Hillbilly Latin
I got a kick out of this post even though, as Billy Bob Thornton's character in Slingblade says of the Bible, "I read it; I didn't understand all of it, mmm-hmmm."
It did remind me of something a priest friend of mine told me about one of his altar boys who served for the Latin Mass (indult) he celebrates weekly in Pennsylvania. The boy, who was 9 or 10 at the time, is from West Virginia, so naturally he speaks with a West Virginia accent regardless of what language he is speaking. My friend says that he always reflected on the universality of the Catholic Church as he listened to the boy recite the Confiteor perfectly in Latin, accompanied by a perfectly sonorous WV mountain highland twang.
That made me think of another story about the big, global, universal church. Someone who was at the Denver World Youth Day told me he was awakened by loud Mexican music one night around 2am and went out to find a circle of Italian flags and burly Italian dudes with crossed arms stationed by each. Inside the circle a crowd was gathered cheering two black kids from Brooklyn break dancing to the music of a live Mariachi band. They were all there to see Pope John Paul II and had put together this spontaneous, cross-cultural entertainment event.
Sounds like a mystical moment; I don't know if the Italians were charging admission... what say you, Cubeland?
I'm glad you got a kick out of it, though I'm not sure why you would. It was not meant to be a joke. If it's the Latin angle I mentioned, not everyone is/was raised Catholic and therefore would not have a familiarity with Latin.
ReplyDelete...not everyone is/was raised Catholic and therefore would not have a familiarity with Latin.
ReplyDeleteThis statement implies that the only people who have a familiarity with Latin are those who are raised Catholic. Latin used to be a required college course for anyone in the fields of science and engineering. My father, for example, had to take a Latin class at Carnegie-Mellon to get his engineering degree. All serious classical musicians are familiar with Latin even if they are Jewish. Protestant composers, like J. S. Bach, composed many Latin masses. Plenty of Christian Schools and homeschoolers teach their kids Latin as part of a classical curriculum and trust me, not all of those who do are Catholic.
doctors, botanists are all catholic?
ReplyDeletePauli, it appears that not everyone has quite understood the point of your post.
ReplyDeleteObviously, that is your fault entirely.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
ReplyDeletePauli
ReplyDeleteI think that the Italians would have been more likely to charge admission to see the pope. They are clever that way.
What I love about the idea of Latin is that we can have Mass anywhere on Earth, and all participate. This lent we started saying the Pater Noster (Our Father). I loved it. I love the unity of one language. In addition we say a lot of the Mass in Latin at my parish.
Quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.
ReplyDeletePauli, you seem to be itching for some kind of argument.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the non-Catholic understanding of Latin and history of it being taught, I already mentioned that in the original post. I'm aware of the use of Latin in the medical, scientific, music, homeschooling, etc. realm. There is no possible way for me to leave a brief comment and avoid you pulling out a phrase and pointing out that I didn't mention a few centuries of years of history in it.
My Catholic comment was left here only to address the Catholic connection which you brought up in talking about the young altar boy speaking Latin in this specific post. I was only addressing this post. It was by no means an across-the-board statement that the only people who know Latin now are Catholic. I think you, and your readers, know that, but choose to respond otherwise.
I'm not sure why you and those who regularly leave comments here have such fun mocking the concept of what I was trying to say in the original post. Perhaps the response is meant lightly, but you really come off otherwise. It's like blog-comment incest, with mockery and sarcasm apparently the way it's done in the comments section. It's not as witty as you might think.
Julie
ReplyDeleteI can assure you on this blog, Pauli uses Latin out of humility and with a spirit of inclusiveness. He is not an arrogant man. Taking Latin away has had a very negative effect on the Catholic church. Perhaps the church should have focused more on the universality of Latin and taught the people to understand it. In my opinion the effect was the baby went out with the bath water. Great Catholics like Pauli are attempting to retrieve the baby from the lawn, dry it off and put it back in the crib.
I quickly read your post on your site. I largely agree with your analysis. I work in high tech, and very few people are considerate enough to share their knowledge. I work with some of the most miserly and arrogant techies I’ve ever encountered. Essentially if they can leave you with a blank confused look on your face they’ve accomplished their goal. Typically these types are miserable people. In my opinion, it is a subtle form of abuse. At first we have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and the time to communicate. If they are honerable people they will find a way to communicate their knowlege.
you know, julie is really the only commenter on board with the original stated purpose of this blog. the blog is named "contra pauli" after all. maybe she understands more latin than she's letting on.
ReplyDeleteMinutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
ReplyDeleteKathleen: julie is really the only commenter on board with the original stated purpose of this blog.
ReplyDeleteThis is true, Kathleen. Well, there's Nowicki. Plus you and Cubeland Mystic don't always agree with me.
My trucker friend said late one night he heard a funny CB radio conversation:
A: "Anyone out there wanna argue?"
B: "Why do you wanna argue?"
A: "I'm getting tired and I figured a good argument would help me stay awake."
B: "Sure, I'll argue with you. What do you want to argue about?"
A: "I don't know. Doesn't really matter."
Ix-nay on the Eltzer-say, Ubba-bay.
ReplyDelete