Additional Advantages of the Latin Lauds and Vespers
I spoke of having bought this book a little while ago. Subsequently additional advantages have accrued. I find that I never really finish Morning Prayer--at odd times of the morning I find myself going back to the psalms and prayers and reading them, puzzling through them, seeking to better understand the Latin, but immersing myself in the fountain of Grace that stems from spending time with the scriptures. I find that they grow on me, and I want to return to them again and again and again.
Surely such an occurrence is exactly what we look for in the purchase of a book to help our spiritual life. I find it difficult to close the book. Admittedly part of what I am doing is reading the English and comparing it to Latin, finding where the translation is incomplete or in some way inaccurate. But even this intellectual endeavor sharpens my desire for God because it is His word I use. Amazing the way God uses features of our personalities and proclivities to draw us ever closer.
[only tangentially related note] In my entry below re: Latin, there is some discussion of ecclesial v. classical. I have no training whatsoever in ecclesial Latin--all of my training in Latin came in classical Latin and so I use the classical pronunciations. Is anyone aware of a web site that might define the differences in pronunciation, or of a publication I could find that would give me a short key to ecclesial Latin pronunciation? I'm sure that the sounds I make in my head are poor indications of what the language sounded (s) like anyhow. But it would be nicer to have a somewhat better soundtrack.
