CWR: Ad Memoriam Maximi Magistri Latinae Linguae: Fr. Reginald Foster (1939-2020) by Father Seán Connolly
Fr. Daniel McCarthy, OSB speaks about the life and legacy of Fr. Reginald Foster, OCD, our generation’s foremost expert, teacher and champion of the Latin language.
Showing posts with label Reginald Foster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reginald Foster. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
NPR Piece on Fr. Reginald Foster
NPR on the death of Fr. Reginald Foster, including some clips of an interview with Sylvia Poggioli from 1998... "If you’re interested in Latin it’s like being interested in Mozart, or Bach... I said ‘this is not “conservative” – this is ETERNAL.’” https://t.co/JjPlOYDOxJ
— Paideia Institute (@Paideiainstitut) December 29, 2020
Monday, December 28, 2020
Two on Fr. Reginald
I was honored to be asked by @firstthingsmag to write a tribute for Fr. Reginald Foster. “I believe in the beauty of Latin; I've given my life to it, and I want to share it with you." https://t.co/dnJK90qbyI #Reginaldfoster #Reginaldus #LatinTeach #ClassicsTwitter
— John Byron Kuhner (@johnbyronkuhner) December 28, 2020
Kudos to @margalitfox on drafting that marvelous opening... h/t @PiusOP https://t.co/Wn3bFM0Epg
— 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘑. 𝘋𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 (@StevenJDuffield) December 28, 2020
Actually, more...
Reginald Foster, for decades the Pope’s Latin translator, died this Christmas morning. He was one of the great characters I’ve ever met. Our @CBSThisMorning profile of him aired exactly three years ago. https://t.co/MSncYdoq1E
— Brook Silva-Braga (@Brook) December 25, 2020
Father Reggie Foster was living proof that being indispensable is the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card.https://t.co/V0uqjeLhhO
— Crux (@Crux) December 28, 2020
Sunday, December 27, 2020
I'd Rather Not be Honored by Parolin
What a nice touch. And they even wrote V instead of U, until Secretarius Status. Rest in Peace, Fr Reginald. pic.twitter.com/FZ9TxYA4st
— Bernard Mulcahy OP (@FrBMulcahyOP) December 27, 2020
Friday, December 25, 2020
Fr. Reginald Foster Has Passed
Eternal Memory!
The world's greatest Latinist has gone home. Father #Reginald #Foster OCD (November 14, 1939 - December 25, 2020). May the Martyrs welcome him and sing with him the heavenly gloria. #Carmelites. #Latin #Catholictwitter #Catholichistory #Catholic pic.twitter.com/wdQrZd5rHS
— Ulrich L. Lehner (@ulrichlehner) December 25, 2020
Nuntii tristissimi https://t.co/15drdsX4O4
— Dr Francis Young (@DrFrancisYoung) December 25, 2020
Tuesday, January 09, 2018
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Tuesday, March 07, 2017
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Friday, December 09, 2016
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Monday, June 15, 2015
Fr. Reginald Foster's First Textbook Will Be Published
You will soon be able to learn Latin from the famous Fr. Reginald Foster; the word is getting out. http://wdtprs.com/blog/2015/06/want-to-study-latin-with-the-famous-fr-reginald-foster-now-you-can/
Posted by The Catholic University of America Press on Monday, June 15, 2015
CUA Press should have its own promo, instead of using Fr. Z's post.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Some Thoughts on Inculturation
This post at NLM provided an opportunity for me to comment: Usus Antiqiuor in Japan: A Latin-Japanese Missal
While before I might have subscribed to the view that Latin might be useful as the lingua franca of clerics and the intellectuals of the Roman-rite churches, I've never thought that the liturgy should be celebrated in Latin in missionary countries. I think as long as I've had an opinion on the question, I've thought that a hieratic version of the native vernacular should be employed in missionary countries, holding up the work of the Jesuits in China as an example. (I think the Roman rite was celebrated in Korean in Chosun Korea as well?)
Now, my opinion may have even shifted some more, in so far as I speculate about decisions that were made in the past - some version of a hieratic vernacular should have been used for nations who do not have Latin as a mother tongue (nations of Germanic ancestry) - and even some Romance language nations may not have been familiar enough with Latin to justify its continued use in the Roman-rite liturgy. (I would thus disagree with those traditionalists who maintain that Latin should be the universal liturgical language of the Roman rite churches.)
Still, the celebration of the Roman-rite liturgy in places like Hong Kong or Japan may seem quaint or peculiar to us now, but we should ask, why are some Asians (or non-Asians, for that matter) attracted to such liturgies when they do not understand the language? Are they looking for a sense of sacred that contemporary vernacular liturgies lack? Some may be older, familiar with the use of Latin in the Roman rite before Vatican 2. It may just be nostalgia at work, or the desire to pray in a familiar milieu, but their interest may be more than that. What lessons can we learn about the Pauline reform of the Roman rite and what corrections should we seek?
Today the New Evangelization may may require greater inculturation, but this inculturation should be tempered with a knowledge of the past and the artistic traditions of the Christians who lived before us. Inculturation should always be accompanied by the inspiration to give our best and an appreciation of the "true, good, and beautiful," as we seek those translations and native art forms which can be adapted. Not being gifted with language I will not say that much about it - while the revision of the English translation may have been warranted, I do question whether it could have been done better. (Without, perhaps, fully embracing a more archaic form of English - I would not be opposed to this in principle, even though it might strike some as being artificial - but it may not be pastorally effective.)
Do we need to rediscover forms of music and art that are simple but beautiful? (Simple does not necessarily mean modernist.) We should be more attentive to the moral dimension of music and its effects on the person, particularly the emotions, not mistaking affective appeal for authentic Christian spirituality. While it may be clear to many that "Christian" rock cannot be adapted for use in the liturgy, we should also reconsider the use of music that is derived from Romanticism. I am not a music scholar or musicologist so I cannot expound more on this; some music is compatible with the "stillness" that we need in order to attend to the presence of the Lord, and some music is not. (A comparative study of the different forms of singing that were adapted as Christianity spread over the world would be useful. Did they originate in pre-existing religious traditions? Or were they adapted from other uses? Was a distinction between sacred music and profane music always preserved?)
As for the shift in architecture - there are some posts at New Liturgical Movement on the "Other Modern." Perhaps some modernism is useful, provided that it is coupled with a proper sense of ornamentation that draws the Christian to the presence of God. (Modernism + austere, bare liturgical environment: far from the ideal.)
Perhaps some thoughts on vestments and sacred vessels later...
*What of Latin as the language of theology, scholarship, and documents of the Church of Rome? Should all priests be familiar with Latin (and Greek and Hebrew)? Or should there be different tracks for priests according to their talents and abilities?
Bill Maher interviews Fr. Reginald Foster:
Plus:
Dom Cassian Folsom on Forms of Eucharistic Reservation
While before I might have subscribed to the view that Latin might be useful as the lingua franca of clerics and the intellectuals of the Roman-rite churches, I've never thought that the liturgy should be celebrated in Latin in missionary countries. I think as long as I've had an opinion on the question, I've thought that a hieratic version of the native vernacular should be employed in missionary countries, holding up the work of the Jesuits in China as an example. (I think the Roman rite was celebrated in Korean in Chosun Korea as well?)
Now, my opinion may have even shifted some more, in so far as I speculate about decisions that were made in the past - some version of a hieratic vernacular should have been used for nations who do not have Latin as a mother tongue (nations of Germanic ancestry) - and even some Romance language nations may not have been familiar enough with Latin to justify its continued use in the Roman-rite liturgy. (I would thus disagree with those traditionalists who maintain that Latin should be the universal liturgical language of the Roman rite churches.)
Still, the celebration of the Roman-rite liturgy in places like Hong Kong or Japan may seem quaint or peculiar to us now, but we should ask, why are some Asians (or non-Asians, for that matter) attracted to such liturgies when they do not understand the language? Are they looking for a sense of sacred that contemporary vernacular liturgies lack? Some may be older, familiar with the use of Latin in the Roman rite before Vatican 2. It may just be nostalgia at work, or the desire to pray in a familiar milieu, but their interest may be more than that. What lessons can we learn about the Pauline reform of the Roman rite and what corrections should we seek?
Today the New Evangelization may may require greater inculturation, but this inculturation should be tempered with a knowledge of the past and the artistic traditions of the Christians who lived before us. Inculturation should always be accompanied by the inspiration to give our best and an appreciation of the "true, good, and beautiful," as we seek those translations and native art forms which can be adapted. Not being gifted with language I will not say that much about it - while the revision of the English translation may have been warranted, I do question whether it could have been done better. (Without, perhaps, fully embracing a more archaic form of English - I would not be opposed to this in principle, even though it might strike some as being artificial - but it may not be pastorally effective.)
Do we need to rediscover forms of music and art that are simple but beautiful? (Simple does not necessarily mean modernist.) We should be more attentive to the moral dimension of music and its effects on the person, particularly the emotions, not mistaking affective appeal for authentic Christian spirituality. While it may be clear to many that "Christian" rock cannot be adapted for use in the liturgy, we should also reconsider the use of music that is derived from Romanticism. I am not a music scholar or musicologist so I cannot expound more on this; some music is compatible with the "stillness" that we need in order to attend to the presence of the Lord, and some music is not. (A comparative study of the different forms of singing that were adapted as Christianity spread over the world would be useful. Did they originate in pre-existing religious traditions? Or were they adapted from other uses? Was a distinction between sacred music and profane music always preserved?)
As for the shift in architecture - there are some posts at New Liturgical Movement on the "Other Modern." Perhaps some modernism is useful, provided that it is coupled with a proper sense of ornamentation that draws the Christian to the presence of God. (Modernism + austere, bare liturgical environment: far from the ideal.)
Perhaps some thoughts on vestments and sacred vessels later...
*What of Latin as the language of theology, scholarship, and documents of the Church of Rome? Should all priests be familiar with Latin (and Greek and Hebrew)? Or should there be different tracks for priests according to their talents and abilities?
Bill Maher interviews Fr. Reginald Foster:
Plus:
Dom Cassian Folsom on Forms of Eucharistic Reservation
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Language Creation in Tolkien's Mythmaking
Medievalists.net: Language and Legend in the Fantasy Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien
Vox links to an article by a sci-fi author and both note that Tolkien's success as a fantasy author is due to his knowledge of history (and languages).
Related:
Is there hope for Latin? Latinitatis Corpus, Reginaldo Procuratore We need more Latin teachers who are as zealous as Fr. Reginald.
Vox links to an article by a sci-fi author and both note that Tolkien's success as a fantasy author is due to his knowledge of history (and languages).
Related:
Is there hope for Latin? Latinitatis Corpus, Reginaldo Procuratore We need more Latin teachers who are as zealous as Fr. Reginald.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
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