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 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.
It’s about time I put up the answer key for the eager Latin students that have downloaded the five free Church Latin lessons I posted a while ago. I hope it helps!
Wanna learn Latin? Wanna learn Church Latin, so you can understand Catholic stuff better? Most Latin textbooks today teach Latin using vocabulary terms relating to ancient Roman culture. Great old-fashioned textbooks teach students to read Julius Caesar’s writing, providing them with scores and scores of military words. Catholics interested in understanding Church writings, Mass texts, Scripture, and Gregorian chant need…
In old Catholic churches, you can see Latin decorating the ceilings and walls, painted on stained glass windows, and carved into the marble of high altars and side altars. Obviously, Latin was important to the people of these times and places. But any of us who have lived all or most of our lives after…
I have a small ambition: I really want to change the world. I want to save it–or at least, the souls in it. I want to help rebuild and restore Christian culture. Are you with me? Of course, it’s an immense undertaking that will likely take millions of people, generations of effort, and a constant outpouring of God’s abundant…
St. Catherine Catholic Culture Center 