I like to sing the simple tone Marian antiphons with my daughter, who hasn’t had any Latin yet. I sing first the original Latin chant, and then I sing it again, putting English words to the chant melody. That is, if I have an English version of the chant! Maria A. Trapp’s book Around the…
Originally posted on Learn Church Latin:
Catholics have accepted some of the worst distortions of their Faith in the order of music, art, and literature without a shiver of discontent because they never really heard the “Tantum Ergo” or the “Ave Maris Stella” –not for lack of faith, but because there had never been ordinary…
“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 the “Church” part comes in.
Carpe diem! Now is the time…get ready to remember more, do better at your practice sentences, and even like your Latin studies. How? With clever use of strategies and tools, of course! Organize your mind and your material, deeply encode new concepts, and actively use the vocabulary, word parts, and rules that you learn. These…
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…
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. Many posts…
If you’re ready to prepare for the beautiful liturgical season of Christmastide by learning traditional chants for this time, you’re in the right place. It’s never to early to begin practicing these chants, keeping a good Advent season the meanwhile! (Speaking of which–for Advent chants, please go here.) The chants for Christmas clearly inspired the…
If you are at all intimidated by the idea of starting your students with Latin, know that it will be easier than you might be fearing, but you’ve got to un-think one thing that you’ve been thinking.
Anyone can learn to chant. It’s important to remember that for centuries very young boys learned to sing this by ear, simply by hearing it over and over. Now that we have so much technology to help us, anyone anywhere with the internet and the ability to read can learn chant. Lately (for several months…
Yes, even if you “can’t sing,” you should learn some of the glorious chants by heart and sing them to your babies every night. (I’ll bet you sing in the shower, or somewhere else where no one hears you. And I’ll bet you’re keeping in tune pretty well, too.) I could give you dozens of…
St. Catherine Catholic Culture Center 