because the vernacular has shifted to languages evolved from Latin (French, Italian, etc), or others like English or German. By the time the Rosary was formalised Latin was the language of law and church, because a longer time ago, it was the language everyone knew, and the Church just never caught up until 1969…it’s why “the Mass has to be in Latin” argument is kind of ridiculous because even though on an aesthetic level there is much to be said for it, the reason Latin started to be used in the first place was so everyone could understand it, so there is therefore every reason to now use local languages, although of course there is the felicitous symbolic value of using the same language everywhere, as you point out!)
 
There is a little something in what you say, I think, in that a universal language (“dead” or otherwise) does act as a kind of symbol of unity, and the idea of Catholics around the world united in not merely the same ideas in prayer but the same words, rhythms of language, is a wondrous thing. However I don’t think it makes the prayer any more effective.

(It’s also world pointing out that the Church didn’t ‘choose’ a ‘dead’ language for anything - Latin was the vernacular everyday language of the Western Roman Empire, as Greek was in the East. For a long while early in the West, the Mass was celebrated in Greek (I understand). Latin is only “dead” now because the vernacular has shifted to languages evolved from Latin (French, Italian, etc), or others like English or German. By the time the Rosary was formalised Latin was the language of law and church, because a longer time ago, it was the language everyone knew, and the Church just never caught up until 1969…it’s why “the Mass has to be in Latin” argument is kind of ridiculous because even though on an aesthetic level there is much to be said for it, the reason Latin started to be used in the first place was so everyone could understand it, so there is therefore every reason to now use local languages, although of course there is the felicitous symbolic value of using the same language everywhere, as you point out!)
This trend of thought is worth expanding.

The Israelites wrote the first 5 books of Scripture in Hebrew. Considered by them a Sacred language.

However after their 2nd diaspora in Babylon, the returning 2 tribes mostly spoke Greek. As this, was the lingua franca of that they. About 300 years before Jesus was born, there was clamour from the people, because when they went to the Synagogue and heard the readings, they did not understand a word of what was said in there.

A commission of Rabbi was established to translate the books of the people (The Scriptures) to Greek. The resulting book was the LXX or Septuagint. Some people on this board dispute this, but the majority of Scripture experts do believe and agree on this.

Now Christianity started in an area where Greek was the language for commerce.

However when St. Peter moved to Rome. Here the situation complicates, because the people in these lands did not speak Greek. They spoke Latin.
Hence the word “Vulgo”, it means “Common”.
Funnily the Google translator gives “translation” to the word “Vulgata” but that is totally incorrect.
How can you go from the root “Common” to “Translation” is beyond me, but I digress.

Therefore the Church, took the same approach that the priests of the OT 300 years BEFORE Christ took and ordered the Scriptures to be translated from Greek to Latin.

As the Church expanded to the ends of the Earth, as commanded by Jesus, She continues her duty to give Her treasure to all, by overseeing that the Bible be faithfully translated in the languages used by Her faithful and “other” denominations.

 
Thank you for your replies, Murmur and JerryZ! 🙂 I guess it’s just my longing to learn more Latin speaking (I could still improve my pronunciation and conjugation) 🙂
 
I pray the rosary in Latin because I just really like the Latin language and its history in the Church. When you pray in Latin, you are praying in the same language that millions of Catholics have prayed in since the beginning of the Church. It is pleasing to know that my patron saint said Mass and prayed in the same language that I am saying the rosary even though he was Italian. It also makes me feel united to the Church because I am praying the same language that the Mass is said in all around the world (with the Traditional Latin Mass anyway). I am sure the effort you put in to say prayers in the language of the Church aren’t unnoticed by almighty God. 🙂
 
I pray the rosary in Latin because I just really like the Latin language and its history in the Church. When you pray in Latin, you are praying in the same language that millions of Catholics have prayed in since the beginning of the Church. It is pleasing to know that my patron saint said Mass and prayed in the same language that I am saying the rosary even though he was Italian. It also makes me feel united to the Church because I am praying the same language that the Mass is said in all around the world (with the Traditional Latin Mass anyway). I am sure the effort you put in to say prayers in the language of the Church aren’t unnoticed by almighty God. 🙂
Thank you for the affirmation! 🙂
 
Thanks, I’ll probably keep praying in English until hopefully I get around to trying to learn Latin. 🙂
 
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