Latin at St. Mary's

I've been very impressed with how much we use Latin here at St. Mary's in Baltimore. We use Latin Mass parts every now and then, sing the Salve Regina after Rector's Conferences and after Evening Prayer during the Marian months, and we're now singing a Latin hymn during Advent Season as well. But...alas..no Latin class.

So...I'm trying to get one setup :)

I've got about 10 guys who are interested and we're meeting with the Academic Dean tomorrow to discuss it. I think he's favorable to it he just wants to make sure we're serious about it.

Here's a recent, pertinent article:

Benedict XVI Encourages Teaching of Latin
Greets Members of Latinitas Foundation

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 28, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI encouraged the teaching of Latin, especially to young people, with the help of new methodologies.

The Pope made this proposal today when greeting the participants in a meeting organized by the Latinitas Foundation, a Vatican institution that promotes the official language of the Latin-rite Catholic Church.

The Holy Father, who addressed the participants in classical Latin, congratulated the winners of the Certamen Vaticanum, an international competition of Latin prose and poetry.

Benedict XVI said that this foundation must see to it that Latin continues to be part of the daily life of the Church, so that understanding of many of its treasures will not be lost.

The Latinitas Foundation, founded by Pope Paul VI in 1976, has the dual aim of promoting, on the one hand, the study of Latin and classical and Christian literature, and on the other, the use and spread of Latin through the publication of books in that language.

The foundation publishes a quarterly magazine, Latinitas, and every year celebrates the Certamen Vaticanum. The foundation has also published a dictionary, the Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis, containing more than 15,000 neologisms translated into Latin.

For those who ever wondered about the Latin equivalent for "computer," "terrorist" or "cowboy," there are now answers.

"Instrumentum computatorium" is the way the Latinitas Foundation refers to computers.

Those who sow violence and terror are called "tromocrates (-ae)"; while characters in Westerns are called "armentarius."

Some of the words of the Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis can be consulted on the foundation's Web page.

See here.