Res Latinae

All things Latin are coming back into vogue with the restoration of the Usus Antiquior to a place of honour in the Church. Our Pontifex Maximus having given us this great gift, many people are now looking for accessible Latin texts. Besides the celebrant's Missal (Altar Missal forthcoming from PCP, God bless them) there are also bilingual Missals available from various places. (The second bilingual link leads to Angelus Press, an SSPX operation; I don't agree with SSPX/Angelus generally but their Missal has larger print than Baronius and is easier to read especially for the older Mass-goer.)

As well as a Missal for full and actual participation in the Mass itself, one of the most important books for a Christian is the Bible. So is it available in Latin? Yes, as I explained here. I've since discovered that a combined Vulgate & Douai-Reims New Testament is available here, from Loreto Publications, the same firm that reprinted Deferrari & Barry's Lexicon of St Thomas Aquinas. (Though buying D&B from PCP might make more sense, as it's almost $20 cheaper!) Remember that the Douai-Reims-Challoner is as close and literal a translation of the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate as you're likely to get, so you'll always have a crib ready-to-hand for when you get stuck!

Finally, what if you have no Latin at all but would like to learn? There are two options for the Irish would-be Latinist. Firstly, set aside 8 weeks and approximately €2,5000 and do it in University College Cork. Alternatively, and more modestly, you can download a complete, absolute beginners Missal-based course in Latin from the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. (Not to be confused with our own LMSI.) The LMSEW site seems to be down at the moment but this link will take you to an archived version of the page. It has the whole course in discrete .PDF modules or as a single .ZIP file, and is available for free download. So for all those budding Latinists, there is hope yet!

Their site is back up again, so Simplicissimus is available here too!