Have you ever wondered why there are more languages than one? We all have pink tongues, even if as the Indians say, they are sometimes forked. Why all this multiplicity of language for such a uniform appendage? Why has Esperanto failed so miserably?
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Language conveys a sense of togetherness or separateness… ** A foreign language can actually facilitiate unity!**
When we pray in Latin, we are using a language that is perfectly formed to the idea that needs expression in Catholic worship…
When we pray in Latin, we are declaring our independence. and superiority to the mere nations. The Church is the empire to which all others must belong, or remain separate from at their peril.
The objection is raised that some do not understand it. This is the purpose of education, of course. But I wonder how forceful the objection really is. While it is true that not all can follow the collects verbatim, I wonder how many people follow the community prayers after the readings anyway, with their cumbresome importuning that all civil leaders everywhere respect civil rights, and so on. It is easy to tune out the things we hear all the time. My wife frequently does, and not because she does not understand me well enough. She undertands me too well!
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… Latin proclaims the complete singularity of the sacrament, our kinship as members of the Church universal, in our own, not a borrowed, voice.
Deo Gratia!
Impressive. Thank you for sharing !
The Empire of Christ is little spoken of today, but it has very important significance to understanding the Church and her proper authority and role in, among, and over the nations. Christ is King, and further He is the King of Kings (i.e., an Emperor). Even the words empire, emperor, peace - all these stem from Latin (
Imperium,
Imperator,
Pax). Authority understands the necessity and importance of understanding in communication, discipline, and order ; if it does not, it risks losing the very authority it has. In English Common Law countries, we say,
" Ignorance of the law is no excuse ! "
Yet no one rails against this, even though today people are most licentious and rebellious, but even they realize the important necessity of that Truth : one cannot even be effectively licentious or rebellious without understanding the logic of that dictate, and this is at the core of real (or realized) civilization : civilization requires legal props and sacrifices by and for its citizens owing to its precariousness. All civilization detests ignorance, as ignorance is a threat to civilization. Civilization is a burden, but a burden that bears fruit that not only eases the vexation of civilization itself, but improves life overall and in greater abundance ; furthermore, civilized societies are at peace with themselves, and usually their neighbours, and the more disciplined (i.e., civilized) the society, the less threatening other societies are to it, for such societies can defend and secure themselves, even against societies much larger and numerically stronger than theirs. This is why and how the Romans ruled the world, and it is also why and how America succeeds far beyond in influence what would seem appropriate to her. Civilization produces immense benefits, and these benefits can he shared and distributed in such a manner as to keep, and spread, the peace. It begets the ability to do justice when wrongs are done, and though nothing can ever change the fact something wrong was done, certainly the ability to make amends for that wrong goes a long way to restoring and maintaining the peace.
So the Society of Christ chooses one language of authority, and uses it universally, as is her right. Seeing as this society is universal, its logical she should furnish her children with a common tongue, that they may be united in and by it. This common tongue, though equally burdensome upon all (it being foreign to each one’s mother tongue), nonetheless produces the advantage of permitting universal communication and understanding amongst a great diversity of peoples. So, as ever, civilization has its burdens (education in a new language), and requires discipline, but it always begets a reward, a benefit : a common tongue for all, proper to each and every subject. Now this benefit, a common language for us, can hardly be measured against its cost (education), for even in the process of learning that new language, one is bound to learn various other but interrelated things that can and likely will be useful in daily life. So the cost is small compared to the gain, the benefit provided.
The laity, being less likely to require a full understanding of the Latin language, are asked only to know it insomuch as it is necessary to perform their Christian duty and offer proper and solemn worship, pleasing to God ; however, more is asked of the Church’s rulers, largely for the sake of their flocks, to which each has a special duty to serve, and for the sake of the Church overall. The Church is not Babylon, and in her there should be no semblance thereof. Confusion, we are taught, is always of the devil, and confounds societies and threatens them ; therefore, it is not only prudent, but just, that the Church would take those reasonable and necessary steps to safeguard herself and her children from their enemies. Cohesion is vitally important to any organization, whether large or small, and furnishing a single language safe for use by all is a bulwark and bastion that protects the organization itself. Sometimes this singular language is had by signs and symbols, customs and practices, etc., that lend themselves adequately for the requirement of the organization, such as general rules and guidelines ; nonetheless, without even these the organization could not effectively exist or long last.
Pax,
Tim
