Dude, Latin was great! They had five cases, they had the ablative absolute, they had gerunds and gerundives. What’s not to like?
Show off! I barely passed Latin in school except for the kindness of Mr. O’Hale!
I loved Latin! In my tiny high school, it was offered for only 2 years. I would have taken 4 years if I could.
You have forgotten my favorite: the passive periphrastic!
As a 78 year old “Cradle Catholic” I have this to say:
Growing up, we often visited my mother’s family in Canada. We attended the French Catholic Church where the Mass was in Latin. I understood and followed the liturgy. Although the sermon was gibberish to me, I knew what was taking place.
Years later, in Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan, I experienced the same thing. However, post Vatican II permission to celebrate the liturgy in the vernacular languages led to something entirely different!
I was stationed in Japan at the time. We usually attended Mass at the base chapel but there were times when we attended Mass at a Japanese parish church. Talk about being totally lost!! I often wondered if I had attended at all!
The Latin Mass was the universal liturgical language of the Roman Rite, followed and understood by all, throughout the Catholic Church, world-wide. Too bad it has gone away and is not supported by the Vatican.