Ecclesiastical Latin , also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin , is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late antiquity and used in Christian liturgy , theology , and church administration to the present day, especially in the Catholic Church . It includes words from Vulgar Latin and Classical Latin (as well as Greek and Hebrew ) re-purposed with Christian meaning. It is less stylized and rigid in form than Classical Latin, sharing vocabulary, forms, and syntax, while at the same time incorporating informal elements which had always been with the language but which were excluded by the literary authors of Classical Latin.
71-668: Vade retro satana ( Ecclesiastical Latin for "Begone, Satan ", "Step back, Satan", or "Back off, Satan"; alternatively spelt vade retro satanas , or sathanas ), is a medieval Western Christian formula for exorcism , recorded in a 1415 manuscript found in the Benedictine Metten Abbey in Bavaria ; its origin is traditionally associated with the Benedictines . The initials of this formula (VRSNSMV SMQLIVB or VRS:NSMV:SMQL:IVB) have often been engraved around crucifixes or
142-477: A bicycle ( birota ), a cigarette ( fistula nicotiana ), a computer ( instrumentum computatorium ), a cowboy ( armentarius ), a motel ( deversorium autocineticum ), shampoo ( capitilavium ), a strike ( operistitium ), a terrorist ( tromocrates ), a trademark ( ergasterii nota ), an unemployed person ( invite otiosus ), a waltz ( chorea Vindobonensis ), and even a miniskirt ( tunicula minima ) and hot pants ( brevissimae bracae femineae ). Some 600 such terms extracted from
213-454: A few years later, at the Council of Tours , to instruct priests to read sermons aloud in the old way, in rusticam romanam linguam or 'plain roman[ce] speech' (while the liturgy retained the new pronunciation to this day). As there was now no unambiguous way to indicate whether a given text was to be read aloud as Latin or Romance, and native Germanic speakers (such as church singers) numerous in
284-679: A major demand for slaves in the Muslim world , with European slaves particularly prized. As a result of Charlemagne's wars of conquest in Eastern Europe , a steady supply of captured Slavs , Avars , Saxons , and Danes reached merchants in Western Europe, who then exported the slaves via Ampurias , Girona , and the Pyrenees passes to Muslim Spain and other parts of the Arab world. The market for slaves
355-706: A modern language, but the authoritative text, published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis , is usually in Latin. Some texts may be published initially in a modern language and be later revised, according to a Latin version (or "editio typica"), after this Latin version is published. For example, the Catechism of the Catholic Church was drafted and published, in 1992, in French. The Latin text appeared five years later, in 1997, and
426-531: A more legible, classicizing script, with clearly distinct capital and minuscule letters. It was the Carolingian minuscule that Renaissance humanists took to be Roman and employed as humanist minuscule , from which has developed early modern Italic script . They also applied rational ideas to social issues for the first time in centuries, providing a common language and writing style that enabled communication throughout most of Europe. As Pierre Riché points out,
497-452: A mystery for some time, until the complete verses were found in a manuscript dating to 1415 in the abbey's library, next to an image of St. Benedict. The same formula was later found in an Austrian manuscript from c. 1340–1350 . The manuscript depicts Satan offering a drinking cup to the Saint, who keeps him at bay with a long cross-topped staff carrying a red banner. Below the staff
568-404: A pronunciation based on a fairly literal interpretation of Latin spelling. For example, in a radical break from the traditional system, a word such as ⟨ viridiarium ⟩ 'orchard' now had to be read aloud precisely as it was spelled rather than */verdʒjær/ (later spelled as Old French vergier ). The Carolingian reforms soon brought the new Church Latin from France to other lands where Romance
639-480: A rule ... it suffices to wear one [a Saint Benedict medal] devoutly, but, if some special favor is desired, it is advisable on a Tuesday to say five Glorias , three Aves and then three more Glorias to secure the protection of St. Benedict ." The vade retro satana is still included in the Roman Ritual . Following the 20th-century revision of the liturgical books, the latest version concerning exorcisms
710-630: A small group of court literati . According to John Contreni , "it had a spectacular effect on education and culture in Francia , a debatable effect on artistic endeavors, and an unmeasurable effect on what mattered most to the Carolingians, the moral regeneration of society". The secular and ecclesiastical leaders of the Carolingian Renaissance made efforts to write better Latin, to copy and preserve patristic and classical texts, and to develop
781-444: A surplus of primarily grain, wine and salt. In turn, inter-regional trade in these commodities facilitated the expansion of towns. Archaeological data shows the continuation of this upward trend in the early eighth century. The zenith of the early Carolingian economy was reached from 775 to 830, coinciding with the largest surpluses of the period, large-scale building of churches as well as overpopulation and three famines that showed
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#1732848772280852-418: A system based on a new .940-fine silver penny ( Latin : denarius ; French : denier ) weighing 1/240 of a pound ( librum , libra , or lira ; livre ). (The Carolingian pound seems to have been about 489.5 grams , making each penny about 2 grams .) As the debased solidus was then roughly equivalent to 11 of these pennies, the shilling ( solidus ; sol )
923-519: A vowel is generally pronounced /tsi/ (unless preceded by ⟨s⟩ , ⟨d⟩ or ⟨t⟩ ). Such speakers pronounce consonantal ⟨v⟩ (not written as ⟨u⟩ ) as /v/ as in English, not as Classical /w/ . Like in Classical Latin, double consonants are pronounced with gemination . The distinction in Classical Latin between long and short vowels
994-588: Is a single line of text, and below it are six lines of verse, starting with " Vade retro Satana ". The formula received the approval of Pope Benedict XIV , becoming part of the Roman Ritual (the liturgical books detailing the offices a priest or deacon may perform) of the Catholic Church in 1742. The formula's popularity grew considerably in the 19th century, mainly due to the efforts of Leo Dupont . According to publisher and historian H. C. Lea (1896): "As
1065-523: Is ignored, and instead of the ' macron ' or ' apex ', lines to mark the long vowel, an acute accent is used for stress. The first syllable of two-syllable words is stressed; in longer words, an acute accent is placed over the stressed vowel: adorémus 'let us adore'; Dómini 'of the Lord'. The complete text of the Bible in Latin, the revised Vulgate, appears at Nova Vulgata – Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio. New Advent gives
1136-461: Is less and less sought after and is now becoming rare again in most men's minds. A lack of Latin literacy in eighth-century western Europe caused problems for the Carolingian rulers by severely limiting the number of people capable of serving as court scribes in societies where Latin was valued. Of even greater concern to some rulers was the fact that not all parish priests possessed the skill to read
1207-610: Is repeated in Matthew 16:23. A similar phrase is used in the Gospel of Matthew 's account of Christ's Temptation . The exact origin of the passage as a whole is not clear. It is found in an early thirteenth century legend of the Devil's Bridge at Sens , wherein an architect sold his soul to the devil and then subsequently repented. M. le Curé of Sens, wearing his stole, exorcised the devil, driving him away with holy water and these words, which he made
1278-406: The koine Greek , while adapting the meanings of some Latin words to those of the koine Greek originals, which are sometimes themselves translations of Hebrew originals. At first there was no distinction between Latin and the actual Romance vernacular, the former being just the traditional written form of the latter. For instance, in ninth-century Spain ⟨ saeculum ⟩ was simply
1349-1148: The Ave Maria , and the Credo in Latin." In the Anglican Church , the Book of Common Prayer was published in Latin, alongside English. John Wesley , the founder of the Methodist churches , "used Latin text in doctrinal writings", as Martin Luther and John Calvin did in their era. In the training of Protestant clergy in Württemberg , as well as in the Rhineland , universities instructed divinity students in Latin and their examinations were conducted in this language. The University of Montauban, under Reformed auspices, required that seminarians complete two theses, with one being in Latin; thus Reformed ministers were "Latinist by training", comparable to Catholic seminarians. Ecclesiastical Latin continues to be
1420-588: The Early Middle Ages , thanks to which the disciplines of liberal arts were preserved. The 7th century saw the " Isidorian Renaissance " in the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania in which sciences flourished and the integration of Christian and pre-Christian thought occurred , while the spread of Irish monastic schools ( scriptoria ) over Europe laid the groundwork for the Carolingian Renaissance. There were numerous factors in this cultural expansion,
1491-704: The Latin Church , as well as the Western Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church . It is occasionally used in Anglican Church and Lutheran Church liturgies as well. Today, ecclesiastical Latin is primarily used in official documents of the Catholic Church, in the Tridentine Mass , and it is still learned by clergy. The Ecclesiastical Latin that is used in theological works, liturgical rites and dogmatic proclamations varies in style: syntactically simple in
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#17328487722801562-567: The Saint Benedict Medals of Western Christianity since at least 1780. The phrase is also used allusively in literary contexts to depict rejection of possibly tempting, but undesirable, proposals; in such cases, it is generally used without any religious connotations. The Ecclesiastical Latin text, here alongside an approximate translation, says: Crux sacra sit mihi lux Non draco sit mihi dux Vade retro satana Numquam suade mihi vana Sunt mala quae libas Ipse venena bibas May
1633-794: The Vulgate Bible , hieratic (very restrained) in the Roman Canon of the Mass , terse and technical in Thomas Aquinas 's Summa Theologica , and Ciceronian (syntactically complex) in Pope John Paul II 's encyclical letter Fides et Ratio . The use of Latin in the Church started in the late fourth century with the split of the Roman Empire after Emperor Theodosius in 395. Before this split, Greek
1704-412: The Vulgate Bible . An additional problem was that the vulgar Latin of the later Western Roman Empire had begun to diverge into the regional dialects, the precursors to today's Romance languages , that were becoming mutually unintelligible and preventing scholars from one part of Europe being able to communicate with persons from another part of Europe. To address these problems, Charlemagne ordered
1775-616: The Western Roman Empire . The loss of Greek in the Western half of the Roman Empire, and the loss of Latin in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire were not immediate, but changed the culture of language as well as the development of the Church. What especially differentiates Ecclesiastical Latin from Classical Latin is the consequences of its use as a language for translating, since it has borrowed and assimilated constructions and vocabulary from
1846-454: The traditional English pronunciation of Latin , which has now been largely abandoned for reading Latin texts. Within the Catholic Church and in certain Protestant churches, such as the Anglican Church , a pronunciation based on modern Italian phonology , known as Italianate Latin , has become common since the late 19th century. Ecclesiastical Latin is the language of liturgical rites in
1917-562: The Carolingian renaissance was Theodulf of Orléans , a refugee from the Umayyad invasion of Spain who became involved in the cultural circle at the imperial court before Charlemagne appointed him bishop of Orléans. Theodulf’s greatest contribution to learning was his scholarly edition of the Vulgate Bible, drawing on manuscripts from Spain, Italy, and Gaul, and even the original Hebrew. The effects of this cultural revival were mostly limited to
1988-609: The Deacon was brought to court in 782 and remained until 787, when Charles nominated him abbot of Montecassino . Theodulf of Orléans was a Spanish Goth who served at court from 782 to 797 when nominated as bishop of Orléans . Theodulf had been in friendly competition over the standardization of the Vulgate with the chief among the Charlemagne's scholars, Alcuin of York . Alcuin was a Northumbrian monk and deacon who served as head of
2059-859: The French text was corrected to match the Latin version, which is regarded as the official text. The Latin-language department of the Vatican Secretariat of State (formerly the Secretaria brevium ad principes et epistolarum latinarum ) is charged with the preparation in Latin of papal and curial documents. Sometimes, the official text is published in a modern language, e.g., the well-known edict Tra le sollecitudini (1903) by Pope Pius X (in Italian) and Mit brennender Sorge (1937) by Pope Pius XI (in German). There are not many differences between Classical Latin and Church Latin. One can understand Church Latin knowing
2130-546: The Holy Cross be my light May the dragon never be my guide Begone Satan Never tempt me with your vanities What you offer me is evil drink the poison yourself The verse Vade retro satana is similar to a phrase that appears in several places in the New Testament . Firstly, in the Gospel of Mark , 8:33, spoken by Jesus to Peter is the admonition: " Vade retro me satana ", (' Get behind me, Satan !') This story
2201-494: The Latin West in the 7th and 8th centuries. According to Roger Wright , the Carolingian Renaissance is responsible for the modern-day pronunciation of Ecclesiastical Latin . Up until that point there had been no conceptual distinction between Latin and Romance ; the former was simply regarded as the written form of the latter. For instance in early medieval Spain the word for 'century'—which would have been pronounced */sjeglo/—
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2272-865: The Latin of classical texts, as the main differences between the two are in pronunciation and spelling, as well as vocabulary. In many countries, those who speak Latin for liturgical or other ecclesiastical purposes use the pronunciation that has become traditional in Rome by giving the letters the value they have in modern Italian but without distinguishing between open and close ⟨e⟩ and ⟨o⟩ . ⟨ae⟩ and ⟨oe⟩ coalesce with ⟨e⟩ . ⟨c⟩ and ⟨g⟩ before ⟨ae⟩ , ⟨oe⟩ , ⟨e⟩ , ⟨y⟩ and ⟨i⟩ are pronounced /t͡ʃ/ (English ⟨ch⟩ ) and /d͡ʒ/ (English ⟨j⟩ ), respectively. ⟨ti⟩ before
2343-721: The Palace School from 782 to 796, except for the years 790 to 793 when he returned to England . After 796, he continued his scholarly work as abbot of St. Martin's Monastery in Tours . Among those to follow Alcuin across the Channel to the Frankish court was Joseph Scottus , an Irishman who left some original biblical commentary and acrostic experiments. After this first generation of non-Frankish scholars, their Frankish pupils, such as Angilbert , would make their own mark. The later courts of Louis
2414-510: The Pious and Charles the Bald had similar groups of scholars many of whom were of Irish origin . The Irish monk Dicuil attended the former court, and the more famous Irishman John Scotus Eriugena attended the latter becoming head of the Palace School at Aachen . One of the primary efforts was the creation of a standardized curriculum for use at the recently created schools. Alcuin led this effort and
2485-736: The book appear on a page of the Vatican website. The Latinitas Foundation was superseded by the Pontifical Academy for Latin ( Latin : Pontificia Academia Latinitatis ) in 2012. Latin remains an oft-used language of the Holy See and the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church. Until the 1960s and still later in Roman colleges like the Gregorian, Catholic priests studied theology using Latin textbooks and
2556-482: The classics, both Christian and pagan. The movement occurred mostly during the reigns of Carolingian rulers Charlemagne and Louis the Pious . It was supported by the scholars of the Carolingian court , notably Alcuin of York . Charlemagne's Admonitio generalis (789) and Epistola de litteris colendis served as manifestos. Alcuin wrote on subjects ranging from grammar and biblical exegesis to arithmetic and astronomy. He also collected rare books, which formed
2627-427: The coining of new words while retaining the grammatical rules of Classical Latin . This Medieval Latin became a common language of scholarship and allowed administrators and travellers to make themselves understood in various regions of Europe. The earliest concept of Europe as a distinct cultural region (instead of simply a geographic area) appeared during the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century, and included
2698-544: The construction of 27 new cathedrals, 417 monasteries, and 100 royal residences". Around AD 755, Charlemagne's father Pepin the Short reformed the currency of the Frankish Kingdom . A variety of local systems was standardized. Minor mints were closed and royal control over the remaining bigger mints strengthened, increasing purity. In place of the gold Roman and Byzantine solidus then common, he established
2769-536: The correct way to spell [sjeɡlo] , meaning 'century'. The writer would not have actually read it aloud as /sɛkulum/ any more than an English speaker today would pronounce ⟨knight⟩ as */knɪxt/ . The spoken version of Ecclesiastical Latin was created later during the Carolingian Renaissance . The English scholar Alcuin , tasked by Charlemagne with improving the standards of Latin writing in France, prescribed
2840-582: The creation of schools in a capitulary known as the Charter of Modern Thought , issued in 787. A major part of his program of reform was to attract many of the leading scholars of the Christendom of his day to his court. Among the first called to court were Italians : Peter of Pisa , who from 776 to about 790 instructed Charlemagne in Latin, and from 776 to 787 Paulinus of Aquileia , whom Charlemagne nominated as patriarch of Aquileia in 787. The Lombard Paul
2911-422: The elite. By the late 7th century, developed urban settlements had emerged, populated mostly by craftsmen, merchants and boaters and boasting street grids, artisanal production as well as regional and long-distance trade. A prime example of this type of emporium was Dorestad . The development of the Carolingian economy was fueled by the efficient organization and exploitation of labor on large estates, producing
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2982-584: The empire might have struggled to read words in Latin orthography according to Romance orthoepy, various attempts were made in France to devise a new orthography for the latter; among the earliest examples are parts of the Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia . As the Carolingian Reforms spread the 'proper' Latin pronunciation from France to other Romance-speaking areas, local scholars eventually felt
3053-871: The entire Bible, in the Douay version, verse by verse, accompanied by the Vulgate Latin of each verse. In 1976, the Latinitas Foundation ( Opus Fundatum Latinitas in Latin) was established by Pope Paul VI to promote the study and use of Latin. Its headquarters are in Vatican City . The foundation publishes an eponymous quarterly in Latin. The foundation also published a 15,000-word Italian-Latin Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis ( Dictionary of Recent Latin ), which provides Latin coinages for modern concepts, such as
3124-494: The expression "Carolingian Renaissance" does not imply that Western Europe was barbaric or obscurantist before the Carolingian era. The centuries following the dissolution of the Roman Empire in the West did not see an abrupt disappearance of the ancient schools. Indeed, from them emerged Martianus Capella , Cassiodorus , and Boethius , essential icons of the Roman cultural heritage in
3195-416: The first time to native speakers as well. No longer would, for instance, the word ⟨viridiarium⟩ 'orchard' be read aloud as the equivalent Old French word */verdʒjǽr/. It now had to be pronounced precisely as spelled, with all six syllables: /viridiarium/. Such a radical change had the effect of rendering Latin sermons completely unintelligible to the general Romance-speaking public, which prompted officials
3266-427: The first time, setting the stage for the rise of Romanesque art and eventually Gothic art in the West. Illuminated manuscripts , metalwork , small-scale sculpture , mosaics , and frescos survive from the period. Carolingian architecture is the style of North European architecture promoted by Charlemagne. The period of architecture spans the late eighth and ninth centuries until the reign of Otto I in 936, and
3337-488: The language of instruction in many seminaries was also Latin, which was seen as the language of the Church Fathers. The use of Latin in pedagogy and in theological research, however, has since declined. Nevertheless, canon law requires for seminary formation to provide for a thorough training in Latin, though "the use of Latin in seminaries and pontifical universities has now dwindled to the point of extinction." Latin
3408-509: The limits of the system. After a period of disruption from 830 to 850, caused by civil wars and Viking raids, economic development resumed in the 850s, with the emporiums disappearing completely and being replaced by fortified commercial towns. One of the major causes of the sudden economic growth was the Arab slave trade . Following the rise of the Arab Muslim caliphates , the Arab elites created
3479-450: The most obvious of which was that Charlemagne's uniting of most of Western Europe brought about peace and stability, which set the stage for prosperity. This period marked an economic revival in Western Europe, following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Local economies in the West had degenerated into largely subsistence agriculture by the early 7th century, with towns functioning merely as places of gift-exchange for
3550-449: The need to create distinct spelling systems for their own vernaculars as well, thereby initiating the literary phase of Medieval Romance. Writing in Romance does not appear to have become widespread until the Renaissance of the Twelfth Century , however. Carolingian art spans the roughly hundred-year period from about 800–900. Although brief, it was an influential period. Northern Europe embraced classical Mediterranean Roman art forms for
3621-452: The nucleus of the library at York Cathedral. His enthusiasm for learning made him an effective teacher. Alcuin writes: In the morning, at the height of my powers, I sowed the seed in Britain, now in the evening when my blood is growing cold I am still sowing in France, hoping both will grow, by the grace of God, giving some the honey of the holy scriptures, making others drunk on the old wine of ancient learning Another prominent figure in
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#17328487722803692-483: The official language of the Catholic Church. The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) decreed that the Mass would be translated into vernacular languages. The Church produces liturgical texts in Latin, which provide a single clear point of reference for translations into all other languages. The same holds for the texts of canon law . Pope Benedict XVI gave his unexpected resignation speech in Latin. The Holy See has for some centuries usually drafted documents in
3763-418: The penitent repeat. The passage came to general attention in 1647, when women who were prosecuted for witchcraft declared that they had been unable to do harm where there was a cross, and the St. Michael's Benedictine Abbey in Metten was particularly exempt from their influence. A search of the monastery turned up crosses painted on the walls with the formula's initials. The meaning of those letters remained
3834-408: The skin of its teeth. However, the use of the term renaissance to describe this period is contested, notably by Lynn Thorndike , due to the majority of changes brought about by this period being confined almost entirely to the clergy , and due to the period lacking the wide-ranging social movements of the later Italian Renaissance . Instead of being a rebirth of new cultural movements, the period
3905-428: The territories which practiced Western Christianity at the time. Carolingian workshops produced over 100,000 manuscripts in the 9th century, of which some 6000 to 7000 survive. The Carolingians produced the earliest surviving copies of the works of Cicero , Horace , Martial , Statius , Lucretius , Terence , Julius Caesar , Boethius and Martianus Capella . No copies of the texts of these authors were made in
3976-404: The vernacular has predominated since the liturgical reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council: liturgical law for the Latin Church states that Mass may be celebrated either in Latin or another language in which the liturgical texts, translated from Latin, have been legitimately approved. The permission granted for continued use of the Tridentine Mass in its 1962 form authorizes use of
4047-579: The vernacular language in proclaiming the Scripture readings after they are first read in Latin. In historic Protestant churches, such as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran churches , Ecclesiastical Latin is occasionally employed in sung celebrations of the Mass . until 75 BC Old Latin 75 BC – 200 AD Classical Latin 200–700 Late Latin 700–1500 Medieval Latin 1300–1500 Renaissance Latin 1300– present Neo-Latin 1900– present Contemporary Latin Carolingian Renaissance The Carolingian Renaissance
4118-529: Was a conscious attempt to create a Roman Renaissance, emulating Roman , Early Christian and Byzantine architecture , with its own innovation, resulting in having a unique character. This syncretic architectural style can be exemplified by the first church of St Mark's in Venice, fusing proto-Romanesque and Byzantine influences. There was a profusion of new clerical and secular buildings constructed during this period, John Contreni calculated that "The little more than eight decades between 768 to 855 alone saw
4189-414: Was able to offer the cultureless and, I might say, almost completely unenlightened territory of the realm which God had entrusted to him, a new enthusiasm for all human knowledge. In its earlier state of barbarousness, his kingdom had been hardly touched at all by any such zeal, but now it opened its eyes to God's illumination. In our own time the thirst for knowledge is disappearing again: the light of wisdom
4260-422: Was established at that value, making it 1/22 of the silver pound. This was later adjusted to 12 and 1/20, respectively. During the Carolingian period, however, neither shillings or pounds were minted, being instead used as notional units of account . (For instance, a "shilling" or "solidus" of grain was a measure equivalent to the amount of grain that 12 pennies could purchase.) Despite the purity and quality of
4331-414: Was more an attempt to recreate the previous culture of the Roman Empire . The Carolingian Renaissance in retrospect also has some of the character of a false dawn, in that its cultural gains were largely dissipated within a couple of generations, a perception voiced by Walahfrid Strabo (died 849), in his introduction to Einhard 's Life of Charlemagne , summing up the generation of renewal: Charlemagne
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#17328487722804402-406: Was partly standardized in the late 8th century during the Carolingian Renaissance as part of Charlemagne 's educational reforms, and this new letter-by-letter pronunciation, used in France and England, was adopted in Iberia and Italy a couple of centuries afterwards. As time passed, pronunciation diverged depending on the local vernacular language, giving rise to even highly divergent forms such as
4473-517: Was promulgated in 1999 as the volume De exorcismis et supplicationibus quibusdam . The phrase vade retro satana is also used as a witty or scholarly prose device, dissociated from its religious implications, to express strong rejection of an unacceptable (but possibly tempting) proposal, or dread of some looming menace. Namely, in the sense of "do not tempt me!", "I will have nothing to do with that", "will someone deliver us from that", and so on. Ecclesiastical Latin Its pronunciation
4544-539: Was properly spelled ⟨saeculum⟩, as it had been for the better part of a millennium. The scribe would not have read aloud ⟨saeculum⟩ as /sɛkulum/ any more than an English speaker today would pronounce ⟨knight⟩ as */knɪxt/ rather than /naɪt/. Non-native speakers of Latin, however—such as clergy of Anglo-Saxon or Irish origin—appear to have used a rather different pronunciation, presumably attempting to sound out each word according to its spelling. The Carolingian Renaissance in France introduced this artificial pronunciation for
4615-415: Was responsible for the writing of textbooks, creation of word lists, and establishing the trivium and quadrivium as the basis for education. Another contribution from this period was the development of Carolingian minuscule , a "book-hand" first used at the monasteries of Corbie and Tours that introduced the use of lower-case letters. A standardized version of Latin was also developed that allowed for
4686-413: Was so lucrative that it almost immediately transformed the long-distance trade of the European economies. The slave trade enabled the West to re-engage with the Arab Muslim caliphates and the Eastern Roman Empire , so that other industries, such as textiles, were able to grow in Europe as well. Kenneth Clark was of the view that by means of the Carolingian Renaissance, Western civilization survived by
4757-407: Was spoken. The use of Latin in the Western Church continued into the Early modern period . One of Martin Luther 's tenets during the Reformation was to have services and religious texts in the common tongue , rather than Latin, a language that at the time, many did not understand. Protestants refrained from using Latin in services, however Protestant clergy had to learn and understand Latin as it
4828-418: Was still spoken in recent international gatherings of Catholic leaders, such as the Second Vatican Council , and it is still used at conclaves to elect a new Pope . The Tenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2004 was the most recent to have a Latin-language group for discussions. Although Latin is the traditional liturgical language of the Western (Latin) Church , the liturgical use of
4899-652: Was the first of three medieval renaissances , a period of cultural activity in the Carolingian Empire . Charlemagne 's reign led to an intellectual revival beginning in the 8th century and continuing throughout the 9th century, taking inspiration from ancient Roman and Greek culture and the Christian Roman Empire of the fourth century. During this period, there was an increase of literature , writing , visual arts , architecture , music , jurisprudence , liturgical reforms, and scriptural studies. Carolingian schools were effective centers of education, and they served generations of scholars by producing editions and copies of
4970-414: Was the language of higher learning and theological thought until the 18th century. After the Reformation , in the Lutheran churches , Latin was retained as the language of the Mass for weekdays, although for the Sunday Sabbath, the Deutsche Messe was to be said. In Geneva , among the Reformed churches , "persons called before the consistory to prove their faith answered by reciting the Paternoster ,
5041-403: Was the primary language of the Church (the New Testament was written in Greek and the Septuagint – a Greek translation of the Hebrew bible – was in widespread use among both Christians and Hellenized Jews ) as well as the language of the eastern half of the Roman Empire . Following the split, early theologians like Jerome translated Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin, the dominant language of
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