10 Latin Words That Shaped Christianity

Description

Most of us are aware that Latin is the official language of the Church. However, in the post-Vatican II era, Latin may appear to be less relevant than it used to be. In this video, we compiled a list of 10 latin words that shaped christianity. While knowing Latin is no longer required to understand the Mass, it is impossible to imagine the Christian faith as we know it without Latin—including the origins of the word "Mass." The following are ten words that have shaped Western Christianity's faith. 1. Gratia - Grace is one of the most basic and fundamental words in our faith vocabulary, and it derives from the Latin word gratia. Gratia is a Latin word that means favor, goodwill, kindness, and friendship. 2. Prex - Prayer is a word that most of us would not suspect is Latinate. Our verb to pray, however, is derived from the Latin verb precari, which means to beg, implore, entreat, or supplicate. That Latin word, in turn, is derived from the Latin noun prex, which means "prayer or request." 3. Trinitatem - Trinity is derived from the Latin word trinitatem, which means "three." Trinity as a term describing God was largely unknown to the Christian world for the first two centuries. It was first used by the Latin Father Tertullian in his writings in the early third century. 4. Persona - Person is an important word in our theological vocabulary as well as in Western culture. Persona originally referred to the masks that characters would wear on stage during a dramatic performance whichxa0eventually came to refer to the characters themselves. It later took on a much broader meaning and was used by the early Church Fathers to describe God as three persons in onexa0being. 5. Sanctus - Saint is thexa0wordxa0we use to describe ourxa0friends in the faithxa0who nowxa0reside inxa0heaven. The word saint is derived from the Latin sanctus, which means consecrated, sacred, or holy. Sanctus is also a version of the verbxa0sancire, which has several meanings, the most important of which are to confirm, sanction, fulfill, ordain