Friday, October 29, 2004

Latinitas

Hymns
One of the nicest volumes I've come across of late is this booklet by a German seminarian which consists of the hymns and tones from the Latin breviary. It also includes a few additional Latin hymns not found in the breviary. It is very disappointing that only the Latin originals of the Marian antiphons made their way into the English translation of the breviary. Italian speakers are somewhat more fortunate as the translators included an appendix of Latin hymns at the back of their breviary. Anyhow, this handy little volume makes up the deficit.
Grace
You might be a Catholic nerd if you pray grace before meals in Latin... The standard Latin grace is here, but there are alternatives.
An Anglican parish has a page of graces, including a longer version of the 'normal' Catholic grace.
Benedic, Domine, nos et dona tua, quae de largitate tua sumus sumpturi, et concede, ut illis salubriter nutriti tibi debitum obsequium praestare valeamus, per Christum Dominum nostrum.
Bless, O Lord, us and your gifts, which from your bounty we are about to receive, and grant that, healthily nourished by them, we may render you due obedience, through Christ our Lord.
The Cistercians give the text of grace as well as a blessing for those chosen to read in the refectory and serve at meals for the week. Finally, this page has a selection of graces from Cambridge University including that most useful of graces for the diner in a hurry or for the Latin-impaired - Benedictus benedicat!

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