Praying the Rosary in Latin

[JMMK]

My Grandfather, God rest his soul, had a CD with the rosary in Latin that if my memory serves was a recording from the Vatican.

I heard it over a decade ago and learned to say it in latin. It rolls off the tongue so much more lyrically and keeps me from doing the mechanical rushing I sometimes do in english.

 

[LexCredenti]

The Church has assigned Latin as the official language of the Church. Therefore, in accordance with Christ’s blessing upon the St. Peter and the Apostles (St. Matthew’s Gospel) when he said, “what thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven”, whenever the Church binds we can celebrate with the angelic choir in Heaven that what has been bound by the Church on earth is also celebrated in Heaven.

To pray the rosary in Latin therefore invokes additional blessings and grace as done in the prescription set aside by the Church and blessed by God from Heaven.

 

[Deacon_Ed_B]

To pray the rosary in Latin therefore invokes additional blessings and grace as done in the prescription set aside by the Church and blessed by God from Heaven.

Please be so kind as to give us the source of your information that to pray in a particular language (Latin) is more efficacious than praying in another one.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B

 

[Jacafamala]

Amanda already gave the home page, but here’s as much Rosary Latin as there is:

home.earthlink.net/~thesaurus//thesaurus/BVM/Rosarium.html

Thanks. Nice site, it just needs the Fatima Prayer, which is said at the very end of each decade–after the Gloria Patri.

Domine Jesu, dimitte nobis debita nostra, salva nos ab igne inferni, perduc in caelum omnes animas, praesertim eas, quae misericordiae tuae maxime indigent.

Oh my Jesus Forgive us our sins. save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.

 

[Donna_P]

I have the Virtual Rosary, which you can download for free! at www.virtualrosary.org. You can choose to display the prayers in like 10 different languages: Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Tagalog, + more i cant remember.

Dear OurLadyGuadalup,

May God be with you!

Thank you! I found it in Latin and I like the idea.

God bless you!

 

[LexCredenti]

One can declare that praying in Latin is more efficacious than in another language by the importance placed upon it by the Church Herself in Her documents and by simple deduction.

By simple deduction, I mean what I posted about previously. The Church has established that Latin is Her official language. Who and What is the Church? The Bride of Christ. When the Church declares, Heaven also declares (see Matt. XVI). The authority to “bind and loose” is not one taken lightly. What is bound on earth is bound also in Heaven. Therefore, by following in step with the Church’s official declarations; whether they be disciplinary or doctrinal ie. a celibate priesthood, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, or Latin as Her official language, we celebrate these with the full Body of Christ. The Church Militant on earth who embraces these declarations, the Church Triumphant who celebrates them in heaven (Rom. CH. 8).

A few of the more prominent Vatican documents reveal that the Church has officially put into writing Her desire for Latin to be promoted, learned, and prayed. Pope Benedict XVI has urged the faithful to know their basic prayers in Latin (Sacramentum Caritatis, 62), Pope John XXIII promoted the study of Latin Veterum Spientia, in Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC 36. 1. Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites.) The common prayers during Mass are officially prescribed by the Vatican to be preserved in Latin (although today we still do not see this fulfilled).

Saint Augustine says of praying to our Lord, “He prays for us, he prays in us, and he is prayed to by us. He prays for us as our priest; he prays in us as our head; and he is prayed to by us as our God. Let us therefore recognize our voices in him and his voices in us” (Enarratio in Psalmum, 85: CCL 39, 1176).

By praying the Rosary in Latin we can unite ourselves with all of the Church’s declarations and affections towards this special language. If Christ, Who dwells intimately within the Church, and the Church, with Christ as the Head, holds dear this particular language, then it can only be more efficacious, while keeping this in mind, to pray in the intimate language of prayer bound by our Church between Heaven and Earth.

When a prayer is prayed in Latin with the devotion of realizing that it is done in a spirit of brotherhood with the Church Militant on earth as well as the Church Triumphant in Heaven. A devotion of brotherly love among Catholics throughout the Universal Church, a love for the Church which Christ established, a love for God’s Created Heaven and Earth where Latin is officially bound, a prayer done with this kind of devotion can only bring greater graces.

God bless, LC

 

[Deacon_Ed_B]

Your conclusion is the result of flawed logic. Latin was the official language of the Church for the simple reason that it was the most universal language of the then know world. That and for no other reason. By this same flawed logic, you would say that a Latin mass is more efficacious than a mass in the vernacular, a premise and conclusion which the church does not make. The merit you receive from praying a rosary is from your internal and spiritual disposition. Not from the language you use to pray it.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B

 

[Father_JohnBerg]

Praying in Latin vs. Praying in English/other languages.

I firmly believe that you should pray in whatever language brings you closest to God. That said, I personally believe Latin (since it is the Language of the Church) to be an excellent language to pray in. But I do not believe it is the only way to pray! No! English is excellent too! So yes, I say “Good for you!” because you pray in Latin! … But I also say “Good for you!” to people that pray in English/Spanish, etc.

Pray however you can to further your spirituality!

 

[LexCredenti]

So according to my “flaws” the Church, Pope Benedict, Pope John XXIII, Sacrosanctum Concillium, et al. are merely spinning their wheels with promoting Latin. Should we all assume that you alone hold the sole patent to what is right and wrong?

You are also putting words in my mouth by accusing me of almost calling the new mass invalid. I attend the English mass every Sunday and Holy Day. The closest Latin Mass is over 5 hour drive from me. I pray the rosary in English. It would be nice to pray it in Latin, but this is a luxury not a necessity. I agree with Father John Berg below.

What I am saying is simply for those who can, who have that understanding of the Church’s spirit concerning Latin, who understand its UNIVERSALITY (obviously you didn’t bother researching the links you asked me to provide), that the language of Latin has a special significance to the prayer life of the Roman Catholic.

 

[LilyM]

So according to my “flaws” the Church, Pope Benedict, Pope John XXIII, Sacrosanctum Concillium, et al. are merely spinning their wheels with promoting Latin. Should we all assume that you alone hold the sole patent to what is right and wrong?

You are also putting words in my mouth by accusing me of almost calling the new mass invalid. I attend the English mass every Sunday and Holy Day. The closest Latin Mass is over 5 hour drive from me. I pray the rosary in English. It would be nice to pray it in Latin, but this is a luxury not a necessity. I agree with Father John Berg below.

What I am saying is simply for those who can, who have that understanding of the Church’s spirit concerning Latin, who understand its UNIVERSALITY (obviously you didn’t bother researching the links you asked me to provide), that the language of Latin has a special significance to the prayer life of the Roman Catholic.

Spinning their wheels, no. Just expressing a preference, a wish and a hope rather than making a doctrinal or dogmatic or normative point.

Based on relative holiness? No - we mustn’t believe that, otherwise the logical conclusion is that the many Saints (St Francis of Assisi being notable among them) who prayed often in their own vernacular were somehow less holy than those who restricted themselves to Latin.

Based on lots of other perfectly valid reasons - to do with history, with unity and continuity, with the practical advantages of using a ‘dead’ (unchangeable) language rather than a living mutating one.

 

[LexCredenti]

Never did I say or use the phrase “more holy”. What is this? Take a guy’s words and make them more than what he’s saying? I’m not going to fall into the uncharitable forum trap.

If you would please read the Vatican documents I attached in a previous post, I’m in full 100% agreement with them. That is where I stand so please refrain from the forum trap.

We may have read Pope Pius XII Encyclical on Sacred Virginity. The Holy Father states, “The doctrine of the excellence of virginity and of celibacy, and of their supriority over the married state was . . . revealed by our Divine Redeemer . . .; so too, it was solemnly defined as a dogma of divine faith by the holy Council of Trent.”

The Baltimore Catechism repeats this statement (BC Vol.2 p.103) and explains the difference between the religious life and secular life: “The comparison between the religious life and secular life is not a comparison between good and evil, but between good and better” (BC Vol.2 p.102).

This is my opinion on and I believe the Church’s opinion on the vernacular and Latin. The vernacular is good, Latin is better.

I’m not posting anymore about this. I believe in good conscience that I am in agreement with the Universal Church. I have never used the words “less holy” to describe the vernacular. Like I said I pray the rosary and the mass in English, not Latin. The English is good, Latin is better. Over and out.

 

[LilyM]

Never did I say or use the phrase “more holy”. What is this? Take a guy’s words and make them more than what he’s saying? I’m not going to fall into the uncharitable forum trap.

If you would please read the Vatican documents I attached in a previous post, I’m in full 100% agreement with them. That is where I stand so please refrain from the forum trap.

We may have read Pope Pius XII Encyclical on Sacred Virginity. The Holy Father states, “The doctrine of the excellence of virginity and of celibacy, and of their supriority over the married state was . . . revealed by our Divine Redeemer . . .; so too, it was solemnly defined as a dogma of divine faith by the holy Council of Trent.”

The Baltimore Catechism repeats this statement (BC Vol.2 p.103) and explains the difference between the religious life and secular life: “The comparison between the religious life and secular life is not a comparison between good and evil, but between good and better” (BC Vol.2 p.102).

This is my opinion on and I believe the Church’s opinion on the vernacular and Latin. The vernacular is good, Latin is better.

I’m not posting anymore about this. I believe in good conscience that I am in agreement with the Universal Church. I have never used the words “less holy” to describe the vernacular. Like I said I pray the rosary and the mass in English, not Latin. The English is good, Latin is better. Over and out.

Hang on - you DID say that praying in Latin brings additional blessings and graces. in exactly so many words. You can’t with a straight face say that and pretend that ‘more blessings and graces’ doesn’t equate to ‘holier’.

You’ve not posted, that I can see, any quote from anyone remotely suggesting that praying in Latin brings ‘more blessings and graces’. Pray tell, what exactly ARE the ‘additional’ graces and blessings Latin prayers bring?

Since when were St Francis of Assisi’s (or any other of the Saints’) prayers in Italian (or French, which he also employed on occasion, or any other blessed language any of the Saints prayed in) less full of blessings and graces than anything he or they may have prayed in Latin?

The Mass is the Mass - the same sacrifice of Calvary, equally full (at least potentially) of blessings and graces no matter what language it’s prayed in. (Never mind the fact that Our Lord certainly never prayed in Latin! I suppose HIS prayers were also lacking in the ‘additional’ graces and blessings of Latin).

Latin may indeed be better - for practical and historical reasons - for any and every reason other than bringing additional ‘graces and blessings’.

 

[I_Believe]

Latin is the language of the angels

 

[LilyM]

Latin is the language of the angels

Of course - and I’m sure the simple young Jewish girl Mary understood perfectly when Gabriel said ‘Ave gratia plena, Dominus tecum’. or the simple Jewish shepherds of Bethlehem when the angels started singing ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo …’

 

[PrayforMallory2]

I would think praying in Latin would be beneficial simply because it would help the person learn Latin- a language that is vital if a person really wants to go deep into Catholic history.

I would also think that Latin would help a person better grasp the aesthetics of language. It would also aid in a person’s active participation at Mass.

Finally, given the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis, I would think that the use of Latin in private prayer would help orient a person’s thoughts in such a way that they would intellectually grow nearer to the Fathers.

 

[mattkubes]

I think I got interested in praying the rosary in Latin when I found an old tape that my mom had of JPII reciting it with a congregation (in Latin, of course!). I was also blessed with a grade 12 religion teacher who asked us to recite the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be in Latin before every class…a rarity in Canada

And as others have said, I find it easier to meditate on the mysteries when I pray the rosary in Latin (although I find the same is true when I say it in French as well).

 

[Jacafamala]

Well still in all, there* is *something wonderful about the mere fact that it’s a language, a dead language, that’s set aside for the Church, for the purpose of clarity and continuity of words that express meanings that won’t change.

There’s something very beautiful about having a language which has become set aside for us, exclusively for prayer.

There’s something very significant about the fact that the Universal Church has prayed together in Latin for over 1500 years.

So yeah, I think it’s holy for these reasons.

 

[LilyM]

Well still in all, there* is *something wonderful about the mere fact that it’s a language, a dead language, that’s set aside for the Church, for the purpose of clarity and continuity of words that express meanings that won’t change.

There’s something very beautiful about having a language which has become set aside for us, exclusively for prayer.

There’s something very significant about the fact that the Universal Church has prayed together in Latin for over 1500 years.

So yeah, I think it’s holy for these reasons.

The thing is, with me being a soon-to-be-lawyer (please God!) and coming from a family full of doctors, both professions use Latin phrases to an extent, medicine of course uses it hugely. So I’ve never had that sense that Latin was ‘set apart’ for prayer or anything.

I of course agree about all the other advantages of using it, but I see them being more applicable to public prayer - the Mass, praying the Rosary or LOTH in public or what have you, and not private prayer. The times when I have tried praying privately in Latin I just felt like I was parroting gibberish, couldn’t focus properly on the meaning of the prayers or the act of praying, and may as well have been praying in Swahili or any other foreign language for all it was worth, with all due respect to those whose experiences with it are different from mine.

 

[Jacafamala]

The thing is, with me being a soon-to-be-lawyer (please God!) and coming from a family full of doctors, both professions use Latin phrases to an extent, medicine of course uses it hugely. So I’ve never had that sense that Latin was ‘set apart’ for prayer or anything.

Yeah, that’s true. And so many Languages have Latin roots…

 

[I_Believe]

Of course - and I’m sure the simple young Jewish girl Mary understood perfectly when Gabriel said ‘Ave gratia plena, Dominus tecum’. or the simple Jewish shepherds of Bethlehem when the angels started singing ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo …’

Well, surely they knew it was coming from Heaven