Language of the Catholic Church and Western Civilization
They say that you can worship very well at the Latin Mass without knowing a word of Latin, if you reverently pray in your heart as the priest is praying through the words of the Mass. This is true, and it's another reason that the Latin Mass is the best way of worshiping God. But...the... Continue Reading →
This post details an "old" memorization method, one used by St. Thomas Aquinas, among many others, "back in the day." (So you know it has to be good!) It's not just for medieval scholastics, though: it will help your Latin studies in A.D. 2020 and beyond. I first learned about it from Dr. Kevin Vost's... Continue Reading →
Salve! This post is meant to be a base for finding Catholic Latin essentials. I hope some (or all!) of these links will be helpful to you and your family: Holy Mass Intro to Traditional Latin Mass in comic-book format (Know Your Mass, 1954) https://web.archive.org/web/20141005200830/http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2014/apr/9/know-your-mass-demetrius-manousos-1954/ (First link in post is the PDF download for this)... Continue Reading →
Does it matter what papal documents said before the Second Vatican Council? I guess it depends on your point of view. In my point of view, yes–they are at least as important today as they were when they were written, and therefore deserve careful reading and implementation. One of them from the mid-20th century is... Continue Reading →
This post is another excuse to mention and help you all use Fr. William Most's amazing textbook series Latin by the Natural Method. I highly recommend making the lists of vocabulary words in your notebook as he suggests in the Teacher's Guide. I certainly advocate using idea-mapping when studying each lesson. And I also think... Continue Reading →
This is my favorite Latin study-aid of them all, so we will begin this series with it today. And actually, I already have an example of a "mind map" or "idea map" on this blog, explaining jobs the endings of Latin verbs do. (It's here if you want to see it.) An idea map is... Continue Reading →
Ecclesiastical Latin can be used in your daily speech. For centuries upon centuries it was used for conversation, all over Europe! Students at universities used it, besides the clergy and religious. Laypeople knew a lot of Latin, as even popular songs were partly or all in Latin during the Age of Faith. So know that... Continue Reading →
Don't groan--this is a highly-powered mega-vitamin for your Latin skills! There is no better way I know to feel like Latin is a spoken language than having a repertoire of pieces in your mind that you can hear with your "mind's ear." You've learned some Latin words with your textbook--very good. But you probably didn't... Continue Reading →
The inescapable truth: Catholic sensibilities are formed on Latin. Period. Full stop. Two reasons for this are that 1) the clearest understanding of the intellect and 2) the subtlest and most elevated emotions and feelings flow from experiencing the use of Ecclesiastical Latin. Therefore, teaching Latin to your children is a priceless gift for their... Continue Reading →
Wow, just wow... So way back when, when all the educated English gents knew Latin, some of them published a book of English (and American) Victorian Poetry that was translated into Latin. It's hundreds of pages long and includes dozens of well-known poets from that era. Here is Edward Lear, for a very lighthearted example:... Continue Reading →
