Reading Ecclesiatical Latin (Augustine, Aquinas and other)

Latin Learning Latin
1

Before a few months I finished John F. Collins A Primer of Ecclesiasrical Latin. A started reading Vulgate New Testament (Gospels) because when I was learning Ancient Greek I started with Gospels also. I’d like to read Augustine Confession and later additional books of Augustine.

What do you suggest to reach my goal? After John F. Collins I tried to read Nunn Ecclesiastical Latin fragments (Cyprian etc.) but is seems to hard for me. Not too hard but I have to look up words in dictionary too frequently.

What is the best way to improve my ecclesiastical Latin to reach higher level? Immediately After Collins I wanted to read Augustine but it unfortunately it didn’t work out. I am sad about this.

If you can help me, please help.

2

You can read the Vulgate: as you probably know the stories, you won’t have to look up words so often.

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3

Ok. Then I will continue with Vulgate

4

Epitomē historiae sācrae is another possibility

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5

It seems like good, and interesting. I’ll download and try it.

6

But be aware that the language of the Epitome historiae sacrae (composed by an 18th-century Frenchman) is classical latin, not ecclesiastical latin. So it’s not a very good introduction to specifically ecclesiastical latin.
And the chapter headings are not in latin at all, but in Italian—so you can learn both languages at the same time.

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Thanks for the answers. If you have any advice I would gladly welcome it.

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Which Latin texts should I read to improve my Latin for Saint Augustine?

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If you’ve worked your way through Collins’ primer you should be ready for Augustine’s Confessions.

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Of course I worked through. Primarily I have vocabulary problem.

11

I suspect your difficulty may lie not so much in the vocabulary (that’s what dictionaries are for, and the vocabulary is mostly straightforward) but more in the rhetoric and the thought. How about taking a sentence you have a problem with and saying what you find difficult about it?

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I thinks it’s very good. Today or tomorrow I’ll continue Confessiones, and I choose a few sentences what I think is difficult. If you have time, we can talk over these.

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Now I take here a sentence, what I think is not too hard ,but I don’t understand everyhing.

…iam vērō tunc senuerat et longā aetāte in tam bonō studiō sectandae vītae tuae multa expertus… This section is from Confessionēs Liber Octavus 8.1.25.

I understand he first part( iam vero tunc senuerat) but " in tam bono studio sectendae vitae tuae" is not entirely clear for me.

14

Hi,

The key is the participle, expertus, on which all the text from “et” to “multa” leans.

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Expertus is from the deponent verb experior. Multa expertus having experienced many things i.e. having gained lots of experience.
Sectandae, in agreement with vitae tuae, is a gerundive from the deponent verb sector (1st conjugation), a frequentative of sequor.

There will always be words you have to look up, but what’s more helpful than anything else is a good grasp of latin grammar.

PS By way of experiment I copied your latin text into Google and it said it was “a beautiful excerpt, likely from Seneca the Younger” (but then hedged), and gave a decent translation. So I guess I’m not needed here any more.

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16

Thank you. If I am stuck, and.I can’t continue the reading, I ser the translations.