Learning Latin

Ok, for the last month or so I'd been thinking on-and-off of some way of getting started that would be maximally helpful while being minimally effort-intensive.  My original idea was to start at the beginning and go through piece-by-piece, but on further reflection that didn't seem to be nearly as practical as I had thought.

Recalling that the point of this is active and conscious participation, I had an idea: why not start with the parts that pertain most to us, the laity - the responses.

Looking at the responses by themselves was really interesting because although they are certainly not dumbed-down by any means, the parts that the people or the people and the priest have together are on the whole a lot simpler than the parts the priest says by himself.  This helps you and me out, because you don't have to be an expert Latinist (or even know that much) to participate actively in Latin.

Think about it in English - apart from the Gloria and the Creed and a few other things, most of them are quite short - Amen, alleluia (these are Hebrew anyway), thanks be to God, etc."  There are 33* responses total in a Sunday Mass, and only a few of them are of any length (nine of them are "amen").  A list is below the fold.  Next post on this topic will talk about one of them specifically.

Notes: The number 33 is based on my count, which assumes that you will not be saying the two "Blessed be God forever"-s and that the "Lord hear our prayer"-s, of which there can be arbitrarily many, all count as one response.

The parts that have an ellipsis after (the Confiteor, Kyrie eleison, Gloria, Creed, Sanctus, Pater Noster, and Agnus Dei) are the only ones longer than what is written here.

Amen

Et cum spiritu tuo.

Confiteor…

Amen

Kyrie…

Gloria…

Amen

Deo gratias.

Deo gratias.

Alleluia

Et cum spiritu tuo.

Gloria tibi, Domine.

Laus tibi, Christe.

Credo…

Te rogamus audi nos.

(Benedictus Deus in saecula)

(Benedictus Deus in saecula)

Suscipiat Dominus sacrificium de minibus tuis ad laudem et gloriam nomins sui, ad utilitatem quoque nostrum totiusque Ecclesiae suae sanctae.

Amen

Et cum spiritu tuo.

Habemus ad Dominum.

Dignum et iustum est.

Sanctus…

Mortem tuam annuntiamus, Domine, et tuam resurrectionem confitemur, donec venias.

Amen

Pater noster…

Quia tuum est regnum, et potestas, et gloria in saecula.

Amen

Et cum spiritu tuo.

Agnus Dei…

Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea.

Amen

Et cum spiritu tuo.

Amen

Deo gratias.