Learning the Latin psalms of the Office; penetrating the meaning of the psalms

I want to start an intermittent series aimed firstly at those wishing to pray the Office in Latin, but whose Latin is non-existent or very rusty, but also providing some more general material on individual psalms to increase our understanding of them. 

The main focus of the series is understanding the Latin of the psalms in the context of the interpretations of them by the Fathers and Theologians.

And in doing so, I want to take as my starting point some of the General Audiences on prayer being given by Pope Benedict XVI at the moment.  So I do hope it will offer something for those whose Latin is fairly good, but want to dig a little deeper into the texts of the psalms.

First some explanation.

Why pray the Office in Latin?

Latin is the official liturgical language of the Church, and praying the Office in Latin offers a number of advantages: the ability to join in solidarity with those who have used this same language down the centuries; to use the traditional chants of the Office as well as the rich patrimony of polyphonic settings; and to share in the beauty of the Church's tradition.

More importantly perhaps, it is essential for those who wish to pray the older forms (ie 1962 rubrics) of the Office liturgically, since the Pope has only given permission for it to be said in that language (though that does not of course prevent the older form of the Office being said devotionally in English or another language by those who are not bound to say it).

Unfortunately Latin is little taught today, so saying the Office in that language presents some challenges to most people!

Do we need to understand the Latin to be able to pray in Latin?

Some people will object that it inappropriate to pray in a language such as Latin unless we actually understand what we are saying. 

I beg to differ!

In fact, St Thomas Aquinas addressed the important question of what is necessary in order to pray 'in spirit and in truth' and gain the merits that come from prayer in his Summa.  He argued (ST II-II 183 art 13) that there are three kinds of attention in prayer:

"It must be observed, however, that there are three kinds of attention that can be brought to vocal prayer: one which attends to the words, lest we say them wrong, another which attends to the sense of the words, and a third, which attends to the end of prayer, namely, God, and to the thing we are praying for. That last kind of attention is most necessary, and even idiots are capable of it. Moreover this attention, whereby the mind is fixed on God, is sometimes so strong that the mind forgets all other things, as Hugh of St. Victor states [De Modo Orandi ii]."

Immersion is the best approach...

So the problem is not really a new one!  While some religious and laypeople down the ages have enjoyed formal teaching in Latin from their childhood, many more have picked it up by immersion, from hearing and saying it themselves over and over.

People down the ages have gradually acquired some Latin by saying it and hearing it.  So I would encourage you to try and say the Office in Latin even if you don't actually understand Latin, because after a while, I think you will find you are understanding it, and in the meantime, you can still gain the benefits of prayer (and liturgical prayer its highest form) through proper attention on God. 

And of course that process of gaining understanding can be accelerated by some carefully targeted supplementary study.

I've previously provided some suggestions for tackling the Latin of the Office over at my Saints Will Arise blog.  I want to go somewhat further here, and provide some psalm by psalm/verse by verse notes to help those wanting to say the Office in Latin, and to gradually build a better understanding of just what it is they are saying.

There are two main groups of people I'm aiming my notes at - those who have no Latin at all, but want to gradually acquire an understanding of what they are saying, and those with some Latin, but which is mostly forgotten or at an early stage of being learnt, or who may have learnt classical Latin, and so aren't familiar with the vocabulary of the psalter.

Let me start with a disclaimer - I'm not a qualified teacher nor to I claim to be a great Latinist.  I'm just a student of languages who is still learning.  But I'm keen to share what I have learnt, and to learn from others' struggles with the same issues.  I do hope those more expert will jump in and correct anything I've got wrong, and others will jump in to seek clarification on anything unclear.

The notes

The notes I plan to provide (and their continuation will depend on the level of interest and reactions!) will basically consist of some generally introductory material for each psalm, and then look at a verse each day or so in more detail.

I'm proposing that the verse by verse notes include a phrase by phrase fairly literal translation of the Latin vulgate; vocabularly lists; brief notes on the text (differences between the Greek Septuagint/Vulgate and Hebrew Masoretic Text, imagery used, cultural context etc); and for comparative purposes, some standard translations (such as the updated Douay-Rheims, etc).  I'll also include a short extract from a patristic commentary or other material to aid the interpretation of the verse.  But please do let me know if there is something else or something different you would like included.

And since Pope Benedict XVI is currently giving a series of General Audiences on the psalms and their teaching on prayer, I thought I might start with the two of the psalms he has given Audiences on.

The first psalm the Pope has looked at in this current series is Psalm 3, so I propose to start there.  But before I do that, I'll put up a few notes over the next few days on strategies for learning the Latin of the psalms to help get you going.

Comments and suggestions welcome...