Language of the Catholic Church and Western Civilization
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yN6QueLslM I love hymns and carols, and currently this one is playing in my head--mostly because I am getting ready for Advent. (What, you don't know many songs for Advent? Better learn this, stat!) This song sounds like a Christmas carol, but it is all about the Annunciation, so it's absolutely delightful to sing while... Continue Reading →
This is my very favorite piece of music by St. Hildegard von Bingen. It is very mysterious, which is not surprising as she was a great mystic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77M2pkkdH10 O Virtus Sapientiae (antiphon) by Hildegard von Bingen I have learned to sing it, and you can learn to sing it, too! Read through the Latin text... Continue Reading →
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 →
When it comes to learning Church Latin, we all should imitate what we did as babies. Be a baby listening to our Holy Mother, the Church, at prayer, and learn Latin as you go. I’ve written some lessons I hope can help you learn Latin while praying along with the Church’s ongoing prayer. I have... 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 →
