Saturday, March 28, 2009

Why Pray in Latin?


  • Latin is the preferred language of prayer of the Church - When you pray in Latin, you are praying with the rest of the Church in the same universal language the Church has prayed for more than 1500 years!
  • The Devil Hates Latin - Interestingly, there have been numerous reports from exorcists that Latin prayers are more effective in driving away demons. 
  • Popes throughout history have embraced and defended the Latin language - Latin unifies the Church in spirit and doctrine and preserves the teachings of the Church in an unchanging non-vernacular language.
    "The day the Church abandons her universal tongue [Latin] is the day before she returns to the catacombs" - Pope Pius XII, a few days before his death, 1958. 
  • Vatican II mandated the retention of Latin in the liturgy - "...the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites" (36). "Nevertheless steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them" (54).
  • Pope Benedict is urging you and all Catholics to do so! - Just 2 months after his elevation to the papacy, Benedict XVI declared that all Catholics should recite and learn the most common Catholic prayers in Latin to promote unity and fight evil. 

If you are starting from scratch, it's best to first learn and practice the pronunciations (see post below) and begin by learning the shortest prayers first (Sign of the Cross, Glory Be, then Hail Mary, etc.). If you pray a Rosary in Latin each day, you will have it memorized rather quickly and will eventually be able to say it just as fast as in English. Our Lady of Fatima made her desire clear that she wants each of us to pray the Rosary every day. A daily Rosary in Latin will appease Her wishes, and those of our Holy Father, the Pope, and most importantly will please our God, who through them is making his will known to us, his humble servants.

No comments:

Post a Comment