The power of Latin and other Church languages

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Famulus

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So the Church holds that Latin is a Holy Language, and this is true. The devil hates Latin because it is Holy, and it is used at the Holy Latin Mass. I was wondering if languages like Greek, Hebrew, or Old Church slavonic are Holy like Latin are?
 
Famulus said:
So the Church holds that Latin is a Holy Language, and this is true. The devil hates Latin because it is Holy, and it is used at the Holy Latin Mass. I was wondering if languages like Greek, Hebrew, or Old Church slavonic are Holy like Latin are?
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Is it the language that makes the Divine Service holy, or is it the Divine Service that sanctifies the tongues that speak it? This is reminiscent of the Pharisees saying that one could swear by the offering on the altar, but if they swear by the altar it doesn’t count. Seems your conclusion is a bit backward.
 
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Famulus said:
this is true
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I don’t think it is. For most of history, Latin was used for a lot of very non-sacred things, such as diplomacy, business and education.

Not to mention the immense corpus of obscene Latin love poetry.
 
I wouldn’t put much stock in the devil being afraid of any particular language. This thought was made popular by the movie, the Exorcist.

The languages you mention are all IMPORTANT, as is Latin:
  • Latin is the language of the Western Church
  • Hebrew and Greek are important, because the Scriptures are written in them
  • Slavonic is analogous in the East (but not identical) as Latin is to the West
  • Aramaic is the language that Jesus spoke
In our days I would say that Greek is the most valuable for Scripture study.

Deacon Christopher
 
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You seem to be thinking that I said it is Latin that makes the Mass holy. I did not say this, nor did I say anything like it. I said that Latin is a Holy language. Also I don’t believe I am familiar witht he pharisee quote. God Bless my brother in Christ.
 
Well it would follow that considering Latin is Holy, the Devil would hate it more than other languages that are still being polluted with filth. It sounds somewhat protestant to ask for a Bible verse, or a direct quote. The devil hates Latin because Latin is Holy. God Bless my friend and brother in the Lord.
 
Hi Deacon Chris! I hope you are doing well if you are on your way to becoming a Priest, and you have my reverence. I believe that the Church always thought that Latin was Holy, even before the Excorcist. God Bless, Deacon Chris!
 
Famulus said:
Well Latin is the language of the Church.
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It’s also the language of American jurisprudence—there’s nothing inherently holy about the language; it’s the content that is holy, whether it’s in Latin, English or Swahili.
 
Well I hold it to be true today because it is used for Holy things and has been sanctified by Christ Our Lord. And today Latin has been preserved from more filth due to it being a dead language. I find this logic to be analagous to saying " this man for the majority of his life has done bad things, and engaged in deception and impurity. Even if he does Holy Things today, he himself cannot be holy for what he has pastly done." Forgive me if I am wrong. God bless my friend in the good Lord!
 
It is also the language of the cleric who sacrifices Him to the Father daily.
 
Jesus is God. I’m sure he understood it fine.
 
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Famulus said:
has been preserved from more filth due to it being a dead language
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What does this even mean? You do realize that nowhere in Catholicism does it say that non-liturgical languages are filthy, right?

Languages are languages. They are not filthy or holy. They can be used for a holy purpose, like prayer or the Mass, or a filthy purpose, like erotic love poetry. You do realize there are such poems written in Latin, right? And that Mass is celebrated in hundreds of languages other than Latin everywhere in the world, no?

To repeat, the Church doesn’t teach either that non-liturgical languages are “filthy” (whatever that means), or that Masses celebrated in non-liturgical languages are debased. These are your own notions that have no basis in Church teaching, the Bible, or frankly, common sense. You’re free to hold them, but don’t frame them like they’re Church teaching or like everyone who doesn’t think like you do is being a bad Catholic.

God bless.
 
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