Language of the Catholic Church and Western Civilization
I was once a beginning Latin student and teenage Great Books reader: and all because elders of countless generations led me to believe that studying Classical Languages could make me more and better. I had no reason not to believe them...
Did you know that the tune for the Victorian-era Christmas song "Good King Wenceslas" is from a much older song, from the Age of Faith (c. 1300s)? And did you know that the words to that original song are all about Spring?
Here is an excellent summary of the history of the Latin language from 1923, by Englishman J.E. Lowe. (Spelling differences from mine abound!)
It was Classical Latin I learned in High School. It was also Classical Latin that I took in college. Yet in the last few years I have really come to appreciate the fascinating, challenging, and special thing that Church Latin is. I wish there were more concentration on this in schools and colleges! Church Latin... Continue Reading →
If you are looking for a bit of not too difficult Latin to read..., I would recommend the life of St. Ambrose by Paulinus, his secretary. It is done in an easy and delightful style...--E. K. Rand, professor of Latin at Harvard University, in Founders of the Middle Ages (1928) Links to the Vita Sancti... Continue Reading →
(Latina pro Parvulis--Latin for Kids, pt. II) I like to get students working to read real Latin as soon as possible. Thanks to an ancient book called the Disticha Catonis, this is really possible after only a few Latin concepts have been introduced. Here's a project I've done with a roomful of 40 fifth-graders, and... Continue Reading →
"Church Latin" is the informal, snappier-sounding term for the more scholarly phrase Ecclesiastical Latin, or the occasionally-used Medieval Latin. All of these terms are used to denote something different from "Classical Latin"--the Latin used by, say, Julius Caesar. Church Latin was (and is!) the Latin used by the Catholic Church for two thousand years--thus, where... Continue Reading →
Learn Church Latin 