Why latin?

[Saul.Tentmaker]

Why prevent ethnic parishes? The Archdiocese of Chicago was (and is) founded on many of them.

The purpose of my question was not to discuss ethnic parishes, or enclaves. These exist even in the indult communities, as both indult communities I have been part of have been almost entirely Irish, and often express their ethnicity in social clubs and activities outside of the Mass.

My purpose is also not to favor them. I am ambivalent as to their existence.

My question was why Latin, over other languages. That it creates a connection both to the past and between different communities, that it is a sacred language, and that it is immune to corruption have been the answers thus far.

If there are any others people would like to offer, I would be happy to hear them.

If not, then this thread should end.

 

[brotherhrolf]

Why Latin? The answer is in history. It is historical. Lord, I do not have the time or the space to try to explain to you what happened when the Roman Empire collapsed. How to explain the rise of monasteries? The issue of Latin is rooted in history. The question is historical not religious.

I am really conflicted with this. I can answer you as an historian; as a Catholic; and as a Catholic historian. Utlimately, the answer is historical and has nothing to do with faith.

 

[Brennan_Doherty]

Here is an excerpt on Latin from Part II Fr. John Parsons excellent article, “A Reform of the Reform?”:

Liturgical **Language Set Apart

**
For what are the facts? Historically the liturgy, like the Faith, has been received by cultures as a sacrosanct whole at the time of conversion, and has never been put into another language thereafter. Whether that language was the vernacular or not, seems to be utterly arbitrary and a matter of historical accident. In Italy, Gaul and Spain, the Latin liturgy was initially vernacular, but ceased to be so within five hundred years; the language however remained sacrosanct precisely because it was used for sacred purposes. In Russia, the liturgical language now known as Old Church Slavonic was used for the vernacular version of the Greek books; it is now old Slavonic precisely because it differs from the current language; but because it is sacred, it has been left undisturbed. In Ethiopia the liturgical language is Gheez, which centuries ago was replaced by Amharic as the vernacular; again no change was made to the liturgy. On the other hand, among the Irish, English, Dutch, Germans, Basques, Poles, Swedes, Ceylonese, Bantus, Vietnamese, Finns, Norwegians, Lithuanians, Hungarians and so many others, the liturgy had never been in the vernacular up until the 1960s. And are we to say that these great peoples and cultures were never Christian, never properly evangelized as a result? In South India the Faith had been quietly flourishing for a thousand years prior to the arrival of the Portugese in the sixteenth century, but the liturgy had never been translated and was still celebrated in the Syriac tongue in which it had arrived. English Catholics from St Augustine of Canterbury until the 1960s never used the vernacular for Mass.

                  In the 1960s, when              mass literacy, cheap peoples' Missals, and bilingual editions were              more in evidence than ever before, and it was thus easier to follow              the Mass than ever before, there was less justification than there              had ever been for switching to the vernacular. Why then did it happen?"

christianorder.com/features/features_2001/features_bonus_dec01.html

 

[captaincoog]

My three year old knows there is something special about Latin. I take him to the Sunday Low Mass and we sit near the front. He is has a child’s understanding of the fact that there are different languages in the world, and knows that Latin is reserved for Mass.
Sometimes in the car or at home I will find my self singing or saying a part of the Mass in Latin, and after two or three words he will ask, “Is that Mass, Dad?” Or I might ask him, “Who says Dominus vobiscum?” and he says Father R. He has an awareness of the uniqueness of Mass and Liturgy largely because of Latin. I love it!