Praying in Latin has been part of Catholic life for almost 2,000 years. Each Latin prayer, whether prayed in public worship, or in private contemplation, is saturated with the very rich history of the Catholic Church. The place of Latin prayer thus forms an intrinsic part of the deep and extensive patrimony that is Catholic Tradition. Latin Prayer. Aspects of Language and Catholic Spirituality explores a way of prayer, with a linguist's eye and a Catholic heart, which, linguistically and spiritually, is steeped in this Tradition. It is hoped that those who know no Latin will be inspired by this book to learn it, and those who know it, and perhaps some, or all, of the prayers included here, to revisit it.

David Birch retired in 2010 from a University career in Linguistics and Communication Studies. He initially trained as a Medievalist, completing an Honours dissertation on the language of the 14th Century English Mystics, and a DPhil on the polemical writings of St Thomas More. He now lives as eremitical a life as possible.