A Place of Brightness: Get Your Conclave Latin Right Here!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Get Your Conclave Latin Right Here!

By Keith Massey, PhD. Connect with me on Google+ and Twitter. Explore my novels at Lingua Sacra Publishing.

Latinists like myself are in heaven. I heard NPR this morning teach the Latin word murmuratio, a murmured conversation (the only communication allowed in the conclave to prevent electioneering).

So here are the Latin phrases I have seen in media and which we can expect to see in the coming days.

Conclave

This comes from Latin con + clavis, meaning 'with key'. The Cardinals were once locked inside until they would choose a new Pope, giving rise to a new tradition.

Missa pro Eligendo Pontifice
Mass for the Choosing of the Pontifex

This is what the Cardinals celebrated before heading into the Conclave. Note the Gerundival attraction of the object into the case of the gerundive (be still, my soul!)

Habemus Papam!
We have a Pope!

This is what the people will acclaim when they see white smoke from the chimney.

No comments:

Post a Comment

In Saecula Saeculorum, the 4th Novel in the Valquist Series

In this fourth novel of the Valquist Series, Andrew Valquist is retired (?) from the National Security Agency and teaching Latin at a Classical Academy in the Washington DC area. But in the world of espionage, looks can be deceiving. He's not necessarily happy with the role he has played in all this, but the school was actually a joint NSA/MI-6 Project in which four young people have been unwittingly prepared for a mission to travel back in time to ancient Rome to retrieve information from a library that may save the modern world from certain destruction. They know they have to at least try to save humanity, but can they also save each other?

Next Stop: Spanish, the 3rd Novel in the Valquist Series

This third novel in the Valquist Series can be read as an espionage action-adventure in its own right, but also you can use it as a way to either brush up on your Spanish or learn functional Spanish for the first time! John Valquist needs to learn Spanish. But he's in luck, since his uncle Andrew is a language expert and a former (?) spy who is taking him on a vacation to Spain so he can study the language. In Next Stop: Spanish, you have the chance to see and study the words John studies, and then watch him add more and more Spanish into his dialogue as the story progresses. During this vacation, they get pulled into espionage intrigue (why do these things always happen to the Valquist family?). In the dramatic conclusion, John will need to put together everything he has learned to save his uncle!

Amor Vincit Omnia: the 2nd Novel in the Valquist Series

In this second novel of the Valquist Series, Keith Massey takes you into the halls of the National Security Agency, where he himself worked for four years after 9/11 and an Arabic linguist. You follow our hero Andrew Valquist, as he starts work as a new recruit at the NSA. Little does he know that on his first on the job, he's about to fly off on an unexpected overseas assignment. He'll be even more surprised when he learns that his background in ancient Latin will be crucial to the mission!