Latin is not among the 115 languages into which the Book of Mormon has been translated, so I had to do this myself. The original prayer of Alma the Elder at the Waters of Mormon, just prior to baptizing Helam, is:
O Lord, pour out thy Spirit upon thy servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart (Mosiah 18:12).
Here is my Latin rendition:
Effunde Spiritum tuum, Domine, super servum tuum, ut opus hoc faciat in sanctitate cordis. Amen.
I spent quite a lot of time fiddling with different word orders, and I'm fairly confident that this one flows the best. My only real liberty with the text was to translate with holiness of heart as in sanctitate cordis (rather than cum sanctitate cordis). I have no real explanation for this, other than that my "ear for Latin" (such as it is, trained only on the Rosary and the Vulgate Psalms) demands it. A Google search shows that cum sanctitate cordis is an attested Latin expression but that in sanctitate cordis is about 100 times more common, so I suppose I'll take that as confirmation of my hunch.
As always, I welcome feedback from (and this is a very low bar!) more competent Latinists than myself. Me, I'm just some guy with a Bible and a dictionary.
5 comments:
How has your rosary been going? And can we get a big ok review of Tomberg when you are finished? Meditations on the Tarot was the book I needed when I needed it. I have a copy of Lazarus but haven’t been able to read print books for a while, just epubs.
*book review, it’s okay to say if it’s other than merely ok, nor are you obligated to write 1,000 words on the subject…
For any readers who may be considering starting a blog of your own, the name "The Big OK Review" isn't taken yet!
@RTh
Well, I rarely do proper book reviews. More likely, there will be a number of different posts, each inspired by or engaging with this or that passage from the book -- or not, if it fails to inspire. I'm about a third of the way through Lazarus, and so far the bulk of it is repeating points already made in Meditations, with little added that is really new. Lots of food for thought, of course, but (based on what I've read so far) not essential reading for those who already know Meditations. It might make a good gift or recommendation, though, for those Christians whose distrust of "the occult" would prevent them from reading anything with Tarot in the title.
I'll probably be posting about the Rosary before too long. Watch this space.
By the way, "RTh" is a new name to me, but you don't seem to be a newcomer. Are you just a longtime lurker, or are you someone I know using a different handle?
I come through every now and then. I've posted a couple times as Anonymous, just trying to be polite since you have gently called me out on it before.
Okay, I see. Your respect for the house rules is appreciated. I will be thinking of you as "Arthur."
Post a Comment