New To the Latin Mass

[newyork123]

I have read quite a bit about the Tridentine Latin Mass and have found Churchs who offer this mass, which after going to several time i do prefer the Latin Mass. One Church in particular that i attened i noticed that a good number of people who were around me new the Latin and would respond back to the Priest in Latin through out the Mass and some new the Latin Chants that were being sung. A lot of people recited the Creed in Latin also. How did these people learn all this Latin ? Just from going to Church ? Or could it be that they were part some sort of Church group ? I assumed that the only one who would know any Latin would be the Priest.

 

[corsair]

Personally, I’m a convert from back in 1970, but my wife is a cradle Catholic. She tells me that they were taught a lot of Latin in Catholic school. However, its something that I have learned over almost 40 years. I can now read most of the Mass without stumbling too much.

The latin language is beautiful.

Most people I know follow the Mass with their missals. If they get a little lost, they know there are certain “key” phases to watch for to re-orient themselves. It just a matter of becoming familiar with the rhythm and flow of the Mass.

 

[JRKH]

I have read quite a bit about the Tridentine Latin Mass and have found Churchs who offer this mass, which after going to several time i do prefer the Latin Mass. One Church in particular that i attened i noticed that a good number of people who were around me new the Latin and would respond back to the Priest in Latin through out the Mass and some new the Latin Chants that were being sung. A lot of people recited the Creed in Latin also. How did these people learn all this Latin ? Just from going to Church ? Or could it be that they were part some sort of Church group ? I assumed that the only one who would know any Latin would be the Priest.

I would say that it is a combination of factors from being raised with Latin, to just “picking it up” from others in Church. In any case it is because they wished to learn it. I think the best way to get started learning the responses and so forth is to sit near those who respond, and pick it up as you follow along in your missal or missalette.

**Here is a link to another thread **where someone asked about learning Latin.

Peace
James

 

[adstrinity]

Yes. Keep going (and, I hope for your sake that the EF Masses to which you are going are in union with Rome) and you will learn the phrases as you go along. Mostly the reply is, “Et cum spiritu, tuo,” that the congregation replies.

I’m still having trouble with the, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou should enter under my roof, but, only say the word and I shall be healed,” so, I mouth this in English. I know I’ll get it one day, though. “Domine, sub … anima mea.” Wait…that’s not translated right.

 

[Seminarian_Matt]

Over the past 2 years I have learned enough Latin just by attending the Latin Mass to serve the Traditional Latin Mass (which is much more complicated than a Novus Ordo Mass).

However, I feel that the most important thing to learn is not the pronunciation of the Latin but the theology and spirituality of Catholicism. After all, you do not have to say anything at Mass - the priest prays on our behalf as we spiritually offer ourselves to God at the Mass. So, for that reason, I recommend learning about the theology and liturgy of the Latin Mass - not necessarily being a Latin expert.

Some items that I think are helpful:

astore.amazon.com/acatlif-20/175-7736253-2385064?_encoding=UTF8&node=1
astore.amazon.com/acatlif-20/175-7736253-2385064?_encoding=UTF8&node=6

Don’t worry, you’ll “get it”.

 

[John_Grudzien]

Yes. Keep going (and, I hope for your sake that the EF Masses to which you are going are in union with Rome) and you will learn the phrases as you go along. Mostly the reply is, “Et cum spiritu, tuo,” that the congregation replies.

I’m still having trouble with the, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou should enter under my roof, but, only say the word and I shall be healed,” so, I mouth this in English. I know I’ll get it one day, though. “Domine, sub … anima mea.” Wait…that’s not translated right.

Let me see if I remember it right…Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meam, sed tantum dic verbo, et sanibitur anima mea=Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. I think I’m right but it has been 42 years since I assisted as a “Knight of the Altar” at a Latin Mass

 

[revert_jen]

I’m still having trouble with the, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou should enter under my roof, but, only say the word and I shall be healed,” so, I mouth this in English. I know I’ll get it one day, though. “Domine, sub … anima mea.” Wait…that’s not translated right.

I wondered if I was the only one to have a problem with that. My parish has a “program” for the EF Mass that has the chants (Gloria, Credo, etc.) in it, so all we have to do is follow along. But even looking at the words for the “Domine, non sum dignus…” I still have trouble. I think they say it too fast for me, and by the third time it has turned into a tongue twister. So for me, it usually ends up like this:

Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea.
Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea.
Domine, non sum dignus, utu res subadub tata verbo abadaba anima mea.

By the time I was born nobody was teaching Catholic children Latin any more. I took a year of (classical) Latin in high school because I thought it made sense for a Catholic to know some Latin. I don’t remember anyone agreeing with me about that at the time. That was a good many years ago–maybe it is different now.

If you don’t want to buy a missal (and they are expensive) you can find a lot of information on this web site: sanctamissa.org/en/

It’s easy to get lost if you don’t have anything to follow along with.

Best of luck!

–Jen

 

[Kasey1]

Yes. Keep going (and, I hope for your sake that the EF Masses to which you are going are in union with Rome) and you will learn the phrases as you go along. Mostly the reply is, “Et cum spiritu, tuo,” that the congregation replies.

I’m still having trouble with the, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou should enter under my roof, but, only say the word and I shall be healed,” so, I mouth this in English. I know I’ll get it one day, though. “Domine, sub … anima mea.” Wait…that’s not translated right.

Nice work–thank you for sharing-
Thanks so much for this. I appreciate the effort. It really helps a lot.
http://www.photosnag.com/img/4673/n09x0302vnsn/clear.gif

 

[Breviarylover]

I have read quite a bit about the Tridentine Latin Mass and have found Churchs who offer this mass, which after going to several time i do prefer the Latin Mass. One Church in particular that i attened i noticed that a good number of people who were around me new the Latin and would respond back to the Priest in Latin through out the Mass and some new the Latin Chants that were being sung. A lot of people recited the Creed in Latin also. How did these people learn all this Latin ? Just from going to Church ? Or could it be that they were part some sort of Church group ? I assumed that the only one who would know any Latin would be the Priest.

It is only practice.

I use a hand missal, and that helps me stay on track, and learn all the prayers.

 

[BrianIndy]

I have read quite a bit about the Tridentine Latin Mass and have found Churchs who offer this mass, which after going to several time i do prefer the Latin Mass. One Church in particular that i attened i noticed that a good number of people who were around me new the Latin and would respond back to the Priest in Latin through out the Mass and some new the Latin Chants that were being sung. A lot of people recited the Creed in Latin also. How did these people learn all this Latin ? Just from going to Church ? Or could it be that they were part some sort of Church group ? I assumed that the only one who would know any Latin would be the Priest.

I came into the church 11 years ago, my wife is a cradle Catholic as are my children. I came into the Traditional Latin Mass, and the TLM was very much a major role player in my conversion. We knew not a single word of Latin. I would say within 5 or 6 months of weekly attendance to this Mass, we pretty much knew the Latin for just about the entire Mass (our part, not the priest part…still had to read along in the Missal for that). The one thing that used to throw me off though was when the cadence or the “music” of the Mass would change. Get a Missal and follow along with it, within a few months you’ll know the Latin words and their meaning. Good luck.

Vivat Jesus!

 

[BrianIndy]

Astrinity…I had the same problem with that portion of the Mass. I always messed it up.

Domine, nom sum dignus et intres sub tectum meum; sed tantum dic verbo, et anabitur anima mea

Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But say the word and my soul will be healed.

Took me about 5 years to finally start getting it right…and even now I flub it up about 1/3 of the time.

 

[moonletters]

Being born in 1988, I never attended Latin mass until quite recently. I find it more enjoyable. There is less racket, people aren’t banging on drums, coming in late or leaving early…people seem to genuinely want to be there and I find that really compelling.

My father was the one to make me go, he exclusively attends Latin masses now, even when we travel (believe me, this is no easy feat!) about two years ago when I was definitely wanting in the faith and barely attending mass. I dragged my feet a lot, claiming I didn’t know Latin, it was weird, didn’t want to go, etc. Instead, it has made me want to go. I actually, sometimes, think about going to mass on Sunday during the week.

Learning the Latin was not at all hard. The church provided missals with latin on the left and English on the right for us to follow along. As I became more interested, my father encouraged me to buy my own missalette, circa 1960, so I did. Now, I can recite the Hail Mary, Our Father, and a few lines of the mass itself. I even made an Oremus bumper sticker because I liked it so much.

Hope this helps, sorry it is so disjointed, trying to be quick!

 

[chris_molter]

Domine, non sum dignus, utu res subadub tata verbo abadaba anima mea.

–Jen

me too!!

Although in opposition to THAT reaction, I always seem to get choked up around the end of the Gloria and can’t finish singing it since I’m borderline in tears.

 

[jewells17]

I found something I really enjoyed. You can find it if you google “Father Donald Kloster Latin Mass youtube”. He gives four short talks on you tube about the Tridentine Mass and these talks are wonderful. You can try “Father Kloster Tridentine Mass on youtube” as well.

 

[brotherhrolf]

I grew up with the Latin Mass. I was an altar boy until 1968 by which time we had already transitioned to the NO.

One got one’s “little missal” when one made one’s First Communion in the second grade. And, yes, we were taught and well prepared. You got your “big missal” when you were Confirmed which back in the early 60’s was done in the sixth grade.

I can “see” my mother’s finger as I knelt next to her showing me word for word the Latin on the left side of the missal and the English on the right. So many words in English are cognates of the Latin. You just have to think about them for awhile. For example, gloria and glory - well thats a no brainer. Sanctus? Sanctification. Aeternam? Eternity. Shakespeare and his fellow authors in the Renaissance added thousands of Latin derived words to the English language. A little time and patience and a little “thinking out-of-the-box” and focusing on all those tri-syllabic words in English and you will soon begin recognizing the cognates.

And, yes, those of us who grew up with a Missa Cantata are perfectly capable of either reciting or chanting all of the standard parts of the Mass in Latin.

 

[SFH]

Yes. Keep going (and, I hope for your sake that the EF Masses to which you are going are in union with Rome) and you will learn the phrases as you go along. Mostly the reply is, “Et cum spiritu, tuo,” that the congregation replies.

I’m still having trouble with the, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou should enter under my roof, but, only say the word and I shall be healed,” so, I mouth this in English. I know I’ll get it one day, though. “Domine, sub … anima mea.” Wait…that’s not translated right.

Domine non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum sed tantum dic verbo et sanabitur anima mea.

Domine = Lord
non = not
sum = I am
dignus = worthy
ut = that
intres = you enter
sub = under
tectum = roof
meum = my
sed = but
tantum = only
dic = say
verbo = the word
et = and
sanabitur = will be healed
anima = soul
mea = my