What books would you recommend for learning Ecclesiastical Latin?

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As I mentioned in another thread, I’m doing my Christmas list early this year, and one of the things I’m interested in doing, is learning Ecclesiastical Latin. I’m already quite close to knowing the Rosary in Latin by heart, and can understand the basic meaning of most of the Latin Words in the prayer. I also have a Latin-English Douay-Rheims Vulgate Bible and in Advent, I hope to make flashcards on an app called Anki, and memorize the verses in both Latin and English.

What books would you recommend for learning and gaining a better understanding of Ecclesiastical Latin?
 
When I took Latin in undergrad, I had my Miller’s and I had my Wheelock’s.

Later on, I really liked the Cambridge Latin course. (Caecilius est in horto!)

When we did our Classics class, we were told that ecclesiastical Latin and classical Latin had a humongous amount of overlap. You just had some pronunciation differences, and a few other differences that cropped up from about 1000 years separating the two versions of the language— but ultimately, if you knew one, you could manage in the other.

But if you just wanted to focus on Latin from the ecclesiastical perspective from day 1, you might check out the Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin-- I’ve heard good things about them. You also might check out Memoria Press’ “Classical Conversations”, which makes use of Henle, but with an ecclesiastical pronunciation.
 
midori said:
When we did our Classics class, we were told that ecclesiastical Latin and classical Latin had a humongous amount of overlap. You just had some pronunciation differences, and a few other differences that cropped up from about 1000 years separating the two versions of the language— but ultimately, if you knew one, you could manage in the other.
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Yes. It’s way easier to find resources on Classical than on Ecclesiastical.
 
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A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin ~ John F. Collins
“The chief aim of this primer is to give the student, within one year of study, the ability to read ecclesiastical Latin. Collins includes the Latin of Jerome’s Bible, of canon law, of the liturgy and papal bulls, of scholastic philosophers, and of the Ambrosian hymns, providing a survey of texts from the fourth century through the Middle Ages…”

An Answer Key to A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin: A Supplement to the Text by John F. Collins ~ John R. Dunlap
“This long-awaited volume provides an answer key to the drills and exercises contained in each of the units of John F. Collins’s bestselling ‘A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin’…”

Amazon sells both.
 
Another recommendation for the Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin. 👍

Some other resources, among the many I compiled here LATIN: Language Study Resources (NB: old CAF, the links are likely dead but google-able):
  • The Cursus Linguae Latinae Vivae from the Family of St Jerome.
  • And for a quick start (though no pronunciation help), Learn Latin by Peter Jones.
 
Again, a shout out for the Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin. However, with many ecclesiastical Latin texts, I need a supplementary grammar to break things down to basics. Quite often ecclesiastical Latin grammars revolve solely around paradigms. While this is all well and good if you are ultra proficient in memorization, for those of us who are more conceptually oriented, modern classical Latin texts tend to give you the tools and exceptions which go beyond the basic paradigms.

I used the modern approach when I taught Latin to our pre-college seminarians and they said that it helped them a lot more than the paradigms.

Personally, I found Wheelock’s Latin the best for grammar.

For example, with verb paradigms, you memorize a full 6 tense paradigm for each of the conjugations for Active Indicative tenses. With the more modern approach, you learn the two sets of endings and the short particles and rules governing how you manipulate the word to create the verb tense.

Paradigm Approach: 4th conjugation Future Active Indicative
Audiam - I will hear
Audies - You (singular) will hear
Audiet - He/she/it will hear
Audiemus - We will hear
Audietis - You (plural) will hear
Audiet - They will hear

Modern Approach: All conjugations Future Active Indicative
Particle: 1st and 2nd Conj.= -bo, -bi-, -bu-; 3rd and 4th Conj.= -a-, -e-
Endings: -o/m, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt
 
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I’ve been taught that some people are kinetic learners. You might want to try a google book in Latin with a translator and look back at the Latin words it is translating.

Some or many are free of charge and that might help your budget. Otherwise you can look at the Rosetta Stone software series.
 
I’m not sure if it is the same as kinetic learning, but another course, usually described as inductive learning is Hans Ørberg’s Lingua Latina per se Illustrata. The whole of the text (and, ideally, the instruction) is in Latin. How does that work? you might ask. Well, the same way it worked when Roman infants learned Latin. 🤷‍♂️

It is not particularly ecclesiastical, but an interesting method none the less.

(The Cursus Linguae Latinae Vivae is also inductive to an extent, but it does begin with some English – It tapers off, however)

For a more ecclesiastical flavor, you might try what my old Latin teacher once recommended: “Get yourself a Vulgate, and read the Gospel of John. You already know the story, and John repeats himself an awful lot, giving you 2 or 3 chances to figure it out.”
 
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