Holy Catholic Prayers in Latin only

Latin is the language of Holy Mother Church.

Until Vatican II — which is to say, for more than 2000 years — Latin was the exclusive language of the Mass, the Liturgy, and the Sacraments. Contrary to the understanding of most Catholics, Vatican II did not abolish Latin in the Mass or in the venerable prayers of the Church. The Vatican II documents are quite clear about this (Sacrosanctum Concilium):

• 36. 1. Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites.
   

• 91. The work of revising the psalter, already happily begun, is to be finished as soon as possible, and is to take into account the style of Christian Latin, the liturgical use of psalms, also when sung, and the entire tradition of the Latin Church.
   

• 101. 101. 1. In accordance with the centuries-old tradition of the Latin rite, the Latin language is to be retained by clerics in the divine office. But in individual cases the ordinary has the power of granting the use of a vernacular translation to those clerics for whom the use of Latin constitutes a grave obstacle to their praying the office properly. The vernacular version, however, must be one that is drawn up according to the provision of Art. 36.
   

• 120. 120. In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man's mind to God and to higher things. 
   

The following are the prayers of Holy Mother Church from time immemorial — always prayed in Latin. Latin is the patrimony that the Catholic Church has left Her children so that no matter where they are, they are praying with the Church and in the sacred language of the Church. If you are a sincere Catholic, you will know, you will learn, these prayers and pray them as the Saints prayed them, as your grandparents prayed them, as all your forbears going back 2000 years prayed them.

You can save them on your computer or on your mobile devices.
 

To download any file, right-click on the prayer above that says, “Listen to this Audio File” and choose: “Save Link As ...” in Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox or “Save Target as ...” in Microsoft Edge, and save it to your desktop.

Editor
Boston Catholic Journal
editor@boston-catholic-journal.com