Ecclesiastical Latin , also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin , is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late antiquity and used in Christian liturgy , theology , and church administration to the present day, especially in the Catholic Church . It includes words from Vulgar Latin and Classical Latin (as well as Greek and Hebrew ) re-purposed with Christian meaning. It is less stylized and rigid in form than Classical Latin, sharing vocabulary, forms, and syntax, while at the same time incorporating informal elements which had always been with the language but which were excluded by the literary authors of Classical Latin.
37-397: " Regina caeli " ( Ecclesiastical Latin : [reˈdʒina ˈtʃeli] ; Queen of Heaven ) is a musical antiphon addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary that is used in the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church during the Easter season , from Easter Sunday until Pentecost . During this season, it is the Marian antiphon that ends Compline (Night Prayer) and it takes
74-477: A bicycle ( birota ), a cigarette ( fistula nicotiana ), a computer ( instrumentum computatorium ), a cowboy ( armentarius ), a motel ( deversorium autocineticum ), shampoo ( capitilavium ), a strike ( operistitium ), a terrorist ( tromocrates ), a trademark ( ergasterii nota ), an unemployed person ( invite otiosus ), a waltz ( chorea Vindobonensis ), and even a miniskirt ( tunicula minima ) and hot pants ( brevissimae bracae femineae ). Some 600 such terms extracted from
111-670: A couple of centuries afterwards. As time passed, pronunciation diverged depending on the local vernacular language, giving rise to even highly divergent forms such as the traditional English pronunciation of Latin , which has now been largely abandoned for reading Latin texts. Within the Catholic Church and in certain Protestant churches, such as the Anglican Church , a pronunciation based on modern Italian phonology , known as Italianate Latin , has become common since
148-736: A modern language, but the authoritative text, published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis , is usually in Latin. Some texts may be published initially in a modern language and be later revised, according to a Latin version (or "editio typica"), after this Latin version is published. For example, the Catechism of the Catholic Church was drafted and published, in 1992, in French. The Latin text appeared five years later, in 1997, and
185-658: A story that, during a procession with an image of the Blessed Virgin that was held to pray for the ending of a pestilence in Rome, angels were heard singing the first three lines of the "Regina caeli" antiphon, to which Pope Gregory the Great (590−604) thereupon added the fourth, after which he saw, atop what would consequently become known as the Castel Sant'Angelo , a vision of an angel sheathing his sword, thus signifying
222-531: A vowel is generally pronounced /tsi/ (unless preceded by ⟨s⟩ , ⟨d⟩ or ⟨t⟩ ). Such speakers pronounce consonantal ⟨v⟩ (not written as ⟨u⟩ ) as /v/ as in English, not as Classical /w/ . Like in Classical Latin, double consonants are pronounced with gemination . The distinction in Classical Latin between long and short vowels
259-531: Is ignored, and instead of the ' macron ' or ' apex ', lines to mark the long vowel, an acute accent is used for stress. The first syllable of two-syllable words is stressed; in longer words, an acute accent is placed over the stressed vowel: adorémus 'let us adore'; Dómini 'of the Lord'. The complete text of the Bible in Latin, the revised Vulgate, appears at Nova Vulgata – Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio. New Advent gives
296-673: Is necessary that the texts in the vernacular are approved by the Episcopal Conferences and subsequently confirmed by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments . Therefore, differing translations are not indulged and can possibly be used for private performance. As with all indulgences, it is necessary to be in a state of grace; furthermore, the indulgence is applicable to oneself or to
333-416: Is the consequences of its use as a language for translating, since it has borrowed and assimilated constructions and vocabulary from the koine Greek , while adapting the meanings of some Latin words to those of the koine Greek originals, which are sometimes themselves translations of Hebrew originals. At first there was no distinction between Latin and the actual Romance vernacular, the former being just
370-770: Is used in theological works, liturgical rites and dogmatic proclamations varies in style: syntactically simple in the Vulgate Bible , hieratic (very restrained) in the Roman Canon of the Mass , terse and technical in Thomas Aquinas 's Summa Theologica , and Ciceronian (syntactically complex) in Pope John Paul II 's encyclical letter Fides et Ratio . The use of Latin in the Church started in
407-1124: The Ave Maria , and the Credo in Latin." In the Anglican Church , the Book of Common Prayer was published in Latin, alongside English. John Wesley , the founder of the Methodist churches , "used Latin text in doctrinal writings", as Martin Luther and John Calvin did in their era. In the training of Protestant clergy in Württemberg , as well as in the Rhineland , universities instructed divinity students in Latin and their examinations were conducted in this language. The University of Montauban, under Reformed auspices, required that seminarians complete two theses, with one being in Latin; thus Reformed ministers were "Latinist by training", comparable to Catholic seminarians. Ecclesiastical Latin continues to be
SECTION 10
#1732773033709444-746: The Second Vatican Council , ends with the antiphon alone. In the earlier Roman Breviary and in recitation at Angelus time during Eastertide , the following versicle and the following prayer are added to the antiphon: ℣. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia. ℟. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia. Oremus. Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi, mundum laetificare dignatus es: praesta, quaesumus, ut, per eius Genetricem Virginem Mariam, perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae. Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. ℟. Amen. ℣. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. ℟. For
481-654: The Easter Hymn " Christ the Lord is Risen Today " (Jesus Christ is risen today) or the hymn tune "Ave Virgo Virginum" (Hail Virgin of virgins): The authorship of "Regina caeli" is unknown. It has been traced back to the 12th century and is found in an antiphonary of c. 1200 now in St Peter's Basilica in Rome. In the first half of the 13th century it was in Franciscan use, after compline. Jacobus de Voragine 's thirteenth-century Golden Legend includes
518-883: The French text was corrected to match the Latin version, which is regarded as the official text. The Latin-language department of the Vatican Secretariat of State (formerly the Secretaria brevium ad principes et epistolarum latinarum ) is charged with the preparation in Latin of papal and curial documents. Sometimes, the official text is published in a modern language, e.g., the well-known edict Tra le sollecitudini (1903) by Pope Pius X (in Italian) and Mit brennender Sorge (1937) by Pope Pius XI (in German). There are not many differences between Classical Latin and Church Latin. One can understand Church Latin knowing
555-818: The Latin of classical texts, as the main differences between the two are in pronunciation and spelling, as well as vocabulary. In many countries, those who speak Latin for liturgical or other ecclesiastical purposes use the pronunciation that has become traditional in Rome by giving the letters the value they have in modern Italian but without distinguishing between open and close ⟨e⟩ and ⟨o⟩ . ⟨ae⟩ and ⟨oe⟩ coalesce with ⟨e⟩ . ⟨c⟩ and ⟨g⟩ before ⟨ae⟩ , ⟨oe⟩ , ⟨e⟩ , ⟨y⟩ and ⟨i⟩ are pronounced /t͡ʃ/ (English ⟨ch⟩ ) and /d͡ʒ/ (English ⟨j⟩ ), respectively. ⟨ti⟩ before
592-535: The Lord has truly risen, alleluia. Let us pray. O God, who have been pleased to gladden the world by the Resurrection of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, grant, we pray, that through his Mother, the Virgin Mary, we may receive the joys of everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. ℟. Amen. A verse translation in 7.7.7.7 metre used in some Anglican churches is usually sung to the hymn tune known as
629-445: The antiphon. A setting for four voices by Charles de Courbe dates from 1622, and Lully 's motet Regina coeli, laetare dates from 1684. 7 Regina caeli , H.16, H.30, H.31, H.32, H.32 a, H.32 b, H.46, (1670–1680) have been composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier . There are two settings by François Giroust , three settings by the young Mozart ( K. 108, K. 127, and K. 276 ), and one by Brahms ( Op. 37 #3). Benedict XIV established
666-767: The book appear on a page of the Vatican website. The Latinitas Foundation was superseded by the Pontifical Academy for Latin ( Latin : Pontificia Academia Latinitatis ) in 2012. Latin remains an oft-used language of the Holy See and the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church. Until the 1960s and still later in Roman colleges like the Gregorian, Catholic priests studied theology using Latin textbooks and
703-447: The cessation of the plague. As well as the plainsong melodies (a simple and an ornate form) associated with it, the "Regina caeli" has, since the 16th century, often been provided with polyphonic settings. Pierre de Manchicourt 's setting was published in 1539. Tomás Luis de Victoria composed a setting for five voices in 1572 and another for eight voices in 1576. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina also composed at least two settings of
740-913: The entire Bible, in the Douay version, verse by verse, accompanied by the Vulgate Latin of each verse. In 1976, the Latinitas Foundation ( Opus Fundatum Latinitas in Latin) was established by Pope Paul VI to promote the study and use of Latin. Its headquarters are in Vatican City . The foundation publishes an eponymous quarterly in Latin. The foundation also published a 15,000-word Italian-Latin Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis ( Dictionary of Recent Latin ), which provides Latin coinages for modern concepts, such as
777-495: The language of instruction in many seminaries was also Latin, which was seen as the language of the Church Fathers. The use of Latin in pedagogy and in theological research, however, has since declined. Nevertheless, canon law requires for seminary formation to provide for a thorough training in Latin, though "the use of Latin in seminaries and pontifical universities has now dwindled to the point of extinction." Latin
SECTION 20
#1732773033709814-705: The late 19th century. Ecclesiastical Latin is the language of liturgical rites in the Latin Church , as well as the Western Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church . It is occasionally used in Anglican Church and Lutheran Church liturgies as well. Today, ecclesiastical Latin is primarily used in official documents of the Catholic Church, in the Tridentine Mass , and it is still learned by clergy. The Ecclesiastical Latin that
851-695: The late fourth century with the split of the Roman Empire after Emperor Theodosius in 395. Before this split, Greek was the primary language of the Church (the New Testament was written in Greek and the Septuagint – a Greek translation of the Hebrew bible – was in widespread use among both Christians and Hellenized Jews ) as well as the language of the eastern half of the Roman Empire . Following
888-483: The official language of the Catholic Church. The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) decreed that the Mass would be translated into vernacular languages. The Church produces liturgical texts in Latin, which provide a single clear point of reference for translations into all other languages. The same holds for the texts of canon law . Pope Benedict XVI gave his unexpected resignation speech in Latin. The Holy See has for some centuries usually drafted documents in
925-558: The other days, with the faculty not to lose the indulgence for those who recited the Angelus without knowing the Regina Caeli and subsequent faculty granted on 5 December 1727 to the religious busy at the ringing of the bell to recite the prayer at another time. Leo XIII (1878-1903) modified the conditions for obtaining the gift of indulgence, making them easier. Until the reform of indulgences implemented by Pope Paul VI in 1967
962-565: The place of the traditional thrice-daily Angelus prayer. In the past, the spelling Regina coeli was sometimes used, but this spelling is no longer found in official liturgical books. The antiphon itself consists of four lines: Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia; Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia, Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia: Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia. Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia. The Son you merited to bear, alleluia, Has risen as he said, alleluia. Pray to God for us, alleluia. Compline , as revised in 1969 after
999-514: The same indulgence was still granted. The Enchiridion Indulgentiarum currently includes a partial indulgence for the faithful who recite the Regina Caeli in the three prescribed moments of the day during the Easter season. To obtain the gift of indulgence does not require the recitation of the Gloria and what follows. The concession is given for texts approved by the Holy See , therefore it
1036-469: The same indulgences as the Angelus , i.e. those granted by Benedict XIII with the indult of 14 September 1724: plenary indulgence once a month, on a day of your choice, to those who, having confessed, contrited and communicated, had devoutly recited the prayer in the morning, at noon and in the evening, at the ringing of the bell, and 100 days of indulgence in the same way to those who had recited it in
1073-639: The souls of the deceased who are in Purgatory , but is not applicable to other living people on earth. Ecclesiastical Latin language Its pronunciation was partly standardized in the late 8th century during the Carolingian Renaissance as part of Charlemagne 's educational reforms, and this new letter-by-letter pronunciation, used in France and England, was adopted in Iberia and Italy
1110-615: The split, early theologians like Jerome translated Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin, the dominant language of the Western Roman Empire . The loss of Greek in the Western half of the Roman Empire, and the loss of Latin in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire were not immediate, but changed the culture of language as well as the development of the Church. What especially differentiates Ecclesiastical Latin from Classical Latin
1147-457: The standards of Latin writing in France, prescribed a pronunciation based on a fairly literal interpretation of Latin spelling. For example, in a radical break from the traditional system, a word such as ⟨ viridiarium ⟩ 'orchard' now had to be read aloud precisely as it was spelled rather than */verdʒjær/ (later spelled as Old French vergier ). The Carolingian reforms soon brought the new Church Latin from France to other lands where Romance
Regina caeli - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-493: The traditional written form of the latter. For instance, in ninth-century Spain ⟨ saeculum ⟩ was simply the correct way to spell [sjeɡlo] , meaning 'century'. The writer would not have actually read it aloud as /sɛkulum/ any more than an English speaker today would pronounce ⟨knight⟩ as */knɪxt/ . The spoken version of Ecclesiastical Latin was created later during the Carolingian Renaissance . The English scholar Alcuin , tasked by Charlemagne with improving
1221-479: The vernacular has predominated since the liturgical reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council: liturgical law for the Latin Church states that Mass may be celebrated either in Latin or another language in which the liturgical texts, translated from Latin, have been legitimately approved. The permission granted for continued use of the Tridentine Mass in its 1962 form authorizes use of
1258-818: The vernacular language in proclaiming the Scripture readings after they are first read in Latin. In historic Protestant churches, such as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran churches , Ecclesiastical Latin is occasionally employed in sung celebrations of the Mass . until 75 BC Old Latin 75 BC – 200 AD Classical Latin 200–700 Late Latin 700–1500 Medieval Latin 1300–1500 Renaissance Latin 1300– present Neo-Latin 1900– present Contemporary Latin Marc-Antoine Charpentier Too Many Requests If you report this error to
1295-581: Was spoken. The use of Latin in the Western Church continued into the Early modern period . One of Martin Luther 's tenets during the Reformation was to have services and religious texts in the common tongue , rather than Latin, a language that at the time, many did not understand. Protestants refrained from using Latin in services, however Protestant clergy had to learn and understand Latin as it
1332-524: Was still spoken in recent international gatherings of Catholic leaders, such as the Second Vatican Council , and it is still used at conclaves to elect a new Pope . The Tenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2004 was the most recent to have a Latin-language group for discussions. Although Latin is the traditional liturgical language of the Western (Latin) Church , the liturgical use of
1369-761: Was the language of higher learning and theological thought until the 18th century. After the Reformation , in the Lutheran churches , Latin was retained as the language of the Mass for weekdays, although for the Sunday Sabbath, the Deutsche Messe was to be said. In Geneva , among the Reformed churches , "persons called before the consistory to prove their faith answered by reciting the Paternoster ,
#708291