Latin Translation Program

Hey! Well, that Cathlofascist Adoro has a neat post on the Google Translator, which reminded me that I forgot to tell you all about a really cool Latin/English translator that I found. I've been running the text of the Post Concilliar Documents of Vatican II through the translator, and sure enough, it pretty much comes out exactly as I expected it would. Feel free to send me your latin text and I'll translate it with this cool software package that Ngyuen put together out of Java Applettes.

As an example of how well this software works, I took parts of the latin text of "Sancrosanctum Concilium", which translates as "Holy Conciliation". For example, in Chapter VI, "Holy Tunage", section 116. Below, I've taken the text from what had been my favorite translation, the "Inclusive Language" edition of "The Basic Sixteen Documents of Vatican Council II" by Austin Flannery, O.P. This is marked by "(A)". Then I ran the latin text through Ngyuen's program. This is marked by "(B)". Note the astounding differences!:

(A) 116. The church recognizes Gregorian chant as especially native to the Roman liturgy. Therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services. Other kinds of sacred music, especially polyphony, are by no means excluded from liturgical celebrations so long as they accord with the spirit of the liturgical action as laid down in article 30.

(B) 116. The church recognizes that Gregorian chant may be OK for Romans, but we're not Romans, are we? Therefore, other things being equal, every faith community is required to have at least one Marty Haugen tune on the song list. On feasts and solemnities, two Marty Haugen songs are required, except in circumstances in which it is appropriate to substitute one David Haas song for a Marty Haugen song, in which case the remaining Marty Haugen song has to be "Gather Us In." If a faith community choses to base the whole Mass on Marty Haugen's "Mass of Creation," then it is only necessary to have one Marty Haugen song on feasts and solemnities, although it is generally recommended, for the benefit of the faithful, to also include a David Haas song or perhaps Michael Joncas's "On Eagle's Wings," as laid down in article 30.

And what about this article 30?

(A) 30. To develop active participation, the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalms, antiphons, hymns, as well as by actions, gestures and bodily attitudes. And at the proper time a reverent silence should be observed.

(B) 30. It is desirable to develop active participation so that anyone can be the celebrant of the mass. But today's Catholics don't know what they're doing, nor are they very good singers. So it is fitting that they should be encouraged to take part by copying the acclamations, resposes, psalms, songs, and hymns of the people near them, and to imitate the gestures of the priest, including the raising of hands, the breaking of bread, and various signs, gestures, motions, and ambulations as they appear to be worthy of imitation and to raise the self-esteem of the congregant. With respect to Holy Tunage, in order to increase the singing ability of the faith community, hymns should be selected which cover several octaves and really stretch the singer's abilities from ringing the rafters to putting four on the floor. A good example of this are songs from Andrew Lloyd Weber musicals, which are excellent patterns for modern church music. A proper and reverent approach to liturgical music requires that churches hire music ministers who sound like Steve Perry with his nuts in a vise.