Posted on 10/24/2005 6:00:01 AM PDT by NYer
O TEMPORA, o mores! The rolling thunder that is the Latin language is in such trouble, even in its last redoubt, the heirarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, that cardinals and bishops have begged Pope Benedict XVI to put it on a life support machine.
The Princes of the Church appear to have the same problem that bedevilled generations of baffled English schoolboys battling their way across the three divided parts of Gaul with Julius Caesar — they don’t speak it, read it or understand it. And while the grandly dressed and highly respected congregation at the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops may not have to write out 100 times Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres as a punishment for their ignorance, they appear now to be at least as embarrassed as any ink-stained duffer who confuses the vocative with the nominative.
When Cardinal Angelo Scola, the Patriarch of Venice, opened the synod, he gave his address entirely in Latin, sending many of the 241 participants rushing for headsets to hear a translation. Nothing could have better illustrated the Church’s fading proficiency in its own language.
To help bishops to follow the written text in front of them, Scola gave his audience useful pointers, such as, “paginam decimam quartam”. For many, this was of little help. It was clear that some kind of extra tuition was needed. So yesterday, after the three-week gathering had helped to demonstrate how serious was the need for a simple means of communication across the language barriers amidst the Church’s international flock, the synod called on the Pope to help to stop Latin falling entirely into disuse.
One of the synod’s 50 “propositions” to the Pope is that the language should feature prominently in Masses at major international events, where Catholics speaking many different languages are present.
It is expected to appeal to the Pope, who in June invited Catholics to pray in Latin whenever possible, emphasising its universal dimension. “Latin makes it easier for Christians from different countries to pray together, especially when they meet for special occasions,” he said .
Although ever fewer people outside the Vatican understand Latin, the language is used for papal encyclicals and other important Church documents.
There are few, even in the Church, who can speak it fluently. The tradition at Vatican synods of having at least one discussion group work in Latin was abandoned this year.
According to reports, only one synod participant spoke Latin every time he took the microphone: Latvian Cardinal Janis Pujats, the Archbishop of Riga. He did the same at the previous synod in 2001, when a disconsolate Pope John Paul II commented: “Paupera lingua latina, ultimum refugium habet in Riga” (Poor Latin, it has its last refuge in Riga).
The next time a Pope makes a joke in Latin, perhaps more of his cardinals and bishops will understand him.
btt
He said what, exactly?
That Pius X mandated the Italianate/ecclesiastical pronunciation in Tra le Sollecitudini? Well, he couldn't have said that, unless his memory was fuzzy.
That Pius X mandated the Italianate/ecclesiastical pronunciation? If that is what he said, does he have a source document?
Mmm...seems VERY strange to me. I've never heard of this pronunciation, and IMHO it's exceedingly odd. I would rebel if my choir director had me sing it like this ;)
He's at work, and I'm at work, so I'll have to ask him next time I see him.
BTW, he's got a doctorate in Music from Juilliard, and his word's good enough for me. He has completely revitalized the music program in our church, and he has forgotten more about chant, medieval music, and Renaissance polyphony than I will ever know.
Yes, Your Holiness, Pope Pius I. ;-)
Claud,
I'll have to disagree with you on this...the pronunciation in question is in the Liber Usualis.
That is too cool!
My eight year old always starts us with the Latin Sign of the Cross for night prayers. We need to continue on.
I like "English from the Roots Up"
We have started with the words they already know to teach the Root words of Latin and Greek.
Next we move to "Latin's not so Hard".
I'm learning with them.
BUMP
This is the result of 40 years of a gross and deliberate disobedience on the part of the bishops.
Canon 249 of the Code of Canon Law:
The program for priestly formation is to make provision that the students are not only carefully taught their native language but also that they are well skilled in the Latin language...Does anyone want to make a wager on whether the bishops will come into compliance with this canon on their own accord?
The pertinent quotes, IMHO, are:
We are not here concerned with the delicate question of pronunciation in the Classical period, but only with the pronunciation of the living liturgical Latin of the Church. Our aim, in compliance with the wishes of his holiness Pius X, is to pronounce and speak Latin in the Roman Style so eminently suitable to Plainsong.and
H is pronounced K in the two words nihil (nee-keel) and mihi, (mee-kee) and their compounds. In ancient books these words are often written nichil and michi. In all other cases H is mute.
In Italian for "mihi" to be pronounced mee-chee, it would have to be written "mici" which is not how it was written in the ancient books according to the above quote.
AnAmericanMother, if your music director knows where Pius X expressed his wishes "to pronounce and speak Latin in the Roman Style," I would appreciate the information. In no way was I questioning his bona fides. While St. Pius X had a lot to say about sacred music in his Motu Proprio, that was not where he talked about Latin pronunciation.
Okay, but as a big primary-source guy, I'm wondering where the Liber came up with it. It is not a historical pronunciation in either Classical or Ecclesiastical Latin that I know of, although ELS's quote is very interesting in that regard. The question is..was "michi" a provincialism, or an authentic pronunciation of the classical period?
This is making me want to dig into my Italic historical linguistics again.
So I ain't sure what to make of this. Alls I know is, durnit, I ain't sayin' that dang k. ;)
It will divide the syllables, but you'll hardly know it's there! :-D
An ATM with instructions in Latin! . . . only in the Vatican . . . :-)
I'll check with the head honcho. I think Nicholas Montani says something about it in the front of the St. Gregory Hymnal, I'll look and see (TOLD you we were a traditional choir!)
It depends what the Liber means by "ancient texts." Given that they just finished saying they aren't concerned with "the Classical period," it may be that they mean ancient liturgical texts. In that case we are dealing with ecclesiastical Latin and "michi" would have been pronounced mee-kee.
If you decide to dig into Italic historical linguistics, let me know if you discover anything relevant to this discussion.
The next time I am at the Vatican, God willing, I have to find and use one of those ATM machines. When in Vatican City ...
Bumpus ad summum
If I find one, I'll send you a picture. Do they dispense euros or indulgences? ;-)
The page I linked to says that it is in the Vatican bank (wherever that is).
Ahh...that makes more sense, like Hanukkah/Chanukkah. It's a voiceless velar fricative. Which explains why I would never have heard it--it's probably pretty difficult to tell an h from a ch in a choir. The k though is a different matter, as it's a velar stop and the airflow is totally constricted. I still can't imagine choirs sing a full stop there.
Speaking of which, I've noticed that some American choirs tend sing the K in Kyrie as a long, loud fricative: "KKKKHHHHHHyrie". That's characteristic of American English, where initial /k/ is aspirated: (if you hold your hand in front of your lips when you say "cat" and "scat" you can usually feel a stronger puff of air for the first one). In Italian, that isn't done; inital /k/ is nonaspirated.
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