With Latin in the Service of the Popes: The Memoirs of Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1885‒1971)

Antonio Bacci was rector of the archdiocesan seminary of Florence when his exceptional knowledge of Latin caused him to be summoned to Rome in 1922 to join the office of the Secretary of State as an assistant, first to Aurelio Galli and then to Nicola Sebastiani, the chief Latinists of the Holy See. Bacci succeeded Sebastiani as Secretary of Briefs to Princes upon the latter's death in 1931. In the first half of the memoirs here translated, Bacci discusses his relationship with Popes Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, and Paul VI during the period 1931&#8210;1964. After these reminiscences, the Cardinal explains, in the second half of the book, the reasons why the Catholic Church must maintain the Latin language as its official language, addressing all the while the objections that were being raised at that time, when the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council was in full swing. He poses and answers the question whether it is at all possible that even the Church should now repudiate or abandon Latin, which, together with Greek, is the natural womb of our civilization and of our literatures and is still the sole linguistic bond among cultured people amidst such a variety of tongues.

Religion & Spirituality

Bacci, Antonio Cardinal

Christian Books & Bibles

Arouca Press

Review\nIn his Memoirs Cardinal Antonio Bacci, one of the greatest Latinists of the recent past, outlines convincingly the importance of the use of the Latin language for the maintenance and the flourishing of a true culture in a time when humanity is sinking into the chaos of arbitrary subjectivism and inhuman technocracy. Cardinal Bacci warned clear-sightedly especially against the dangers of the loss of the use of Latin in the sacred Liturgy and in sacred doctrine, as then the Catholic faithful and clergy and the theologians from all nations of the world will be deprived of a sure and proven instrument and expression of Catholic unity in prayer and in faith. Cardinal Bacci, however, will go down in history as a courageous defender of the integrity of the rite of the Holy Mass, when he in 1969 together with Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani presented to Pope Paul VI concerns about the doctrinal and ritual defects of the new order of Mass and asked for the preservation of the millennial old Latin Rite of the Mass, the rite of our ancestors and of the Saints of all ages, to effectively counter the divisions and ever-increasing perils for the purity of the Faith and the unity of the Church. The warnings of Cardinal Bacci proved to be true. May the witness of his life and work bear fruits for the true renewal of the Church. - ✠ Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana 
About the Translator﻿Anthony Lo Bello is Professor of Mathematics at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania. He received his A. B. degree from Kenyon College in 1969 and his Ph. D. degree from Yale University in 1975. He is the author of several books, among which are The Commentary of Albertus Magnus on Book I of Euclid's Elements of Geometry (Brill Academic Publishers, Inc., 2003), Origins of Mathematical Words: A Comprehensive Dictionary of Latin, Greek, and Arabic Roots (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013), and Origins of Catholic Words: A Discursive Dictionary (Catholic University of America Press, 2020).\nAntonio Bacci was rector of the archdiocesan seminary of Florence when his exceptional knowledge of Latin caused him to be summoned to Rome in 1922 to join the office of the Secretary of State as an assistant, first to Aurelio Galli and then to Nicola Sebastiani, the chief Latinists of the Holy See. Bacci succeeded Sebastiani as Secretary of Briefs to Princes upon the latter's death in 1931. In the first half of the memoirs here translated, Bacci discusses his relationship with Popes Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, and Paul VI during the period 1931‒1964. After these reminiscences, the Cardinal explains, in the second half of the book, the reasons why the Catholic Church must maintain the Latin language as its official language, addressing all the while the objections that were being raised at that time, when the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council was in full swing. He poses and answers the question whether it is at all possible that even the Church should now repudiate or abandon Latin, which, together with Greek, is the natural womb of our civilization and of our literatures and is still the sole linguistic bond among cultured people amidst such a variety of tongues.

This book consists of a series of daily meditations written by the eminent Latinist Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1885-1971) who served as the Vatican's chief Latinist for over 40 years. The English edition has been out-of-print since 1965. In it, Cardinal Bacci explores vast areas of Catholic principles on the spiritual life using such sources as: Sacred Scripture, the writings of the Saints with particular emphasis on St. Thomas Aquinas, the Church Fathers, many passages from Thomas a Kempis' "The Imitation of Christ" and other spiritual authors. This second edition includes many new features to make the book more readable. Here follows a section from the book's introduction (not found in the original book): 
"As for the present edition, we have decided to make a few changes from the original English edition more in terms of style than substance. We have eliminated all of the footnotes from the original edition and have inserted them into the body of the text instead. When possible, we have made the references clearer so that the reader may easily refer to them if he so desires. We have added a Works Cited page so the reader can see a list of the works Cardinal Bacci has used. The reader can use this list to explore or study those works in more detail. All of the Scripture references have been given a uniform style. We have tried to correct all of the spelling mistakes found in the original text. In addition, we have added an English translation to a long passage from St. Bernard of Clairvaux that was kept in Latin. We expanded the Table of Contents to include all of the meditations. Finally, we added an editor's note to three entries: the nature of the Pope's authority, the relationship between faith and mortal sin, and the teaching on venial sin (January 20, The Pope; April 23, Faith and Charity; October 14, The Ascension of Jesus into Heaven). Given the English translation which we used and the devotional nature of this book (it is not meant as a theological treatise), we thought it wise to include those notes to avoid any possible misunderstandings of Cardinal Bacci's words."

Meditations For Each Day

This book consists of a series of daily meditations written by the eminent Latinist Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1885-1971) who served as the Vatican's chief Latinist for over 40 years. The English edition has been out-of-print since 1965. In it, Cardinal Bacci explores vast areas of Catholic principles on the spiritual life using such sources as: Sacred Scripture, the writings of the Saints with particular emphasis on St. Thomas Aquinas, the Church Fathers, many passages from Thomas a Kempis' "The Imitation of Christ" and other spiritual authors.\nThis second edition includes many new features to make the book more readable. Here follows a section from the book's introduction (not found in the original book): 
"As for the present edition, we have decided to make a few changes from the original English edition more in terms of style than substance. We have eliminated all of the footnotes from the original edition and have inserted them into the body of the text instead. When possible, we have made the references clearer so that the reader may easily refer to them if he so desires. We have added a Works Cited page so the reader can see a list of the works Cardinal Bacci has used. The reader can use this list to explore or study those works in more detail. All of the Scripture references have been given a uniform style. We have tried to correct all of the spelling mistakes found in the original text. In addition, we have added an English translation to a long passage from St. Bernard of Clairvaux that was kept in Latin. We expanded the Table of Contents to include all of the meditations. Finally, we added an editor’s note to three entries: the nature of the Pope’s authority, the relationship between faith and mortal sin, and the teaching on venial sin (January 20, The Pope; April 23, Faith and Charity; October 14, The Ascension of Jesus into Heaven). Given the English translation which we used and the devotional nature of this book (it is not meant as a theological treatise), we thought it wise to include those notes to avoid any possible misunderstandings of Cardinal Bacci’s words."

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With Latin in the Service of the Popes: The Memoirs of Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1885‒1971)

With Latin in the Service of the Popes: The Memoirs of Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1885‒1971)

Meditations For Each Day

Meditations For Each Day