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Views from the Choir Loft

How Much Latin Do You Need?

Veronica Brandt · September 23, 2017

Odda's Chapel Inscription ATIN HAS A REPUTATION as a mark of a highly learned student. The language can seem like a bit of a barrier, even though much of our own language is derived from Latin. In a liturgical setting there are usually translations available, or the texts are well known, so a complete grasp of the ins and outs of the language are not essential, but what are the most valuable things to learn?

I took a copy of the text of the 2002 Missale Romanum and found the 20 most common words along with how many times each occurs.

  • 7523 et – and
  • 4754 in – in or sometimes on
  • 2867 ad – to
  • 2484 per – for
  • 2224 ut – that
  • 1781 qui – who
  • 1627 de – of
  • 1531 Dómine – Lord
  • 1331 Deus – God
  • 1228 pro – for
  • 1211 Christum – Christ
  • 1114 cum – with
  • 1015 Dóminum – Lord
  • 1011 communionem – Communion
  • 974 vel – or
  • 955 super – over
  • 931 est – is
  • 907 ant – abbreviation for Antiphon
  • 828 N – stands in for the name of someone, eg. Pope N.
  • 799 nos – us

These twenty words count for 20% of the total text! That’s one fifth of the Missal. And “n” isn’t even a word, so you only have 19 words left to learn already.

“Domine” and “Dominum” both mean “Lord” – the endings indicate different grammatical clues, but you can work your way up to those nuances later.

I bet you could guess that “Christum” means “Christ” – if you add in Christo, Christus, Christi and Christe then you have covered even more of the Missal.

I hope that gives you a start – or provides a list you can pass on to a friend who may need some encouragement.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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Like all other liturgical functions, like offices and ranks in the Church, indeed like everything else in the world, the religious service that we call the Mass existed long before it had a special technical name.

— Rev. Adrian Fortescue (1912)

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