I’ve read that in the Middle Ages, the Our Father was recited a number of times in Latin on counting beads by the laity, in place of the divine office 150 psalms.
Lay people adopted this as a popular form of worship. And that this was split into decades, and was the forerunner of the rosary.
I tend to vary my prayers to keep it interesting. I’m currently learing the latin Pater Noster. And am just wondering if anyone on CAF prays Pater Nosters, as an alternative to, or as well as the Rosary.
I learned the “Our Father” in Latin as a young boy just from hearing the priest chant it. Learned the Hail Mary in Gaelic because I wanted to and because my great grandparents were Gaelic speaking and they recited the whole rosary in Gaelic every evening. My father used to go over to their house when they did, and I love the thought of it. Learned both prayers in French because I took French and wanted to know them in French.
So, though I don’t know that this is responsive to your question, yes, I often do say the “Our Father” in Latin when saying the Rosary. Also, sometimes I will say a decade in Gaelic or French or some of each.
Why do I do that?
Well, saying the “Our Father” in Latin reminds me of that sense of awe I had as a young boy, listening to the priest chant it. Somehow, it prevents my mind from wandering at all, and takes me back to the piety and reverence the chant evoked.
And the Gaelic? Well, it makes me think of my great grandparents and the simple piety they knew in a simpler age; one not so given to cynicism and the impatience that sometimes makes us pray too fast. (Takes awhile to say the rosary in Gaelic)
The French? Well, I’m not sure, but I think it causes me to focus on the words and their meaning a little more, because notwithstanding that I know the prayers by heart and exceedingly well in French, my mind still “translates” them, and I think about them more.
The words of any language don’t exactly translate into any other. Not quite. And those differences, however slight, (as is the case with French and English, which translate almost exactly) make one think about them. For example; “Hail Mary” in French, is “Je vous salue, Marie”. Close, but not quite the same thing. Literally translated, the French would be more like “I salute you, Mary”. “Amen” in French, literally translated, is more like “and so it absolutely must be”.
Guess I am not too good at praying or I wouldn’t be doing all that stuff. But it’s helpful to me, and I like it.
Also, and I don’t know why this is, but no matter what I do, when the Creed is recited at Mass, my mind turns it into Latin even though I’m saying it in English. Again, I just more or less learned that from hearing it over and over, years ago. It’s an involuntary 'continuity", but it is not mentally unwelcome to me.
Well, the same is true of the “Kyrie”. My mind says “Kyrie Eleison” and “Christae Eleison” even though I’m saying “Lord have mercy” and “Christ have mercy”. Puts my mind back to the early days of the Church when the Mass was in Greek in most of the world, and of the unity all Christians, east and west, once had. It’s a “communion of saints” kind of thing to me.
Personally, I see nothing wrong in learning the Latin for prayer.
