Sunday, January 28, 2007
Reg Foster and Augustine's Jukebox
Father Reginald Foster is concerned that Latin is dying out. This is, of course, terrible news, but one's spirits are lifted by Father Reg's thoughts on the matter. He, it seems, has been Papal Latinist for 38 years and is now hoping to attract 130 students to his new Latin academy in Rome. He comments with rarefied, cantankerous charm, 'St Augustine thought in Latin, you can't read his text in English, it's like listening to Mozart through a jukebox.' He also suggests that, instead of taking a siesta, Pope Benedict should announce he will be reading Latin in his private quarters. One observes with awe and gratitude the workings of a mind utterly, blissfully disconnected from contemporary life.
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A blog about, among other things, imaginary ideas - What ifs? and Imagine thats. What if photographs looked nothing like what we see with our eyes? Imagine that the Berlin Wall had never come down. What if we were the punchline of an interminable joke? All contributions welcome.
Never mind a siesta, His Holiness pops out, slips off his Prada slippers, and has a cigarette......on good authority. Incidentally, like his predecessors, he speaks as well as reads and writes Latin. Of course, having a universal language has its problems. During the Second Vatican Council Latin was the lingua franca, but the pronounciations varied so greatly a lot of what was said was incomprehensible. Think Geordie.
ReplyDeleteOne would wonder what kind of boozers Reggie frequents for him to have heard Mozart through a jukebox.
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