Praying in Latin

[una_fides]

In the Latin Catholic Church, the liturgy may be celebrated in the language of the people or what is also known as the local language, which traditionalists love to call the "vulgate"

Just a quibble, but I think you meant “vulgar” as in “vulgar tongue.” The Vulgate was St Jerome’s translation of the Scriptures into Latin. This is the reference from the Council of Trent: “CANON IX.–If any one saith … that the mass ought to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue only … let him be anathema.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[ProVobis]

Just a quibble, but I think you meant “vulgar” as in “vulgar tongue.” The Vulgate was St Jerome’s translation of the Scriptures into Latin.

Just to clarify, the Latin Vulgate was so named as it was a counterpart to the Greek Vulgate, and it wasn’t written in Vulgar Latin, which is distinct from the Latin of Cicero and the Church.

 

[mangy_dog]

Certainly anyone can learn Latin and it is beautiful to hear and sing and should have a place in the Mass.

But the Church in it’s wisdom recognizes that the printing press changes everything. And the telegraph, and the radio, and the tv, and the internet. They all change the way human beings interact with each other. The Church in it’s inspired wisdom recognizes this.

In a world where 300 cable channels and thousands of printed documents and thousands of preachers evangielize on you tube (this is the reality we live in)…

The Church must speak clearly and plainly to every person because there are many many messages available out there and we know most of them are off key. We want to convert folks to our position on difficult matters like birth control, homosexuality and abortion, yet if the source and summit of the faith is incomprehensible, where are we really going, and who are we leading? The Mass involves communication between God and man. Plain and direct communication is a good thing. The days when advancing in holiness depended on knowing Latin are long long gone, and thank God for it, for the sake of our salvation. That is not the fault of Latiin, just the reality we live in. My parents and their friends had absolutely no idea (literally no idea) what was really going on in the Mass parts until English came in. That kind of un-awareness just won’t cut it anymore. Ironically the vernacular Mass lead to a more authentic understanding of Catholic tradition.

Hopefully someday the Catholic Tradition will permeate the culture once again and we can begin to have a deeper appreciation of the language tradition. I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

Only your first sentence rings…right. And even so-…[should have a place…] should be, " it’s rightful place".

Advancing in holiness has never depended on knowing Latin. And distracted catholics were around “back then” and are still distracted today.

The Holy Father’s encouragment has to do with the reverence and devotion to Sacred Tradition that has been lost through the years with the pushing aside of Latin in the Mass and the use of the vernacular. This and the versus populum- has lent itself to abuses and liberties that were not there when the Mass was said in Latin/ad orientem.

Our position on “difficult matters” has nothing to do with the way we conduct the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We don’t address those matters in Latin. Latin is reserved to the Mass. This is who we were and how we worshipped prior to the last 50 years.

There is nothing so incomprehensible about the Eucharist. If were in China; Russia; France; or any other country where English was not the language and, I was in Mass-I would know what is going on because of the Universality of the Mass. And if the Mass in any of those countries is said with the use of Latin…I would be able to follow along.

Internet; twitter; ipads etc…the Holy Father uses these mediums and is still encourging us to learn a few prayers in Latin.

Wake up! it will happen sooner than you estimate.

 

[Faithdancer]

The best modern schools with classical education that I have ever seen was in my travels to Saudi Arabia and Ecuador, South America of all places.

Literature, math, languages, rhetoric, philosophy, natural sciences, history and ancient languages are still required courses for every high school graduate. Of course, their school year is longer and so is their day. In Ecuador the kids attend school 240 days a year. In most states in the USA it ranges from 180 to 200. In Saudi Arabia the kids attend school from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. In most US schools classes are from 8:00 to 2:00. When you add the number of hours, you find that we don’t have enough hours to insert technology and classics into our horarium.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

Education in the Trivium and the Quadrivium produced amazing scholars for over a millennium. Now, we are producing technicians, for the most part, or disinterested perfunctory diplomates- or dropouts. We are certainly producing more atheists.

Ecuador, btw, is one of the nicest places I have ever visited. A beautiful country with beautiful people- God bless them!

 

[Aran_Houlihan]

Sounds like a cultish claim to me. Is there any source to prove this as taught by someone authoritative like a Church Father, Pope, etc.?

In Pentecost, the 120 spoke in tongues of different languages. They did not speak in one language and everyone else understood one language. Each person overhearing the 120 heard what was said in their own language, not a common language.

I fine that Latin got a sound nice and lain is more simple than English

 

[una_fides]

The site has been updated with many new prayers as well as some new audio selections available so do check it out: sites.google.com/site/prayinglatin

 

[awsiukiewicz]

What makes you think Jesus prayed in Latin?

I got all excited when I discovered this thread on my private aol message list…thought wow…some people other than myself appreciate the beauty of praying in Latin…To Thistle and others, I agree…it doesn’t really matter if you pray in Swahili…or any other language…no one is suggesting it…Be Happy…this is hardly something to get worked up about…I would bet…and this is not some underhanded attempt to make a point by being sarcastic…but…I would bet …just bet. (not that there is anything wrong with this either thought) that the same individuals , and may God Bless you, that love to hold hands during the Pater Noster (the Lord’s Prayer, for the non Latin members), and love to clap in church…I’m just in a different camp…and…the Holy Father did in fact make statements about the importance of ALL Catholics (Eastern , Western, Roman, etc.) learning the basic prayers in Latin…I pray the Rosary in Latin…and understand everything…woop de doo…you might say…it’s beautiful…and most of our English language is of German/Latin derrivation…let’s please be civil…I’m just excited that there are people other than myself on this site who appreciate the beauty of the Latin…PAX p.s. and…whether anyone likes it or not…it is in fact…the ancient Language of the Church…to suggest that Christ probably didn’t speak Latin…is ludicrus at best…it’s almost slander…Aramaic…Greek Pax

 

[Holly3278]

Thanks for posting this. It is a very nice site. However, I think I would have difficulty in learning the prayers in Latin. Of course praying in Latin is not required so I think I will continue to pray in English. I mean no offense by this. Its just that I have a hard time memorizing things and I’d need to memorize the Latin prayers.

 

[tomgosse]

Bah!

Once again you have brought practical arguments about the real world into an extremely important discussion about an irrelevant topic.

I’m sick of this. From now on, I am going to write all my powershell scripts in Latin, just to make you mad.

-Tim-

Bingo! That’s Latin for,* I bing*.