Leitourgeia—Greek, noun, meaning “public work” (”work of the people” being another common understanding), as in “liturgy.”
kai—Greek, conjunction, meaning “and.”
Qurbana—Syriac, noun, meaning “offering” or “Eucharist.”
Contra—Latin, preposition, meaning “against,” as in Athanasius contra mundum, St. Athanasius of Alexandria having stood fast for the Orthodox Christian faith in the face of the Arian heresy.
den Zeitgeist—German, accusative singular, meaning “Spirit of the Age,” as in the chapter “Through Darkest Zeitgeistheim” in C. S. Lewis’ The Pilgrim’s Regress, where the protagonist John faces the most horrible monster Lewis has ever depicted, the Spirit of the Age.
Also, Lewis wrote an introduction for an English-language edition of St. Athanasius’ On the Incarnation.
So, four languages, huh? Do you know them all?
I’ve been fortunate to have had enough of all four of those languages to be able to read well enough, if a bit slowly, if I have a dictionary at my elbow. I’ve also had some Italian and French, and this coming year I’m starting Modern Greek.
The use of four different languages in the blog title is also motivated by some amount of humor, but I’m not always sure who gets the joke (if anybody).
Richard
Well, I certainly thought it was funny!
Well, that’s comforting.
Hi Richard, I’m studying Greek II at Columbia, and found your answer key for Hardy & Quinn. Amazing stuff! Too bad it’s only up to Unit 2. Any other progress on it?
Now that I know that Windows Vista has the polytonic Greek keyboard built in, I might be able to proceed a little more quickly. Unit III is actually largely done; I might be able to have that up within a few days. After that, we’ll see. I’m glad you find it useful, and I’ll see if I can progress with a little more dispatch!
Sir(forgive me, I don’t know your name),
I’m writting in response to your comments about a year ago regarding my interview w/ Kevin Allen on Orthodox Schools. You commented about the importance of music to the curriculum of an Orthodox School, and that I had failed to address this. I believe you are correct, that the music of the Church should be an important part of the life of an Orthodox school and as I am currently preparing some curricular outlines for such schools, I would like to get input from a few people like yourself who seem to know more about this area than I do. Would you be willing to share some thoughts–or critique a curriculum outline?
Bryan Smith
I would be more than willing to share some thoughts — I’d be thrilled and honored to do so. Let me know what you would like — my name is Richard Barrett, and my e-mail address is rrbarret (AT) indiana.edu.