Praying in Latin?

[Credo_in_Deum]

Perhaps it is more than the verbal aspects that gives prayer its true meaning?

I don’t believe anyone is disputing that, but rather stressing the importance of understanding what you’re saying when you say it (whether it be public, private, verbal or non-verbal prayer). Would you pick a Latin prayer and pray it without understanding what your saying? Personally I find it difficult to pray in Latin if I dont understand where I am in the prayer as I’m saying it.

One method that has helped me is to break up the prayer into sections and to pray each section first in my primary language (english for me) and then in Latin.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.

Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now,
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc,

and in the hour of our death. Amen.
et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

 

[ProVobis]

I don’t believe anyone is disputing that, but rather stressing the importance of understanding what you’re saying when you say it (whether it be public, private, verbal or non-verbal prayer). Would you pick a Latin prayer and pray it without understanding what your saying? Personally I find it difficult to pray in Latin if I dont understand where I am in the prayer as I’m saying it.

One method that has helped me is to break up the prayer into sections and to pray each section first in my primary language (english for me) and then in Latin.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.

Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now,
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc,

and in the hour of our death. Amen.
et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

I find that interlinear translations such as you’ve presented work the best. Something like this which bolds the Latin and doesn’t fuss with the word order can work very well too, much better than side-by-side:

rickmk.com/Mass/masstext.html

 

[ProVobis]

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.”

So, she got Christ and Shakespeare mixed up.

 

[Colorad007]

I’m specifically refering to the Divine Office, and not the array of prayers like the Ave Maria, Pater Noster, etc. It is not practical or timely to learn each and every Psalm of the Office word for word, so that’s why I"m asking the question.

 

[TrueLight]

I don’t believe anyone is disputing that, but rather stressing the importance of understanding what you’re saying when you say it (whether it be public, private, verbal or non-verbal prayer). Would you pick a Latin prayer and pray it without understanding what your saying? Personally I find it difficult to pray in Latin if I dont understand where I am in the prayer as I’m saying it.

One method that has helped me is to break up the prayer into sections and to pray each section first in my primary language (english for me) and then in Latin.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.

Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now,
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc,

and in the hour of our death. Amen.
et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Credo, you always have these amazing pictures in your signature.

 

[Colorad007]

So it’s not really a problem to pray the Divine Office in Latin, even if I’m not down on all of the Latin?

 

[MontChevalier]

I pray in English, Spanish AND Latin. And I don’t see a problem with any of each of these. I know I’m praying the Oratio Dominica when I pray, and granted, some of the words are fuzzy to me, 'cause I’m not a master of Latin, I know what I refer to, since I know what the prayer means and what it’s trying to say. I’ve also prayed using the Oratio Gloria. Even though this one makes most sense to me, cause it has a lot of Spanish similar to it. Either way, the Catholic Church doesn’t have a problem with praying in Latin; it just gives the option to pray in whatever language you wish.

-MontChevalier

 

[Te_Deum]

I pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Latin. It’s still a part of the official prayer of the Church and I therefore believe it should be prayed in Latin as all official prayer of the Church should be.

It is however not required to understand all the fine grammatical points of Latin to pray in Latin. You don’t even have to recognise every word. It is best however if you have a knowledge of the primary content of a Psalm etc., which is easily done by pursuing a translation. And many English words are Latin in origin so the connections are not hard to make.

 

[SonCatcher]

So it’s not really a problem to pray the Divine Office in Latin, even if I’m not down on all of the Latin?

I wouldn’t think it’s a problem so long as it helps you commune with God. Personally, I limit my Divine Office Latin to a few seasonal hymns I already know in English (e.g. Veni Veni Emmanuel during Advent). My son is starting to learn Latin so I’m sure he’ll flip at the opportunity.

 

[pollycarp]

In Intro to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales advised Philothea to say her Pater and Ave in Latin. :twocents:

Sometimes after I’ve read psalms in English I say the Latin translation on the opposite page, and it just sounds better to me. More sacred or something.

 

[erine]

I just prayed the rosary in mostly Latin. I loved it, I felt the whole weight of church power and history behind me. . I am surprised that it hasn’t been mentioned that of course it is ok to pray in Latin not knowing every word, otherwise before Vatican II, the masses of uneducated people who didn’t know the meaning of every word of the mass in Latin perfectly would not have their prayers count…

 

[Timothysis]

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 that is a matter of opinion.

 

[TrueLight]

I just prayed the rosary in mostly Latin. I loved it, I felt the whole weight of church power and history behind me. . I am surprised that it hasn’t been mentioned that of course it is ok to pray in Latin not knowing every word, otherwise before Vatican II, the masses of uneducated people who didn’t know the meaning of every word of the mass in Latin perfectly would not have their prayers count…

I recently prayed the rosary in Latin for the first time too.

I don’t know why it feels so much better and more natural now.

Any ideas?

 

[erine]

I recently prayed the rosary in Latin for the first time too.

I don’t know why it feels so much better and more natural now.

Any ideas?

I agree exactly, and I’m not sure why it is. Maybe puts me in that sacred mindset? Bc it’s not my normal language, and I know it has been used to pray for centuries

 

[pollycarp]

I agree exactly, and I’m not sure why it is. Maybe puts me in that sacred mindset? Bc it’s not my normal language, and I know it has been used to pray for centuries

I think that’s it for me - it’s not my normal language (thank goodness ). It takes me out of the ordinary, feels special and more sacred and God-connected for me, as in your regular language slang has the opposite effect. (Like you wouldn’t go on a job interview and say “what up bro”.)

 

[NorthTexan88]

I pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in Latin and love it! It makes me feel more connected to the church

 

[numealinesimpet]

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 agree. Our family pray the nightly Rosary in Latin, Irish and English – the language of the Church, of Civilisation and of The Antichrist – all right, joking (maybe) … tho’ I have provided word-for-word translations. And also, since most of our children learn French, we say it occasionally also in ‘the language of the birds’. At the nightly procession at Lourdes (where Our Lady is palpably present) they say 1/2 a decade in each of the languages represented by the pilgrims on that night. As I remember, the Gloria was always in Latin. When I’ve been there, there were a conservative 50,000 in the procession each night. One time there was a Vietnamese pilgrimage. Truly, SonCatcher, it sounded the weirdest language of the lot! Good luck in learning it, and praise to God that it is employed in His praise!
Back to the topic: requests for prayers in the vernacular generally come from places where the majority language is a worldwide, fully developed one. I often think that speakers of one of the handful of worldwide languages do not fully appreciate the position of the minoirities. Mgr Lefebvre noted that in Africa, a single congregation quite often comprised speakers of up to twenty tribal languages. The people were well content with the Holy Mass in Latin. After 1965 they were in constant fights over having the Mass in their tribal languages, which very seriously disrupted the corporate life of the parish.

 

[ProVobis]

Back to the topic: requests for prayers in the vernacular generally come from places where the majority language is a worldwide, fully developed one. I often think that speakers of one of the handful of worldwide languages do not fully appreciate the position of the minoirities.

FWIW, I recently heard an account of a Far Eastern school which prided itself on their learning the “English” alphabet. Talk about pomposity. Half of the world uses the Latin alphabet and the Anglophones want credit for that? :hey_bud:

 

[Farmville]

I recently prayed the rosary in Latin for the first time too.

I don’t know why it feels so much better and more natural now.

Maybe you also like the sound of the language. Latin and its derivative tongues have have a certain musicality and rhythm that English doesn’t have due to their grammar and pronunciation.

But feel free to pray in whatever language you want, although for Latin Rite Catholics it is fitting to pray in Latin, at least some of the basic prayers.

Not to mention its a great way to start learn the language, which is helpful if you ever want to attend/are attending Tridentine Masses.

 

[Farmville]

it’s not my normal language (thank goodness ).

Oh man, you have got to love all 5 of the Declensions! And the cases, don’t you love how they take out all of the ambiguity that permeates English!

“what up bro”.)

“Quid agis fratre?” …Sum bonus, vir!

Seriously though, good post, I think the fact that Latin isn’t used as an everyday language, and that it is the liturgical language of the West has a lot to do with the more sacred tone it emits during prayer.