March 29, 2009

What Liturgists Want

hodie liturgistas hoc petere, cras vero aliud velle.

"Today the liturgists ask for this, tomorrow they want something else."


--Canon Aimé Georges Martimort, from the work of the Consilium for the implementation of the liturgical reforms of Sacrosanctum concilium, quoted in Stanislaus Campbell, FSC, From Breviary to the Liturgy of the Hours: The Structural Reform of the Roman Office, 1964-1971.

Please, please...someone with better Latin than me explain the use of the infinitive here. Or is it an error?
at

4 comments:

  1. A Bit of the Blarney9:28 PM

    Archabbot Lambert Reilly, O.S.B. at Saint Meinrad Archabbey her in IN has written a book "Latin Saying for Spiritual Growth" and taught Latin in the seminary here. Maybe he could help with your question. I took two years of Latin 40+ years ago and have NO CLUE. Have a great week. Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  2. fr. Matt, OFM Conv.9:47 AM

    What is the difference between a liturgist and a systematic theologian?

    A liturgist doesn't care how many persons are in the blessed Trinity as long as everyone dresses the same...

    ReplyDelete
  3. petrinus10:33 PM

    Martimort's comment must begin something like this:

    Reformationem liturgicam impugnantes possent dicere hodie liturgistas, etc.

    "Those who impugn the liturgical reform would be able to say that today the liturgists, etc."

    This would account for the infinitive construction.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brother Charles7:03 AM

    Excellent! Thanks Petrinus. Thus is set up the indirect statement!

    ReplyDelete

Faithful, or even just thoughtful criticisms are always welcome. Uninformed rudeness to other posters or to the Lord and His Church is not.

I also reserve the right to reject comments promoting things like private revelations and fringe points of view, if it seems to me like they are being presented in a misleading way.

If you raise a disagreement with something I say but I do not respond, please do not feel slighted or insulted, or imagine that this automatically means I disagree or agree with you. It's just that I don't find the comment box to be a constructive medium for certain forms of debate.