MyCatholicSource.com - 'Quick Help' Page: What Are Some Benefits Of Latin? / Why Is It Good To Pray In Latin?

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The Latin language, which ties back to the inscription on the cross, ...

"Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, 'Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.' Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek." (Jn. 19:19-20)

...allows members of the Church to pray 'in one voice' across the world. It also links us back to our ancestors who prayed in Latin. This "beautiful & majestic" language, which has been praised by popes & which safeguards doctrine, unites Catholics around the globe and 'lifts us up from everyday interests and into a language of worship'. Latin is called the 'language of heaven', and it is hated by the devil...

"If I speak Latin, the demon responds to me in Latin. He has a horror of that language." (Bishop Gemma, emphasis added)

There are also many secular benefits of Latin (e.g. improving test scores, 'opening up a world of classical literature', etc.).

For additional benefits of Latin, try here (and also here).

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"For the Church, precisely because it embraces all nations and is destined to endure until the end of time...requires a language which is universal, immutable, and non-vernacular." (Pope Pius XI, "Officiorum Omnium", 1922 A.D.)

"The use of the Latin language, customary in a considerable portion of the Church, is a manifest and beautiful sign of unity, as well as an effective antidote for any corruption of doctrinal truth." (Pope Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 1947 A.D.)

"In addition, the Latin language 'can be called truly catholic.' It has been consecrated through constant use by the Apostolic See, the mother and teacher of all Churches, and must be esteemed 'a treasure...of incomparable worth'. It is a general passport to the proper understanding of the Christian writers of antiquity and the documents of the Church's teaching. It is also a most effective bond, binding the Church of today with that of the past and of the future in wonderful continuity." (Pope John XXIII, "Veterum Sapientia", 1962 A.D.)

"It will be quite clear from these considerations why the Roman Pontiffs have so often extolled the excellence and importance of Latin, and why they have prescribed its study and use by the secular and regular clergy, forecasting the dangers that would result from its neglect." (Pope John XXIII, "Veterum Sapientia", 1962 A.D.)

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