Tag: Latin

The Orthodox West

There are members of the Orthodox Church that use the Latin Mass as their Order of Worship instead of the Greek Liturgy. It is very interesting to consider that members of the Orthodox Church consider the Latin Mass, the spiritual patrimony of the historic Latin Western Church as part of their patrimony, too. In some ways the proponents look at the history and horizons of Orthodoxy as not merely being Greek or “Eastern.” Most of will say that to be Orthodox is to use the Greek forms. One needs to know that in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) and the Antiochian Orthodox Church have a growing membership using the Latin Mass.

Here is a brief video, “The Orthodox West,” which documents their perspective and work.

On speaking Latin Reggie Foster is masterful

FosterA cultured person, that is, a person who considers himself a sophisticated person, is one who has some –if not a lot of– knowledge of the Latin language and culture. This is especially true for Western peoples (those of us who live in North & South America, Western Europe).

Benedictine Father Daniel McCarthy, a monk of St Benedict’s Abbey though working in England, is a former student of Father Reggie Foster, OCD, is now promoting the work of learning the language and culture. Father Reggie is likely the world’s foremost expert on Latin and culture.

Dom Daniel has excelled in learning Latin in an era that is quickly rejecting its heritage and is doing what he can to expand our cultural horizons. In short: learn Latin (whatever age you happen to be).

There is a Latin summer school in Milwaukee. More info here at this link.

Read Dom Daniel’s blog post, “Speaking Latin –Understanding the Latin Language.”

Learning Latin is still possible, and encouraged

Reg Foster.jpegThe Latin language is far from being extinct even though you only hear it at times in Church. Our common experience today at Mass prayed in the Ordinary Forum is often in the language of the people. The official language of the Catholic Church, however, remains Latin: the texts of the church, the texts of the pope, and importantly, in the prayer of the Church. Fear not. The “house” language today, the daily work of the curia is Italian. It is possible that at some point English will replace Italian.

The Carmelite friar Father Reginald Foster is the renown contemporary father of the Latin language. He spent several decades in Rome working, teaching and writing in Latin. Now he’s retired from active teaching but he keeps his hands in the field by consulting, developing teaching materials, writing and attending some initiatives. One of his works is Corpus Latinitatis.
A recent Reuters article brings to life in a brief fashion the influence of Father Reg in “Spreading the word that Latin lives…”
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Study Latin in Oxford

Oxford Street.jpgAn intensive Ecclesiastical Latin Course is now available in Oxford, England. The Tutor, Penny Cookson, has experience of preparing seminarians (and others) for beginning their studies in Roman Universities. What better place to study than Oxford during an English summer!

 

Information is available at www.stbedeshall.org.