The Irish standard., 1910-05-21
CATHOLIC CHURCH
IN ITS LITURGY
Has Always Used Latin From
The Very Beginning To
The Present Day.
Sufficient Reasons Given For
The Continuous Use
OF Latin Tongue.
Latin Was the Language OF
The Civilized World
In Early Times.

Why Latin is used in the liturgy of
the Church is explained by the N. Y.
| Freeman's Journal as follows:
The Church is apostolic. She is the
| Church of st: Peter and of the other
| apostles, and she guarded with ten
| derness all the precious memories they
have left.
When the apostles parted from each
other for their mission to announce to
all the nations the gospel of salvation,
two languages chiefly were spoken and
! understood by the two great civilized
| divisions of mankind the Latin Ian
guage for the most part of the West
and the Greek in the East They
preached the faith chiefly in Latin and
Greek; their teachings and their con-
situations were written in these two
| rich languages, and the Church has
| preserved these monuments with a re-
| ligious generation. This is one reason
| why her language is for the most part
Latin in the West, and Greek in the
| East. Yet this which, in fact is a
testimony in favor of her -antiqHity-is-
made by some theme of reproach
against her.
| Providence had already disposed all
in advance. Latin and Greek became
dead languages and hence invariable
and wonderfully adapted to formulate
Cor express with precision) the do.;-
trines Of the Church, which changes
not, because she is divine.
An interesting calculation made of
the changes that have been made in
the living languages shows that had
the Church adopted the various liv-
ing languages, instead of the Latin,
she would have been obliged to modify
the formula Cor essential words) used
in the administration of the Sacrament
of Baptism great many times; other
wise these formulas would not have
should convey. BY this we can judge
of the many changes which the word
ing of the creed and DEGREES Of the
early councils and those of the Popus
would undergo, were they not recorded
in an unalterable Cor dead) language.
! Protestants are perhaps right in
preferring the use of modern tongues
in their authorized books of religion.
i Living languages, continually chang
! ing, are more suited to convey doc
trines which are subject to frequent
alteration. But the Catholic Church
prefers old, Interchangeable languages
because she is herself Interchangeable.
! The Church uses Latin, not only
because she is Interchangeable, but al
so because she is Catholic, or univer-
sal, and has to address herself to all
people in all times.
During the first four centuries of
Christianity, Latin was the language
| of the civilized world, and although
then living language, it had that
+; character of universally which the
| Church requires. When in course Of
! time the world was divided into many
nationalities, the Church still pre-
served her beautiful primitive Ian
(, guage, and thus remained unchanged
! in her speech as in her essence.
I, Thus the Church speaks Latin be-
cause she is apostolic, unchanging and
catholic.
St. Paul, it is true, in his first epis-
tie to the Corinthians (chap. XIV d.
rected the Christians to use in their
| assemblies a language understood by
all the faithful present; but many
Protestants draw from this an objec-
ton which does not apply to the pres
ent question.
The Apostle confines himself to
preaching, exhorting and instructing
the assembled faithful, all which he
says must be done in the vernacular,
or common language of the people,
The word prophecy includes instruc-
tions-speaking on things divine. The
Catholic Church follows this apostolic
command to the letter. Her bishops,
priests. missionaries and catechists al