Seminary and University Latin

Here I provide the regulations for the proper implementation of Blessed Pope John XXIII’s Apostolic Constitution Veterum sapientia of 22 February 1962 (Acta Apostolicæ Sedis 54, 129-135) mandating the preservation and promotion of and instruction in the Latin language in all Catholic seminaries and universities. These norms from the instruction Sacrum latinae linguae depositum (Acta Apostolicæ Sedis 54, 339-368) were produced at the express request of the Pope in Veterum sapientia and he approved their publication exactly two months after on 22 April 1962 by the Congregation of Seminaries and University Studies. The Congregation sets out a nine year outline of study which should be normative for use in all Catholic schools (adapting the texts as necessary but without lessening the total quantity of material). And in a concluding appendix there is an outline of selections of the Fathers of the Church to be studied in Latin for each of the areas of theology studies. Here is my translation of the nine year outline and later I give the theology outline in Latin.

In light of Pope Benedict XVI's Wednesday Audiences on the Fathers of the Church and his constant concern for the rediscovery of the Latin and Greek classics I hope that our seminaries and universities (faculty and students) might use this foundational outline as set out by the Vatican for our proper formation in the faith.

SACRUM LATINAE LINGUAE DEPOSITUM, Sacra Congregatio de Seminariis et Studiorum Universitatibus, xxii mensis Aprilis, anno MCMLXII 

Chapter III On the common way to study Latin

Article III Authors to be presented in the study of the Latin language in the humanities departments.

Paragraph 3: These Authors and this amount are to be tied to each year:

1st year: first, elegant and complete phrases excerpted from the Authors; certain proverbs and sayings are to be memorized; the second part of the year certain excerpts may be taken from the Old and New Testaments (like the creation of the world, the narrative of the seven Macchabean brothers, the parable of the prodigal son, etc.), at least 100 verses, of which some should be committed to memory; perhaps some short fables of Phaedrus or very brief Ciceronian letters may be added;

2nd year: at least 10 Phaedrus fables, one or two lives from Nepos, around 20 Ciceronian letters, some of the shorter Latin dialogues (from Erasmus, Vives, Jacobus Pontanus, etc);

3rd year: at least one of Caesar’s works, certain Cicero letters, 300 verses of Ovid,
a few hymns of the Roman Breviary, certain chapters of the Roman Catechism (Catechismus ad Parochos);

4th year: 3 selections (short poems) of Virgil, 5 elegies from Tibrollus and Propertius, at least one work from Livy, a few Cicero letters, and a few chapters from the Roman Catechism;

5th year: a few of the Cicero orations, 30 chapters of Sallust, book one of the Aeneid, and another from Georgias; some chapters from the Roman Catechism;

6th year: some philosophical work of Cicero (e.g. De Amicitia, De Senectute, ex Tusculanis, etc.); 10 carmina from Horace, 5 from Catullus, book one of the Annals or monographs of Tacitus; some chapters of the Roman Catechism;

7th year: Horace’s Ars Poetica; some comedy of Plautus or Terentius; excerpts from Lucretius (at least 300 verses); some book from the De Officiis of Cicero or the rhetoric of Cicero or Quintilian;

8th - 9th years: besides any outstanding material from the above program which remain to be interpreted (requiring more time), or which must be explained out of the proper place of study, add certain selections from the letters of Pliny and Seneca; excerpts from the Christian Latin Writers and the Fathers of the Church (Minucius, Lactantius, Ambrose, Augustine, etc.); from the Documents of the Roman Pontiffs; from the best of the more recent Latin Writers.



Appendix II (The Main works of the Fathers of the Church to be studied in the Course of Christian Latin for a profound and accurate knowledge of and sense of the Catholic faith under each of the areas of theology.)

I. Theologia Fundamentalis

ATHENAGORAS, Supplicatio pro Christianis.
S. IUSTIANUS Martyr, Apologiae.
EPISTOLA ad Diognetum (praesertim cc. 5-6).
TERTULLIANUS, Apologeticus; De praescriptione haereticorum; De Idololatria.
S. CYPRIANUS, De catholicae Ecclesiae unitate (praesertim cap. IV); Epistolae (praesertim ad Cornelium Papam).
LACTANTIUS, Divinae Institutiones.
S. AUGUSTINUS, De doctrina christiana (Lib. II-III: De exegesi biblica); De vera religione; De utilitate credendi; De consensus Evangelistarum; De symbolo ad catechumenos.
S. LEO MAGNUS, Epistolae.
VINCENTIUS LERINENSIS, Commonitorium.


II. Theologia Dogmatica

1. De Deo Uno et Trino.

MINUCIUS FELIX, Octavius, cap. 14-38.
TERTULLIANUS, Adversus Praxean.
NOVATIANUS, De Trinitate.
S. HILARIUS Pict., De Trinitate (praesertim libri II-III).
S. BASILIUS, Tractatus de Spiritus Sancto.
S. AMBROSIUS, De fide, ad Gratianum; De Spiritu Sancto.
S. AUGUSTINUS, De Trinitate (preaesertim lib. V).
S. GREGORIUS NAZIANZ., Sermones.
S. Io. CHRYSOSTOMUS, De incomprehensibilitate Dei.
S. GREGORIUS NYSSENUS, De Trinitate, ad Eustathium (agit praesertim de divinitate Spiritus Sancti).


2. De Deo Creante et Elevante.

S. GREGORIUS NYSSENUS, Liber de hominis opificio.
S. AMBROSIUS, Hexaemeron; De Paradiso.
S HIERONYMUS, Dialogus adversus Pelagianos.
S AUGUSTINUS, De Genesi contra Manichaeos; De Genesi ad litteram; De gratia Christi et de peccato originali.


3. De Verbo Incarnato

S. IGNATIUS ANTIOCH., Epist. ad Ephes., ad Smyrn.
TERTULLIANUS, De carne Christi.
S. AMBROSIUS, De Incarnationis Dominicae sacramento.
S. ATHANASIUS, De Incarnatione Verbi.
S. GREGORIUS NYSSENUS, Oratio magna catechetica (cap. 10-32).
S. AUGUSTINUS, Contra sermonem Arianorum; In Ioannis Evangelium tractatus.
CASSIANUS, De Incarnatione Christi contra Nestorium.
S. GREGORIUS MAGNUS, Homiliae in Evangelia.
S. HIERONYMUS, Adversus helvidium de perpetua virginitate B. Mariae, Epistolae.
S. LEO MAGNUS, Sermones.


4. De gratia et virtutibus.

S. HIERONYMUS, Epistolae.
S. AUGUSTINUS, De libero arbitrio; De fide rerum quae non videntur; De natura et gratia; De gratia Christi et de peccato originali. De gratia et libero arbitrio; De dono perseverantiae; Enchiridion ad Laurentium sive de fide, spe et caritate.
S. PROSPER AQUITANUS, De gratia Dei et libero arbitrio liber contra Collatorem.
S. FULGENTIUS, De fide ad Petrum liber.


5. De Sacramentis.

TERTULLIANUS, De Baptismo; De Paenitentia.
S. CYPRIANUS, De lapsis.
S. CYRILLUS JEROSOL., Catecheses.
S. AMBROSIUS, De Paenitentia; De Sacramentis, De Mysteriis.
S. AUGUSTINUS, De Baptismo.
S. IO. CHRYSOSTOMUS, Catecheses ad illuminandos; De Sacerdotio.


6. De Novissimis.

TERTULLIANUS, De carnis resurrectione; De anima.
S. CYPRIANUS, De mortalitate.
LACTANTIUS, Divinae Institutiones (liber VII).
S. AMBROSIUS, De bono mortis; De Iacob et vita beata.
S. AUGUSTINUS, De cura pro mortuis gerenda; De praedestinatione sanctorum; De dono perseverantiae; De Civitate Dei (lib. XXII, de caelesti beatitudine).


III. Theologia Moralis et Pastoralis

CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS, Paedagogus.
S. AMBROSIUS, De officiis; De Virginibus.
S. AUGUSTINUS, Contra mendacium; De continentia; De bono coniugali; De moribus; Enchiridion (cap. LXIV-LXX, de peccatis). De catechizandis rudibus; Sermones; Confessiones.
S. GREGORIUS M., Moralia in Job; Liber Regulae pastoralis.