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19 votes

Why not "Agne Dei"?

I found the question very interesting, and got me researching against my will. Most of the texts of the Mass —and specifically these— come from antiquity, a time when Latin was still alive. Had there ...
Rafael's user avatar
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17 votes
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What does "enim et" mean?

A quick web search shows that the phrase 'Diabolus enim et alii Daemones' (without the contra) appears to originate from the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215). The full sentence is Diabolus enim et ...
cnread's user avatar
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17 votes
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Ave Verum Corpus: why ablative?

The subject is latus. Definition 6 in OLD is most relevant here: 6 (of solid objects, usu. w. abl.) To be bathed or soaked (in a fluid specified or implied), run, stream, overflow, etc.) For ...
cnread's user avatar
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15 votes

"Deus tu conversus vivificabis nos..."

The other answers are good for explaining the grammar. However, I would add that an important part of translating any text is remembering the context in which the passage was written. (I realize that ...
jon's user avatar
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15 votes
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How to say "To serve, not to be served" in Latin?

Welcome to the site! Non ministrari, sed ministrare (VG Mt 20,28) Is a well-attested phrase with that exact meaning. It literally means not to be served but to serve. The context is Jesus in the ...
Rafael's user avatar
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14 votes

"Deus tu conversus vivificabis nos..."

The Baronius press edition is going (rightly so, I think) for elegance of English rather than absolute correct correspondence to Latin grammar. Conversus is a little tricky here, because while it's ...
Joel Derfner's user avatar
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13 votes

Why is "O felicem virum, beatum Ioseph" in the accusative case here?

The vocative is used when addressing someone. The fact that it isn't used in the first part of this prayer makes me think that that portion is not meant to be addressed to Joseph (unlike the "Ora ...
Asteroides's user avatar
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12 votes

"All-forgiving" expressed with the omni- prefix

I found two examples (from 1667 and 1709) that uses the first portmanteau that came to my mind: omnimisericors. ...laudo, adoro, & revereor te, Domine DEUS, Omnipotens, Omnimisericors, qui ...
brianpck's user avatar
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12 votes
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Why not "Agne Dei"?

I compared the Latin Gloria with the Greek Doxa: Greek language has much more vocative forms than Latin. In the Doxa series of vocatives alternate with series of nominatives, mostly with the article "'...
Carlo VAN GESTEL's user avatar
12 votes
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How to say "please pray for me" in ecclesiastical latin?

In Latin there is no equivalent for please, you use some form of I ask, instead. Aparently, having a specific word for please dates back just to the Renaissance, and in many languages it comes from ...
Rafael's user avatar
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12 votes
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liberalis corporis et sanguinis christi... liberalis?

A clue is in the next line: S[anctus] Liberalis Attinensis Episcopus, Heliodori discipulus… Saint Liberalis of Altinum, the Bishop and a student of Heliodorus… In other words, "Liberalis" is the ...
Draconis's user avatar
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11 votes
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About the nominative on "dimitte nobis debita nostra"

It's not nominative. It's accusative plural. With neuters, the nominative and the accusative look exactly the same, both ending in -a in the plural. Also, regarding nobis, it's dative of separation ...
cmw's user avatar
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10 votes
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Origin of "animabus illis"

The ...abus dative/ablative plural is a rare feature of the first declension that can in exceptional cases be traced back at least to classical Latin. For example, you will find Cicero saying (Pro C. ...
Sebastian Koppehel's user avatar
10 votes
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Translate to Latin: Merciful Jesus, have pity on me

Pie Iesu, miserere mei will do. The idea in full can be found in some versions of the Ave Verum. Note that the linked article translates pie as holy, though it usually also means benevolent, kind (...
Rafael's user avatar
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9 votes
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"Deep" Meaning of "Gloria in excelsis Deo"

If there is an implicit sit, it does not show uncertainty. The conjunctive mood can show uncertainty, but it has other functions. One of them is wishes (sometimes called optative), like sit Deus tibi ...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
9 votes
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Is filius necessarily a biological descendant?

Short answer: no. At least since Post-Classical Latin, and quite possibly from earlier. One may or may not believe the quote attributed to Julius Caesar when he calls Brutus fili mi despite the fact ...
Rafael's user avatar
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9 votes
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How to pronounce “mihi” in a Magnificat?

As you've discovered, there's not a good universal standard for pronouncing Latin. Classical Pronunciation This probably isn't what you want, but it's what all the others are derived from. The h is ...
Draconis's user avatar
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9 votes
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Help with Latin translation from a 17th century ecclesiastical Latin book

Your translation is definitely on the right track, but there are a couple of things I want to point out: Omnis modifies generis; that is, omnis generis means "of every kind". There doesn't ...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
9 votes
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"Stantes erant pedes nostri..."

Forgive me if I'm missing something, but: I think your issue here may be with the English rather than the Latin. To say that something "was wont to do" something ("wont" with an o and no apostrophe ...
Joel Derfner's user avatar
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9 votes

Understanding "conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto"

This seems related to Latin language only per accidens. I'm not a theologian, but I think I know the basics from a Catholic POV. I'll try to answer in the order you put the questions: What does this ...
Rafael's user avatar
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9 votes
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Did I translate this Latin prayer to St Michael the Archangel correctly?

As Draconis and I mentioned in the comments, your translation is fine. If I might break it down: tibi trádidit Dóminus ánimas redemptórum in supérna felicitáte locándas The subject is dominus ...
cmw's user avatar
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8 votes

"Deus tu conversus vivificabis nos..."

What you see is a symptom of English and Latin having grammatically different idiomatic expressions for things like that. I cannot find a perfectly literal translation, but perhaps this series of ...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
8 votes
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"Memento rerum conditor..."

Here's my understanding of the verse. (Note: I'm only a beginner with Latin.) Remember (Memento), O founder/maker (conditor) of things (rerum), that (quod) once (olim), you took (sumpserīs) the ...
Ben Kovitz's user avatar
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8 votes
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Origins of the expression "mea culpa"?

Mea culpa comes from the Confiteor which is a common prayer recited, among other times, towards the end of the prayers at the foot of the altar in the (Catholic) Roman rite. The full text of the ...
brianpck's user avatar
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8 votes
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Is my Latin translation wrong, or is the original wrong?

Ostiarii is not a singular genitive but a plural nominative. It is the subject of pellant. The door keepers (ostiarii) are supposed to throw the dog out. There are a couple of ways to parse the ...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
8 votes

How to translate "Rochester Catholic Schools" into Latin

The most general words for 'school' are ludus and schola, the latter usually being reserved for more advanced students. (You might also like academia, but it really refers to a place for philosophical ...
Tom Cotton's user avatar
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8 votes

"Deep" Meaning of "Gloria in excelsis Deo"

Luke ch2 v13 et subito facta est cum angelo multitudo militiae caelestis laudantium Deum et dicentium 14 gloria in altissimis Deo :: et in terra pax in hominibus bonae voluntatis ...
Hugh's user avatar
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8 votes
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A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando

In French, this proverb exists in the form: Aide-toi et le ciel t’aidera. This comes from a fable of La Fontaine, Le Chartier embourbé. So there is the possibility to read the Latin and Greek fables ...
Luc's user avatar
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8 votes

How to say "please pray for me" in ecclesiastical latin?

The simple imperative in Latin is significantly more polite than it is in English. It's even used when making requests to God in Ecclesiastical Latin: pie Iēsū domine, dōnā eīs requiem sempiternam "...
Draconis's user avatar
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