Ecclesiastical Latin, said aloud

Everything you need to pray Latin correctly, on one page.

Church Latin is not the Latin of Caesar. It is pronounced roughly as Italian is, which makes it far easier than most people fear. Learn eight rules and you can read any prayer on this site aloud without embarrassment.

The Eight Rules

1. C before e, i, ae, oe is ch: caelum = CHAY-loom, pacem = PAH-chem. Elsewhere it is hard: credo = CRAY-doh.
2. G before e, i, ae, oe is soft, as in gentle: regina = ray-JEE-nah. Elsewhere hard: gratia = GRAH-tsee-ah.
3. Ti before a vowel is tsee: gratia, oratio = oh-RAH-tsee-oh.
4. Sc before e or i is sh: ascendit = ah-SHEN-deet.
5. Gn is ny, as in onion: agnus = AH-nyoos.
6. H is silent, except in mihi and nihil, where it sounds like k: MEE-kee, NEE-keel.
7. J or I before a vowel is y: Iesus = YEH-soos, alleluia = ah-lay-LOO-yah.
8. Ae and oe are both eh: caeli = CHAY-lee.

The Vowels

• a as in father
• e as in bet
• i as in machine
• o as in for
• u as in rule
• Every vowel is sounded; there are no silent letters and no diphthongs beyond ae and oe.

Stress

In words of two syllables, stress the first. In longer words the stress almost always falls on the second-to-last syllable: Do-MI-nus, be-ne-DIC-tus, sae-cu-LO-rum. Printed missals often mark it with an accent.

Practise On

Start with the Pater Noster and the Ave Maria — short, familiar, and made of these rules. Then the Gloria Patri. Sung recordings of all three are easy to find, and the ear learns faster than the eye.