Praying in Latin?

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Is it okay to pray in Latin even if you don’t know quite what it is that your’e saying? I know that the Catechism explicitly prohibits superstition in prayer, where you’re just putting trust in the words and forgetting the inward disposition. Is it wrong to pray without knowing what it is that you’re saying?
 
Colorad007 said:
Is it okay to pray in Latin even if you don’t know quite what it is that your’e saying? I know that the Catechism explicitly prohibits superstition in prayer, where you’re just putting trust in the words and forgetting the inward disposition. Is it wrong to pray without knowing what it is that you’re saying?
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This is my personal opinion. I think it is inadvisable for someone to say prayers in Latin when they truly have no idea at all what they are saying. Such would be the case if, for example, you didn’t even know if the prayer was the Our Father, or the Apostles Creed, etc.

On the other hand, if you know that you’re praying the Our Father (for example) and you know the Our Father in English, then I don’t see any problem with saying the Our Father in Latin, even if you don’t understand every word or know exactly where you are in the prayer. In this case, you know what you are praying.

Of course, it is even better if you fully understand the Latin prayer. This can be the case even if you don’t really know Latin. You can memorize a given prayer in Latin (Our Father, for example) and look up and memorize the meanings of all of the words such that you do, in fact, know exactly, word for word, what you are praying in Latin even if you don’t know Latin generally.
 
You can pray in any language you wish, even those you don’t understand. Prayer is to God, and He understands all.

Sometimes we pray without using words at all, yet God even understands this too.
 
I pray in Latin as often as possible. Its been 55 years since my last Latin class and I found that by using my Latin Missal and reading the prayers it helped me remember a lot of the words. So now I don’t rely on looking at the english side of the page as much any more.
 
Well the Holy Father recommended that the faithful learn the basic devotional prayers in Latin, so this practice would be laudable. I pray the Our Father and the Hail Mary sometimes in Latin and sometimes in English. I have tried to memorize the Hail Holy Queen but am not there yet. I need to memorize the Apostiles Creed as well but this will take time.

I am also sure that my pacing and emphasis in syllables is incorrect as I read the Our Father like it is Chanted in Gregorian Chant and I don’t believe this pace is the same as if it were spoken.
 
Will_S said:
This is my personal opinion. I think it is inadvisable for someone to say prayers in Latin when they truly have no idea at all what they are saying. Such would be the case if, for example, you didn’t even know if the prayer was the Our Father, or the Apostles Creed, etc.

On the other hand, if you know that you’re praying the Our Father (for example) and you know the Our Father in English, then I don’t see any problem with saying the Our Father in Latin, even if you don’t understand every word or know exactly where you are in the prayer. In this case, you know what you are praying.

Of course, it is even better if you fully understand the Latin prayer. This can be the case even if you don’t really know Latin. You can memorize a given prayer in Latin (Our Father, for example) and look up and memorize the meanings of all of the words such that you do, in fact, know exactly, word for word, what you are praying in Latin even if you don’t know Latin generally.
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👍
 
Personally, I think that saying common prayers (Pater, Ave, Gloria, etc) in an unfamiliar language is an excellent way to learn some of that language. My family alternates praying decades in English and Vietnamese (and gradually adding Latin, BTW). I alone do not know Vietnamese but will not allow my fault to inhibit their practice. Over the course of several months, I can now chant the prayers with them. Of course, I understand the prayer even though the words are alien to me.
 
I don’t understand why anyone would think that it is essential to personally understand the words of a prayer – language is a barrier to man, not to God. Are we praying to our neighbors, or are we praying to God?

Even when we pray the Our Father, we don’t fully understand it – in English, or Latin, or in Greek. Give us this day our daily bread – the word daily is just a guess. The original word in Greek is epiousios, and no one is entirely certain of its meaning. While there have been educated guesses, we do not know what it really means. God knows.
 
Colorad007 said:
Is it okay to pray in Latin even if you don’t know quite what it is that your’e saying? I know that the Catechism explicitly prohibits superstition in prayer, where you’re just putting trust in the words and forgetting the inward disposition.
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Yes, otherwise someone who doesn’t understand exactly what “hallowed” or “trespasses” or “consubstantial” means would be sinning as well.
 
Colorad007 said:
Is it okay to pray in Latin even if you don’t know quite what it is that your’e saying? I know that the Catechism explicitly prohibits superstition in prayer, where you’re just putting trust in the words and forgetting the inward disposition. Is it wrong to pray without knowing what it is that you’re saying?
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Its best that you pray in something that you understand. Prayers should be bi-directional. It should be directed to God, and it should also be directed to yourself as well in a way that you should be able to know by what you ask is how you would act. For example, when we ask God to forgive us our sins, that same line should reflect on us and make us realize that its not only God’s forgiveness we need to ask, but also to be repentant ourselves.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn a new language. Sometimes the complexity of learning a new language also helps us appreciate more the words we use. Because we do not know, then we investigate what it means. But to say a prayer blindly just because it in a certain language have no value. So when you pray in Latin, Chinese, etc., use it as an opportunity to catechize yourself through learning the words of the prayer.
 
I_Thirst said:
I don’t understand why anyone would think that it is essential to personally understand the words of a prayer – language is a barrier to man, not to God. Are we praying to our neighbors, or are we praying to God?.
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Understanding what you’re saying is a sign of respect for the other person you’re communicating with and if I do this out of respect for other human beings then you better believe I’m going to do it out of respect for God.
 
Giuseppe_Gavino said:
Understanding what you’re saying is a sign of respect for the other person you’re communicating with and if I do this out of respect for other human beings then you better believe I’m going to do it out of respect for God.
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Then I would suggest we wouldn’t train our young children (and adults for that matter) to recite the Our Father or Hail Mary or Creed until they understand every single Anglophone word and phrase. As well as score a 100% on an English Grammar test such as:

grammarbook.com/grammar_quiz/grammar_mastery.asp

Will that be respect enough? :rolleyes:
 
ProVobis said:
Then I would suggest we wouldn’t train our young children (and adults for that matter) to recite the Our Father or Hail Mary or Creed until they understand every single Anglophone word and phrase. As well as score a 100% on an English Grammar test such as:

grammarbook.com/grammar_quiz/grammar_mastery.asp

Will that be respect enough? :rolleyes:
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There is a reason why every word is written in a prayer. We should do our best to understand each and every word to take in fully what the prayer means.
 
Colorad007 said:
Is it wrong to pray without knowing what it is that you’re saying?
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I have to ask, why would you want to say a prayer "without knowing what it is that you’re saying?" This idea simply flabbergasts me. Would you speak to your parents in a language that neither you nor they understand? How can one love God with all their heart, all their mind and all their soul if they don’t even know what it is they are saying to Him???
 
Timothysis said:
I have to ask, why would you want to say a prayer "without knowing what it is that you’re saying?" This idea simply flabbergasts me. Would you speak to your parents in a language that neither you nor they understand? How can one love God with all their heart, all their mind and all their soul if they don’t even know what it is they are saying to Him???
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It means this: you know to Whom you’re praying, but you don’t what the words you’re saying actually mean. Maybe it’s wrong, maybe it’s not. But it’s by no means rare or crazy.
 
I think you should learn the prayer word for word, as others have mentioned, so that the words properly pronounced may have more weight in their content, rather than being empty repetitions. You yourself will benefit more from it.
 
It should be directed to God
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This is not meant to be a challenge but Catholics also address Mary, the saints, the angels, etc. in their prayers. (I read these on the Prayer Intention forum all the time.) Now one should ask himself, of what value are the Anglophone prayers directed to those in heaven and never spoke English? Perhaps it is more than the verbal aspects that gives prayer its true meaning?
 
ProVobis said:
This is not meant to be a challenge but Catholics also address Mary, the saints, the angels, etc. in their prayers. (I read these on the Prayer Intention forum all the time.) Now one should ask himself, of what value are the Anglophone prayers directed to those in heaven and never spoke English? Perhaps it is more than the verbal aspects that gives prayer its true meaning?
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Solid point and full of good common sense.

Just a snarky aside. This thread reminds me of something that has been attributed to former Texas Governor Ma Ferguson: “If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas.” 😃
 
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