Latin prayer

I heard mass with my wife this evening and towards the end, the priest prayed in Latin as a closing prayer. Suddenly, I realized, I did not understand a single word he said except that I need to join the crowd in saying "amen."

On our way out, I wondered, did anybody else understand that closing prayer? I think not.

My grandmother prays in Latin during prayer evening when we were young. Of course she understood what she was praying (I assumed), but our generation (at least for mine and my siblings' part) we never did.

So why do priests these days pray Latin when they should know that not all the churchgoers understand any word they say? Is it to impress us that they know Latin? Or is Latin the only language understood in heaven?

All priests learn Latin while in the seminary. I know because I once was to be a seminarian. Unfortunately, the presence of beautiful girls in the seminary ground during family Sundays is nothing compared to the presence of beautiful girls in UP High School in Iloilo everyday. So I gave up my dream to become a priest by foregoing my slot in St. Vincent's Seminary.

After all the years in the seminary, seminarians, or the priests themselves, become well versed in Latin. It is the language used in writings from Rome after all. To better comprehend books in priesthood, seminarians need to learn the language used in writing those books.

But I doubt that Latin is the official language in heaven. Jesus, after all, spoke Aramaic growing up.

On another note, why else would God make the Apostles speak in tongues when Latin is the official language in heaven?

You see, the events following the construction of the Tower of Babel made possible the differing languages of man. Man tried to build a tower that will reach to the heavens so they can be in the same level as God. Angry at man for being too ambitious, God made man speak in tongues and the 'language barrier' ensured the failure of the construction of the Tower of Babel.

So, by giving the Apostles capacity to speak in the language of other men, God made it easier to spread his word amongst peoples. This, to me, proves that we need not pray in Latin to be heard by God.


In closing, I suggest that Roman Catholic priests save the Latin prayers for high mass and speak the language understood by the least educated churchgoer during Sunday celebrations.