Harsh language followed by unjust action, the burning of churches, has surrounded the debate regarding whether Malay Christians are able to use the word Allah as a translation for the word God. Some Muslims feel that Allah refers to a different God than the Christian God.
That is interesting because I have decreased some of the prejudice against Muslims among Christians by explaining that Allah is the Arabic word for God, and that with the same roots of Adam, and Abraham, that indeed they are the same God words. Now I see that Muslims unravel that mutual understanding because they confuse a linguistic situation of how to share calling on the name of the one God with specifics of Islamic or Christian doctrine.
One God.
The One God called Allah, The One God called God.
Remember, though, that Christians translate the word God into native languages throughout the world. God is the English language word for God.
Christians don't know they are Christians because they worship the divinity spelled G-O-D.
The tradition language of the Catholic Church, Latin, for example, provides the name of the divinity as Deo.
(example: Deo gratias means Thanks be to God in English. )
Followers of The One God called Allah use the word Allah because the Qur'an was given to them in the Arabic language. Thus Muslims have an official liturgical language, Arabic, just as does the Catholic Church, which is Latin.
Thus to be totally accurate in this argument (if you were having the argument with a Vatican official), you are comparing the use of Arabic Allah with Latin Deo.
Because, despite the translations of the Qur'an into many languages, the translators adhered to the word Allah (Arabic) in each translation (for example my English language Qur'an uses the word Allah), and because the only religious imagery of God that is allowed is the inscription in calligraphy of the word Allah, a linguistic word has become holy to Muslims. That is understandable.
However, being understandable does not mean that Muslims can ignore that a different model was not followed with Christianity. Christians did not make the Latin word Deo the word that must be used in every Bible translation. Further, Christians do not make religious imagery of God using his name Deo. So when a Bible is translated into English, the English language word God is used, not Deo, and likewise in every other language.
Because Christians allow religious imagery, which the Qur'an does not for Muslims, Christians have many sources of religious imagery and thus never sanctified the writing of the name Deo. This is a fundamental difference between the practice of Islam and the practice of Christianity, but it does not mean they are different Gods.
I hope that the religion of peace, Islam, will resolve this problem without disrespect, harming people, threatening, violence and, of course, burning down churches. Where are your scholars, who must surely know as much as I do and have just clearly explained here?
Showing posts with label Latin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Latin. Show all posts
Friday, January 8, 2010
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Latin for musicians :-)
Came across the Latin for these passages about music from one of the Psalms.
Praise Him with sound of trumpets: praise Him with psaltery and harp.
Laudate eum clangore tubae, laudate eum psalterio et cithara.
Praise Him with timbrel and choir: praise Him with strings and organs.
Laudate eum tympano et choro, laudate eum chordis et organo.
Praise Him on high sounding cymbals: praise Him on cymbals of joy.
Laudate eum cymbalis sonoris, laudate eum cymbalis crepitantibus.
Those of you who know English, French, Spanish or Italian can all easily recognize in these phrases as examples of their origins (or in the case of English, heavy extraction from) the "mother language," so to speak, of Latin.
For example, to laud, or laudatory meaning to praise is an English word, so "laudate" is easily recognizable. Many of the musical terms are very close to the English, since English drew upon Latin (and Greek) for the creation of new words as vocabulary and things needing to be named or concepts to be expressed increased in number. The grammar of Latin is difficult to learn, but building vocabulary in Latin is remarkably easy, for that reason.
Praise Him with sound of trumpets: praise Him with psaltery and harp.
Laudate eum clangore tubae, laudate eum psalterio et cithara.
Praise Him with timbrel and choir: praise Him with strings and organs.
Laudate eum tympano et choro, laudate eum chordis et organo.
Praise Him on high sounding cymbals: praise Him on cymbals of joy.
Laudate eum cymbalis sonoris, laudate eum cymbalis crepitantibus.
Those of you who know English, French, Spanish or Italian can all easily recognize in these phrases as examples of their origins (or in the case of English, heavy extraction from) the "mother language," so to speak, of Latin.
For example, to laud, or laudatory meaning to praise is an English word, so "laudate" is easily recognizable. Many of the musical terms are very close to the English, since English drew upon Latin (and Greek) for the creation of new words as vocabulary and things needing to be named or concepts to be expressed increased in number. The grammar of Latin is difficult to learn, but building vocabulary in Latin is remarkably easy, for that reason.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Learn Latin with me - 2
(And I am not joking, since even though I know these phrases by sound, I am certainly improving my correct spelling of them! ;-)
We learned Oremus, which means "Let us pray."
We learned Credo in unum Deum, which means "I believe in one God." That is the first line of the long statement of Creed, our set of beliefs and thus, also, the first line of musical compositions, such as the one by Bach, of that Creed.
Here is another first line that I think we can all agree on in principle :-)
Gloria in excelsis Deo. This means "Glory be to God on high (in heaven.)" It is a simple but fundamental exclamation of praise to God, giving Him all the glory. This is the first line of what is called The Gloria, which is a prayer that praises God.
During the Catholic Mass, when this prayer is recited, like the Credo, the priest sings this first line. I love that the first line is sung and it is always splendid, because of the uninhibited devotional meaning, whether the priest has a superb singing voice or not!
Here is another short phrase we can all learn and agree on, which is simply to thank God.
Deo gratias. "Thanks be to God."
You can see how Spanish and Italian are descended from Latin in the similarity of many words.
I could write more about why I love Latin, but I'll save it for another time :-)
We learned Oremus, which means "Let us pray."
We learned Credo in unum Deum, which means "I believe in one God." That is the first line of the long statement of Creed, our set of beliefs and thus, also, the first line of musical compositions, such as the one by Bach, of that Creed.
Here is another first line that I think we can all agree on in principle :-)
Gloria in excelsis Deo. This means "Glory be to God on high (in heaven.)" It is a simple but fundamental exclamation of praise to God, giving Him all the glory. This is the first line of what is called The Gloria, which is a prayer that praises God.
During the Catholic Mass, when this prayer is recited, like the Credo, the priest sings this first line. I love that the first line is sung and it is always splendid, because of the uninhibited devotional meaning, whether the priest has a superb singing voice or not!
Here is another short phrase we can all learn and agree on, which is simply to thank God.
Deo gratias. "Thanks be to God."
You can see how Spanish and Italian are descended from Latin in the similarity of many words.
I could write more about why I love Latin, but I'll save it for another time :-)
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Learn Latin with me ;-)
Here is a phrase in Latin that is very important, that is easy to learn, and I think everyone who is a believer can agree with:
Credo in unum Deum
I believe in one God
The "e" in Credo and in "Deum" is pronounced like a long English "a," like it would be "Craado in unum Daaum." It is sung during the Mass by the priest and is also the title of various sacred music compositions, such as by Bach, so you can hear audio clips for the correct pronunciation!
It is the beginning of The Credo, the profession of faith.
Those of you who speak English and other Romance languages descended from Latin will see that there are similarities, of course, between certain of your language's words, and the Latin that they descended from. Here is the introductory paragraph of Wikipedia's Latin entry:
Latin (lingua Latīna, pronounced [laˈtiːna]) is an Italic language historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Italian, French, Catalan, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese are descended from Latin, while many others, especially European languages, including English, have inherited and acquired much of their vocabulary from Latin. It was the international language of science and scholarship in central and western Europe until the 17th century, then it was gradually replaced by vernacular languages, especially French, which became the new lingua franca of Europe. There are two main varieties of Latin: Classical Latin, the literary dialect used in poetry and prose, and Vulgar Latin, the form of the language spoken by ordinary people. Vulgar Latin was preserved as a spoken language in much of Europe after the decline of the Roman Empire, and by the 9th century diverged into the various Romance languages.
See. when I was growing up, Latin was still the language used in celebration of Mass in the Roman Catholic Church. Far from being "exclusionary" or "haughty," it was the closest to a global language that was ever achieved. Yes, English is becoming the language of both business and ordinary speech around the world. But when Latin was celebrated in Mass globally, people of wildly different native languages could attend a Catholic Mass in any church and, using their Missal (prayer book) follow along just as they did in their home land. Any Catholic could say to another Catholic "Oremus," and be understood as saying "Let us pray." People who refer to Catholic Latin speech as "gibberish" just do not understand the missed opportunity when the Church, going along with the "modern and hip" thinking of making the "Mass" "relevant" to "local people," took away the chance for one billion Catholics to have a common language.
By the way, as an aside on my teaching about "watching for hypocrisy," notice that secularists had that stupid dream of a "global language" called Esperanto (notice the spin trying to make it sound like anyone cares http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto.) Wow, that was a real success, wasn't it?
If the Catholic Church had not caved in, we'd have one billion people (with dual language Missals) being able to pray together and speak to each other of their faith.
So just as a fun and educational thing, I thought I'd provide a few sentences in this and future blogs that are "easy to agree with" basics of faith.
Credo in unum Deum.
Oremus.
Credo in unum Deum
I believe in one God
The "e" in Credo and in "Deum" is pronounced like a long English "a," like it would be "Craado in unum Daaum." It is sung during the Mass by the priest and is also the title of various sacred music compositions, such as by Bach, so you can hear audio clips for the correct pronunciation!
It is the beginning of The Credo, the profession of faith.
Those of you who speak English and other Romance languages descended from Latin will see that there are similarities, of course, between certain of your language's words, and the Latin that they descended from. Here is the introductory paragraph of Wikipedia's Latin entry:
Latin (lingua Latīna, pronounced [laˈtiːna]) is an Italic language historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Italian, French, Catalan, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese are descended from Latin, while many others, especially European languages, including English, have inherited and acquired much of their vocabulary from Latin. It was the international language of science and scholarship in central and western Europe until the 17th century, then it was gradually replaced by vernacular languages, especially French, which became the new lingua franca of Europe. There are two main varieties of Latin: Classical Latin, the literary dialect used in poetry and prose, and Vulgar Latin, the form of the language spoken by ordinary people. Vulgar Latin was preserved as a spoken language in much of Europe after the decline of the Roman Empire, and by the 9th century diverged into the various Romance languages.
See. when I was growing up, Latin was still the language used in celebration of Mass in the Roman Catholic Church. Far from being "exclusionary" or "haughty," it was the closest to a global language that was ever achieved. Yes, English is becoming the language of both business and ordinary speech around the world. But when Latin was celebrated in Mass globally, people of wildly different native languages could attend a Catholic Mass in any church and, using their Missal (prayer book) follow along just as they did in their home land. Any Catholic could say to another Catholic "Oremus," and be understood as saying "Let us pray." People who refer to Catholic Latin speech as "gibberish" just do not understand the missed opportunity when the Church, going along with the "modern and hip" thinking of making the "Mass" "relevant" to "local people," took away the chance for one billion Catholics to have a common language.
By the way, as an aside on my teaching about "watching for hypocrisy," notice that secularists had that stupid dream of a "global language" called Esperanto (notice the spin trying to make it sound like anyone cares http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto.) Wow, that was a real success, wasn't it?
If the Catholic Church had not caved in, we'd have one billion people (with dual language Missals) being able to pray together and speak to each other of their faith.
So just as a fun and educational thing, I thought I'd provide a few sentences in this and future blogs that are "easy to agree with" basics of faith.
Credo in unum Deum.
Oremus.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Why learn "old" languages like Latin or Greek?
Modern students tend to learn current languages for very practical reasons. They tend to select a language because it is one that they are likely to use, through either business or personal travel, or to enable a career, such as translator or working for an international corporation, or for public service or charity work.
But there is a very valuable reason that students for many generations learned what some dismissively call "dead languages," such as Latin or ancient Greek. Learning either Latin or ancient Greek provides a foundation for thought, not a language for day to day usage.
My brother, who is eleven years older than me, went to High School in the 1950's when Latin was still a viable option to select as a language. By the time I was in high school, just over a decade later, only four students in my entire high school were taking Latin (out of hundreds of students).
When I was in high school I did not opt for Latin for two reasons. One is that I already knew a fair amount of Latin by rote, which Catholics would pick up from attending Mass. Therefore I allowed myself to be attracted to the romantic aesthetics of the sound of the French language. I am, however, a very poor student of verbal language because as a second grader I attended draconian "speech therapy" forced on me and one other student (of an Italian family) to get rid of my "German accent," which was picked up from my mother by me. As a result I have a total mental block to learning the verbal component of any new language. I struggled in French (my best friend, a French major, helped me through a test once, thankfully LOL) and then struggled even worse in German in college, as I got my one course requirement out of the way. My brother, who spoke German for the first seven years of his life, and who was thrust into American school having to learn English on the fly, also struggled with German, which he had to master in order to obtain his PhD.
However, I always valued the intellectual stimulation of learning written languages. Therefore when I was in college, even though I was an "Aggie" (agriculture student) and was assumed to be therefore heathen, I took a four credit course in "Ancient Greek Philosophy." It did not stress the Greek language at all, but understanding Greek philosophers is essential to actually learning the language at a later date, not the other way around. I did pretty good in that class, looking at my college transcript here in front of me I earned a B+ in it during the Fall of 1973.
And now, the obligatory message and explanation for the cultists. Just because someone is interested in an ancient language or culture, they are not "blindly grasping" with drool running down their face to "remember" one of those "past lives" "hidden in the misty karmic past." (Here is also my obligatory reminder that reincarnation does not exist). Um, duh, it used to be that every student, even of very modest family station, learned ancient Greek or Latin, as I said, Latin being even as current as fifty years ago. There are many reasons why there is great merit to learning Latin or Greek, or even a more obscure language, such as ancient Chinese or Sanskrit. I will enumerate them in a minute, but first finish explaining my personal explorations of language.
In the 1980's when I was very vigorous with my rare and out of print book collecting, I became interested in learning Chinese written language, and also in studies of what are called the prototype languages. These were studies where just like today's genes can be used to trace ancestry, scholars using computers have learned how through word comparisons and extrapolations, they can trace various languages back in time to their root languages. I found that really interesting and liked cheering the scholars on in that endeavor, if you know what I mean. That is, I viewed it as a very interesting puzzle that humans had set themselves to do and I liked reading about it, so I collected books on that subject.
Eventually I wanted to take a try at ancient Greek and signed up for a class in the New School. I've blogged about this before but basically my old mental block from the botched "speech therapy" continued to hinder me, and the very deliberately insensitive instructor insulted me in front of the class due to my difficulty. I explained the situation to administration dropped the class from taking it for credit (which I was insane enough apparently to think I could handle, but I did not realize that Greek for Beginners would be filled with people who already spoke it on an intermediate level, thus I was totally out of place). I did not punish the language itself by despising it, even though I was treated very poorly (this was in 1995 as I recall), so I continued to collect books, just like my interest in the ancient Chinese language, that were dual language.
Here are the reasons why students have traditionally benefited from learning ancient Greek or Latin:
1. The learning of Latin or ancient Greek guarantees that the student becomes much more proficient and appreciative of the English language, since Latin and Greek are the roots of English. Thus students are inevitably more gifted and find English much easier when they have also learned or are learning Latin or ancient Greek.
2. There is nothing like reading a classic work in the original language, even if you can master only a small portion of it, such as phrases, poetry, parts of plays or a few pages of a book. There is a great insight that students receive when they realize how much nuance is lost when a passage is translated to English, even if it is most skillfully done. I think that is an important component of "cultural enrichment."
3. As I state in 2, this also allows the original languages of the scriptures to be read with fuller understanding and context. Reading parts of the scripture in either the Vulgate (Latin) or the ancient Greek is a very moving experience and works to strengthen faith as to how the authors were actually perceiving and experiencing their "witnessing to" the events of those times.
4. It is mood enhancing in an intellectual way! Here is an example of what I mean. One of my favorite ancient Greek expressions (yes, even more than their many expressions admiring moderation and what they call the 'golden mean,' referring to kind of a sweet spot of equanimity, not meanness as in cruelty, but mean such as in 'being in the middle of the balance') is the expression for "The soul is immortal." In English this sounds so factual, and it does not convey the spirit of what the writer or speaker intends. In ancient Greek it reads something like "Immortal... the soul" or you can also read and thus "hear" it as "Immortal IS the soul." In ancient Greek or Latin what seems like very difficult rules and confusing word order actually breathes much life into each phrase, bestowing what I'd call a poetry of emphasis.
5. Because they are difficult languages they provide students with a way to learn rigorous material and "survive it." Generations of school boys who have had to suffer through Latin and then say how valuable it was after they had made it cannot be wrong! Schools today make things so easy or rather, what they do is segment it to be easily digestible, if only the student pays attention, that many students miss the chance to learn something that is darned difficult to learn, no matter how kindly it is segmented and taught. Suffering through Latin or ancient Greek provides enormous confidence and skill sets, both intellectually and for life itself.
I hope you have found my thoughts on this subject helpful and interesting.
But there is a very valuable reason that students for many generations learned what some dismissively call "dead languages," such as Latin or ancient Greek. Learning either Latin or ancient Greek provides a foundation for thought, not a language for day to day usage.
My brother, who is eleven years older than me, went to High School in the 1950's when Latin was still a viable option to select as a language. By the time I was in high school, just over a decade later, only four students in my entire high school were taking Latin (out of hundreds of students).
When I was in high school I did not opt for Latin for two reasons. One is that I already knew a fair amount of Latin by rote, which Catholics would pick up from attending Mass. Therefore I allowed myself to be attracted to the romantic aesthetics of the sound of the French language. I am, however, a very poor student of verbal language because as a second grader I attended draconian "speech therapy" forced on me and one other student (of an Italian family) to get rid of my "German accent," which was picked up from my mother by me. As a result I have a total mental block to learning the verbal component of any new language. I struggled in French (my best friend, a French major, helped me through a test once, thankfully LOL) and then struggled even worse in German in college, as I got my one course requirement out of the way. My brother, who spoke German for the first seven years of his life, and who was thrust into American school having to learn English on the fly, also struggled with German, which he had to master in order to obtain his PhD.
However, I always valued the intellectual stimulation of learning written languages. Therefore when I was in college, even though I was an "Aggie" (agriculture student) and was assumed to be therefore heathen, I took a four credit course in "Ancient Greek Philosophy." It did not stress the Greek language at all, but understanding Greek philosophers is essential to actually learning the language at a later date, not the other way around. I did pretty good in that class, looking at my college transcript here in front of me I earned a B+ in it during the Fall of 1973.
And now, the obligatory message and explanation for the cultists. Just because someone is interested in an ancient language or culture, they are not "blindly grasping" with drool running down their face to "remember" one of those "past lives" "hidden in the misty karmic past." (Here is also my obligatory reminder that reincarnation does not exist). Um, duh, it used to be that every student, even of very modest family station, learned ancient Greek or Latin, as I said, Latin being even as current as fifty years ago. There are many reasons why there is great merit to learning Latin or Greek, or even a more obscure language, such as ancient Chinese or Sanskrit. I will enumerate them in a minute, but first finish explaining my personal explorations of language.
In the 1980's when I was very vigorous with my rare and out of print book collecting, I became interested in learning Chinese written language, and also in studies of what are called the prototype languages. These were studies where just like today's genes can be used to trace ancestry, scholars using computers have learned how through word comparisons and extrapolations, they can trace various languages back in time to their root languages. I found that really interesting and liked cheering the scholars on in that endeavor, if you know what I mean. That is, I viewed it as a very interesting puzzle that humans had set themselves to do and I liked reading about it, so I collected books on that subject.
Eventually I wanted to take a try at ancient Greek and signed up for a class in the New School. I've blogged about this before but basically my old mental block from the botched "speech therapy" continued to hinder me, and the very deliberately insensitive instructor insulted me in front of the class due to my difficulty. I explained the situation to administration dropped the class from taking it for credit (which I was insane enough apparently to think I could handle, but I did not realize that Greek for Beginners would be filled with people who already spoke it on an intermediate level, thus I was totally out of place). I did not punish the language itself by despising it, even though I was treated very poorly (this was in 1995 as I recall), so I continued to collect books, just like my interest in the ancient Chinese language, that were dual language.
Here are the reasons why students have traditionally benefited from learning ancient Greek or Latin:
1. The learning of Latin or ancient Greek guarantees that the student becomes much more proficient and appreciative of the English language, since Latin and Greek are the roots of English. Thus students are inevitably more gifted and find English much easier when they have also learned or are learning Latin or ancient Greek.
2. There is nothing like reading a classic work in the original language, even if you can master only a small portion of it, such as phrases, poetry, parts of plays or a few pages of a book. There is a great insight that students receive when they realize how much nuance is lost when a passage is translated to English, even if it is most skillfully done. I think that is an important component of "cultural enrichment."
3. As I state in 2, this also allows the original languages of the scriptures to be read with fuller understanding and context. Reading parts of the scripture in either the Vulgate (Latin) or the ancient Greek is a very moving experience and works to strengthen faith as to how the authors were actually perceiving and experiencing their "witnessing to" the events of those times.
4. It is mood enhancing in an intellectual way! Here is an example of what I mean. One of my favorite ancient Greek expressions (yes, even more than their many expressions admiring moderation and what they call the 'golden mean,' referring to kind of a sweet spot of equanimity, not meanness as in cruelty, but mean such as in 'being in the middle of the balance') is the expression for "The soul is immortal." In English this sounds so factual, and it does not convey the spirit of what the writer or speaker intends. In ancient Greek it reads something like "Immortal... the soul" or you can also read and thus "hear" it as "Immortal IS the soul." In ancient Greek or Latin what seems like very difficult rules and confusing word order actually breathes much life into each phrase, bestowing what I'd call a poetry of emphasis.
5. Because they are difficult languages they provide students with a way to learn rigorous material and "survive it." Generations of school boys who have had to suffer through Latin and then say how valuable it was after they had made it cannot be wrong! Schools today make things so easy or rather, what they do is segment it to be easily digestible, if only the student pays attention, that many students miss the chance to learn something that is darned difficult to learn, no matter how kindly it is segmented and taught. Suffering through Latin or ancient Greek provides enormous confidence and skill sets, both intellectually and for life itself.
I hope you have found my thoughts on this subject helpful and interesting.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Latin Mass at Holy Ghost Church Knoxville
Read this delightful report of this very moving event.
http://www.knoxlatinmass.net/1stsolemnmass.htm
http://www.knoxlatinmass.net/1stsolemnmass.htm
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Even a Latin language race horse
Check this out. With a name like that no wonder the 'long shot' won!
http://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=60523
snip
Mundijong trainer Terry Atkins has been living a dream for the best part of 40 years, and at last he realised his cherished ambition when he prepared his first metropolitan winner at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The 61-year-old Atkins was overjoyed when Aldo Cortopassi drove skillfully to land 14/1 chance Moto Perpetuo a surprise winner over Hy Regency and Knot Justafireball in the $70,000 Veolia Environmental Services WA Sales Classic final for two-year-old colts and geldings.
snip
Moto Perpetuo (Latin for perpetual motion) tracked the run of Hy Regency and he finished determinedly to take the lead in the final couple of strides.
http://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=60523
snip
Mundijong trainer Terry Atkins has been living a dream for the best part of 40 years, and at last he realised his cherished ambition when he prepared his first metropolitan winner at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The 61-year-old Atkins was overjoyed when Aldo Cortopassi drove skillfully to land 14/1 chance Moto Perpetuo a surprise winner over Hy Regency and Knot Justafireball in the $70,000 Veolia Environmental Services WA Sales Classic final for two-year-old colts and geldings.
snip
Moto Perpetuo (Latin for perpetual motion) tracked the run of Hy Regency and he finished determinedly to take the lead in the final couple of strides.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Jewish leaders object to prayer for them
Some Jewish leaders object to Latin Rite Good Friday prayer
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0703900.htm
But the 1962 Good Friday liturgy does include a prayer for the conversion of the Jews, asking God to remove "the veil from their hearts" and help them overcome their "blindness."The prayer says: "Let us pray also for the Jews that the Lord our God may take the veil from their hearts and that they also may acknowledge Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray: Almighty and everlasting God, you do not refuse your mercy even to the Jews; hear the prayers which we offer for the blindness of that people so that they may acknowledge the light of your truth, which is Christ, and be delivered from their darkness."
***
Oh good grief. I've been trying to bite my tongue for the past two days. Perhaps we ought to replace this prayer with one that the increasingly secular Jews regain their own religious observance at all again.
Only Catholics have to bend over backwards and do the politically correct limbo twist, even on the very day that commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And by way of interfaith education the term "do not refuse your mercy even to the Jews" refers to Christ's forgiveness of all those who crucified him even as he was being tortured and killed. It's a direct reference to Christ's forgiveness, not a cultural judgment, of the people who were in the process of killing him. In fact these similar words are used by St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, who died just after Jesus' death and resurrection, by being stoned by a Jewish mob who objected to his preaching. St. Stephen begged God for the forgiveness of the very persons who were in the processing of stoning him to death. This prayer is actually a very touching and generous commemoration of the heart of the Christian faith, sprung from Jewish roots. Sheesh.
Can you imagine if I told Jewish leaders that reference to waiting for a Messiah offends me, and they should edit their praise and worship, because I believe the Messiah already came and went? Of course I would not do that. So Jewish leaders should lighten up on the sensitivity button and look to their own increasingly secular problems, just as we have. And everyone should be thankful for any sincere prayer.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0703900.htm
But the 1962 Good Friday liturgy does include a prayer for the conversion of the Jews, asking God to remove "the veil from their hearts" and help them overcome their "blindness."The prayer says: "Let us pray also for the Jews that the Lord our God may take the veil from their hearts and that they also may acknowledge Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray: Almighty and everlasting God, you do not refuse your mercy even to the Jews; hear the prayers which we offer for the blindness of that people so that they may acknowledge the light of your truth, which is Christ, and be delivered from their darkness."
***
Oh good grief. I've been trying to bite my tongue for the past two days. Perhaps we ought to replace this prayer with one that the increasingly secular Jews regain their own religious observance at all again.
Only Catholics have to bend over backwards and do the politically correct limbo twist, even on the very day that commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And by way of interfaith education the term "do not refuse your mercy even to the Jews" refers to Christ's forgiveness of all those who crucified him even as he was being tortured and killed. It's a direct reference to Christ's forgiveness, not a cultural judgment, of the people who were in the process of killing him. In fact these similar words are used by St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, who died just after Jesus' death and resurrection, by being stoned by a Jewish mob who objected to his preaching. St. Stephen begged God for the forgiveness of the very persons who were in the processing of stoning him to death. This prayer is actually a very touching and generous commemoration of the heart of the Christian faith, sprung from Jewish roots. Sheesh.
Can you imagine if I told Jewish leaders that reference to waiting for a Messiah offends me, and they should edit their praise and worship, because I believe the Messiah already came and went? Of course I would not do that. So Jewish leaders should lighten up on the sensitivity button and look to their own increasingly secular problems, just as we have. And everyone should be thankful for any sincere prayer.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Let Your Missal Be Your Guide
Now that Pope Benedict XVI has removed the restrictions from the "old Mass" (the so called "Latin Mass") I suggest that people get together with a publishing house to reprint Missals such as my "Saint Joseph Daily Missal." It is fantastic for children of reading age or adults because not only is the Mass presented in easy to follow side-by-side Latin and English, there are beautiful drawings of what the priests and servers are doing at key parts of the Mass. Here's just a random quick sample from my copy:
Left Page:
Making the Sign of the Cross, the Priest says:
(Imagine here a drawing of a Priest making the Sign of the Cross with an altar server standing next to him.)
Indulgentiam, + absolutionem, et remissionem peccatorum nostrorum, tribuat nobis omnipotens et misericors Dominus. S. Amen.
P. Deus, tu conversus vivificabis nos.
S. Et plebs tua laetabitur in te.
P. Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam.
S. Et salutare tuum da nobis.
P. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
S. Et clamor meau ad te veniat.
P. Dominus vobiscum.
S. Et cum spiritu tuo. P. Oremus.
Right Page:
Our Petition for Remission of Sins
May the Almighty and Merciful Lord grant us pardon, + absolution, and remission of our sins. S. Amen.
P. Will You not, O God, give us life?
S. And shall not Your people rejoice in You?
P. Show us, O Lord, Your kindness.
S. And grant us Your salvation.
P. O Lord hear my prayer.
S. And let my cry come to You.
P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with your spirit.
P. Let us pray.
So there is a line by line matching of the Latin to English, with even pictures to illustrate and symbols (for example, where to make the Sign of the Cross) which is easy for even a child who is of reading age to follow. And what more can I say about the words and devotion in the old Mass? Sorry to think that it's more suitable to the solemnity of the celebration of the Mass... after all, why choose this when you can have performing wind chimes and banjo singing We Are the World....
Hope you could visualize it from my typing above. No fancy graphics or photo abilities on my blog, no siree. I vaguely remember what it was like to have coworkers and friends (say nothing of a paycheck, but that's another story) who actually did computer things for me. Now I invest my time in the bare bones straight text.
Left Page:
Making the Sign of the Cross, the Priest says:
(Imagine here a drawing of a Priest making the Sign of the Cross with an altar server standing next to him.)
Indulgentiam, + absolutionem, et remissionem peccatorum nostrorum, tribuat nobis omnipotens et misericors Dominus. S. Amen.
P. Deus, tu conversus vivificabis nos.
S. Et plebs tua laetabitur in te.
P. Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam.
S. Et salutare tuum da nobis.
P. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
S. Et clamor meau ad te veniat.
P. Dominus vobiscum.
S. Et cum spiritu tuo. P. Oremus.
Right Page:
Our Petition for Remission of Sins
May the Almighty and Merciful Lord grant us pardon, + absolution, and remission of our sins. S. Amen.
P. Will You not, O God, give us life?
S. And shall not Your people rejoice in You?
P. Show us, O Lord, Your kindness.
S. And grant us Your salvation.
P. O Lord hear my prayer.
S. And let my cry come to You.
P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with your spirit.
P. Let us pray.
So there is a line by line matching of the Latin to English, with even pictures to illustrate and symbols (for example, where to make the Sign of the Cross) which is easy for even a child who is of reading age to follow. And what more can I say about the words and devotion in the old Mass? Sorry to think that it's more suitable to the solemnity of the celebration of the Mass... after all, why choose this when you can have performing wind chimes and banjo singing We Are the World....
Hope you could visualize it from my typing above. No fancy graphics or photo abilities on my blog, no siree. I vaguely remember what it was like to have coworkers and friends (say nothing of a paycheck, but that's another story) who actually did computer things for me. Now I invest my time in the bare bones straight text.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Food Blessing and Latin Lesson
Food Blessing and Latin Lesson
The 1962 Missal has "The Blessing of Any Kind of Food." I think that in addition to saying grace at the table before eating, little children might enjoy the idea of blessing individual foods for the family! And for adults it's a way to read a blessing in both English and Latin. Here it is.
Bless, + O Lord, this (name the food) which Thou hast made, that it may be a wholesome and healing remedy for mankind, and grant that they who eat of it may be calling upon Thy holy name get health for their bodies and salvation for their souls. Through our Lord.
Benedic, + Domine, creaturam istan (name the food), ut sit remedium salutare generi humano; et praesta per invocationem nominis tui: ut quicumque ex ea sumpserint corporis sanitatem et animae tutelam percipiant. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.
Isn't it interesting how such "new age" terms like "wholesome" "healing" "remedy" "health" are in this 1962 Catholic priestly blessing? Kind of makes you feel ahead of your time, huh?
The 1962 Missal has "The Blessing of Any Kind of Food." I think that in addition to saying grace at the table before eating, little children might enjoy the idea of blessing individual foods for the family! And for adults it's a way to read a blessing in both English and Latin. Here it is.
Bless, + O Lord, this (name the food) which Thou hast made, that it may be a wholesome and healing remedy for mankind, and grant that they who eat of it may be calling upon Thy holy name get health for their bodies and salvation for their souls. Through our Lord.
Benedic, + Domine, creaturam istan (name the food), ut sit remedium salutare generi humano; et praesta per invocationem nominis tui: ut quicumque ex ea sumpserint corporis sanitatem et animae tutelam percipiant. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.
Isn't it interesting how such "new age" terms like "wholesome" "healing" "remedy" "health" are in this 1962 Catholic priestly blessing? Kind of makes you feel ahead of your time, huh?
Friday, June 15, 2007
Learn the freaking Latin already
Jesus Christ did not have painkillers.
You can't be inconvenienced to learn a language - Latin - to provide the traditional mass for parishoners who hunger for it?
I've never stopped carrying my 1962 Missal to Mass and following along with it in the Latin.
Gosh, I'm sick of hearing whining on such an easily resolved matter. You have language CD's. You have brains and hopefully you have faith and dedication. I'm sure that many starving jobless Latin instructors will surface to help. Goodness, enough with the b****ing in advance of Pope Benedict's moto proprio.
You can't be inconvenienced to learn a language - Latin - to provide the traditional mass for parishoners who hunger for it?
I've never stopped carrying my 1962 Missal to Mass and following along with it in the Latin.
Gosh, I'm sick of hearing whining on such an easily resolved matter. You have language CD's. You have brains and hopefully you have faith and dedication. I'm sure that many starving jobless Latin instructors will surface to help. Goodness, enough with the b****ing in advance of Pope Benedict's moto proprio.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Psalms in 3 Languages
Beautiful in any language.
The Book of Psalms 1:1-6
English
Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night. He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season and whose leaves never fade [Whatever he does, prospers.] Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore in judgment the wicked shall not stand, nor shall sinners, in the assembly of the just. For the Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.
Spanish
Bienaventurado el varon, que no anda en consejo de impies, ni en las sendas de los pecadores se detiene, ni se sinta en tertulia de mofadores. Antes bien, tiene en la Ley de Yave su complacencia, y en ella medita din y noche. Sera como arbol plantado a la vera del arroyo, que a su tiempo da su fruto, cuyas hojas no se marchitan. Cuanto emprenda, tendra buen suceso. No asi los impios, sino que son como paja que arrebata el viento. Por eso no prevaleceran los impios en el juicio, ni los pecadores en la congregacion de los justos. Pues conoce Yave el camino de los justos, pero la senda de los pecadores acaba mal.
Latin
Beatus vir qui non abiit in consilo impiorum et in via peccatorum, non stetit in cathedra derisorum non sedit, sed in lege Domini voluntas eius et in lege eius meditabitur die ac nocte. et erit tamquam lignum transplantatum iuxta rivulos aquarum quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo et folium eius non defluet, et omne quod fecerit prosperabitur. non sic impii sed tamquam pulvis quem pracit ventus. propterea non resurgent impii in iudicio, neque peccatores in congregatione iustorum. quoniam novit Dominus viam iustorum et iter impiorum peribit.
The Book of Psalms 1:1-6
English
Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night. He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season and whose leaves never fade [Whatever he does, prospers.] Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore in judgment the wicked shall not stand, nor shall sinners, in the assembly of the just. For the Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.
Spanish
Bienaventurado el varon, que no anda en consejo de impies, ni en las sendas de los pecadores se detiene, ni se sinta en tertulia de mofadores. Antes bien, tiene en la Ley de Yave su complacencia, y en ella medita din y noche. Sera como arbol plantado a la vera del arroyo, que a su tiempo da su fruto, cuyas hojas no se marchitan. Cuanto emprenda, tendra buen suceso. No asi los impios, sino que son como paja que arrebata el viento. Por eso no prevaleceran los impios en el juicio, ni los pecadores en la congregacion de los justos. Pues conoce Yave el camino de los justos, pero la senda de los pecadores acaba mal.
Latin
Beatus vir qui non abiit in consilo impiorum et in via peccatorum, non stetit in cathedra derisorum non sedit, sed in lege Domini voluntas eius et in lege eius meditabitur die ac nocte. et erit tamquam lignum transplantatum iuxta rivulos aquarum quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo et folium eius non defluet, et omne quod fecerit prosperabitur. non sic impii sed tamquam pulvis quem pracit ventus. propterea non resurgent impii in iudicio, neque peccatores in congregatione iustorum. quoniam novit Dominus viam iustorum et iter impiorum peribit.
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