Should we pray in Latin?

[MagdalenaRita]

when these devotions are performed with trust God and Our Lady who behind them, they can bring great consolation, hope and trust

What an awesome story in that video of Claude Newman & the Miraculous Medal.

 

[phil19034]

@phil19034, can you define for me what a sacramental is, how it works, and how something becomes a sacramental?

If you are trying to argue that praying in Latin is a sacramental, just like praying The Sign of the Cross is, I will agree with you. Praying in Latin is a sacramental.

St. John XXIII said Latin is a “consecrated language.”

Finally, the Catholic Church has a dignity far surpassing that of every merely human society, for it was founded by Christ the Lord. It is altogether fitting, therefore, that the language it uses should be noble, majestic, and non-vernacular.

In addition, the Latin language “can be called truly catholic.”10 It has been consecrated through constant use by the Apostolic See, the mother and teacher of all Churches, and must be esteemed “a treasure … of incomparable worth.”11. It is a general passport to the proper understanding of the Christian writers of antiquity and the documents of the Church’s teaching.12 It is also a most effective bond, binding the Church of today with that of the past and of the future in wonderful continuity.
Veterum Sapientia - Papal Encyclicals

However, sacramentals only do what they are intended to do when people use them with proper intent.

Look, I agree with you regarding Latin. I believe I understand what you are TRYING to say. But you are not making convincing arguments & you think that people are attacking you when they are not.

I think you would get your message across much simpler by kindly asking people to read this website (for starters): https://www.prayinglatin.com/why-pray-in-latin/

God Bless

 

[VanitasVanitatum]

They are talking about the notion that Latin makes prayers more effacious when they don’t in of itself.

 

[Tolle_Lege]

They are talking about the notion that Latin makes prayers more effacious when they don’t.

I agree. It seems quite arbitrary and even petty for God to consider prayers in a certain language as being more powerful than others. Kinda stinks for people who never learned Latin or were never exposed to it that their prayers are less efficacious.

Person: “God, why didn’t You answer my prayers?”
God: “You were thiiiis close. If they would have been in Latin, I would’ve said ‘yes.’”
Person: [snaps finger] “Darn it! I should’ve known. Ok, thanks.”

 

[phil19034]

I agree. It seems quite arbitrary and even petty for God to consider prayers in a certain language as being more powerful than others. Kinda stinks for people who never learned Latin or were never exposed to it that their prayers are less efficacious.

Person: “God, why didn’t You answer my prayers?”
God: “You were thiiiis close. If they would have been in Latin, I would’ve said ‘yes.’”
Person: [snaps finger] “Darn it! I should’ve known. Ok, thanks.”

That’s not what “more efficacious” means.

It’s like praying the Rosary. When you pray the Rosary without a Rosary, the prayers are powerful. But when you pray it with a blessed Rosary (which is a sacramental) the prayers are more efficacious.

Prayer in Latin (and in the other liturgical languages) is a sacramental (provided your heart is in the right place).

This is the same concept when you sing or chant your prayers vs simply saying them. Sung prayers are more efficacious than said prayers. But that doesn’t mean that said prayers are worthless.

Praying in Latin (or Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, Coptic, etc) is also like wearing a blessed Miraculous Medal or a scapular. You don’t have to wear one, but they help people stay on the path.

I pray this helps.

 

[LilyM]

Tolle_Lege:

I agree. It seems quite arbitrary and even petty for God to consider prayers in a certain language as being more powerful than others. Kinda stinks for people who never learned Latin or were never exposed to it that their prayers are less efficacious.

Person: “God, why didn’t You answer my prayers?”
God: “You were thiiiis close. If they would have been in Latin, I would’ve said ‘yes.’”
Person: [snaps finger] “Darn it! I should’ve known. Ok, thanks.”

That’s not what “more efficacious” means.

It’s like praying the Rosary. When you pray the Rosary without a Rosary, the prayers are powerful. But when you pray it with a blessed Rosary (which is a sacramental) the prayers are more efficacious.

Prayer in Latin (and in the other liturgical languages) is a sacramental (provided your heart is in the right place).

This is the same concept when you sing or chant your prayers vs simply saying them. Sung prayers are more efficacious than said prayers. But that doesn’t mean that said prayers are worthless.

Praying in Latin (or Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, Coptic, etc) is also like wearing a blessed Miraculous Medal or a scapular. You don’t have to wear one, but they help people stay on the path.

I pray this helps.

I’m sorry - please point me to actual Church teaching (not just pious speculation by individual theologians) that says prayers that are sung or in Latin are - merely by virtue of being so - more efficacious?

When I was.young, in school.choir I learned the ‘Regina Coeli’ as a song in Latin. Given that firstly I was a poor and self-conscious singer and secondly at that time scarcely knew the words of the prayer at all, in any language, I daresay it was far LESS efficacious than if I had recited it in English and had a fighting chance of understanding what I was on about.

 

[phil19034]

When I was.young, in school.choir I learned the ‘Regina Coeli’ as a song in Latin. Given that firstly I was a poor and self-conscious singer and secondly at that time scarcely knew the words of the prayer at all, in any language, I daresay it was far LESS efficacious than if I had recited it in English and had a fighting chance of understanding what I was on about.

Well, praying in Latin when you don’t how how to pronounce the prayers would not be more efficacious. One needs to put in the effort to learn how to properly pronounce the words first.

I NEVER said they are more efficacious merely by virtue of being so.

I said they are sacramentals (or similar to sacramentals), but like all sacramentals, they are not magic. One must use it correctly & out of love for God. Not out of pride, etc.

Additionally, most sacramentals are not officially declared by the Church. So I don’t think there is an official statement calling them sacramentals other than theologians and Saints.

But there are several Popes who wrote about the importance of Latin.

Perhaps one of the strongest papal statements for Latin came from St. Pope John XXIII:

…the Latin language “can be called truly catholic.” It has been consecrated through constant use by the Apostolic See, the mother and teacher of all Churches, and must be esteemed “a treasure … of incomparable worth.”11. It is a general passport to the proper understanding of the Christian writers of antiquity and the documents of the Church’s teaching.12 It is also a most effective bond, binding the Church of today with that of the past and of the future in wonderful continuity.
Veterum Sapientia - Papal Encyclicals

 

[RolandThompsonGunner]

You are ignoring my arguments, but I guess it’s better than ignoring so much else.

I’m not ignoring your arguments. You’re so eager to take offense that you’re responding to arguments no one is actually making.

I’ve tried throughout the discussion to keep the tone as even and friendly as possible, but you don’t seem interested in that. Have a good day.

 

[paperwight]

RolandThompsonGunner:

I’m not ignoring your arguments. You’re so eager to take offense that you’re responding to arguments no one is actually making.

I’ve tried throughout the discussion to keep the tone as even and friendly as possible, but you don’t seem interested in that. Have a good day.

Because of this, you have been muted until the end of my break.

I am taking a break from CAF because furious with you, and several other people on this thread, I’m done.

In the gentlest and kindest way - you have an anger management problem, my friend.

:

 

[Bithynian]

you have an anger management problem

I don’t think the user has an anger problem: he (or she) has been fairly civil - albeit emotional - in his (or her) replies.

I think what be helpful for him is some dispassion and distance from how he engages with users on this forum. It helps to know which topics might or mightn’t be a fruitful engagement for him, and to set suitable boundaries for responding to or remaining silent to others lest the conversation devolves into an acerbic tit-for-tat.

(I speak from personal experience: been there, done that. I’m very prone to entering into disagreements, particularly over the internet. But it’s a spiritually and emotionally deleterious experience, and it’s a grand waste of time. So I’m very scrupulous in policing my own internet fora habits.)

 

[phil19034]

Look the thread title. It isn’t whether “I” or “some.of us” should pray in Latin - but “we”, as in everyone. That attitude of blanket prescriptuon in relation to such things is I think where people’s.hackles.are being somewhat raised.

Well, to be fair… “we” does not necessarily mean “all of us.” It is simply the plural form of “me.”

Not to mention there is also the “royal we” that is used (typically by royalty) instead of “me” to indicate the individual is speaking on behalf of others or the institution, but not on behalf of everyone.

Pope Paul VI was the last Pope to speak using the “royal we.”

If the OP really meant “all of us,” I’m sure the OP would have written something like “Should all of us pray in Latin?”

 

[matas2]

I started attending Mass at an FSSP parish, and learning prayers in Latin seemed to be a natural thing to do. Learning a few basic prayers, and the responses, have helped me to learn Latin so that I follow along better. Having a Latin-English missal really helped. I pray parts of the Holy Rosary in Latin. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the Latin, but I have discovered that more than ever before, I am so enthusiastic on Sunday mornings anticipating attending Mass.