Book Review - Oremus: A Treasury of Latin Prayers

I recently had the chance to review Oremus: A Treasury of Latin Prayers with English Translations (Latin and English Edition) after receiving a copy from the publisher. As a promoter of the Church's sacred language, I was happy to take a look.

The Positives:

• Oremus features more than just standard prayers. This is not just a paperback with the Rosary prayers in Latin. The book has sections for morning prayers, evening prayers, Rosary prayers, prayers during Eucharistic Adoration, Prayers used in True Devotion by St. Louis de Montfort, the Stations of the Cross, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Marian prayers, Liturgical Sequences, and many other various prayers.
• The back of the book ends with a number of Psalms in both English and Latin.
• They have kept the Gallican Psalter and the Sixto-Clementine edition of the Vulgate, which many Latinist and liturgists substantially prefer to the Nova Vulgata which was commissioned in 1907.

The Negatives:

• The book promotes and includes the Luminous Mysteries which are not actually part of the Rosary and should not be promoted.
• There is no audio pronunciation guide. While it is not something that would be possible to include a book, the obvious drawback is that many people who want to learn Latin simply will not know how to pronounce it even after reading the pronunciation section at the front. Having links to recommended resources to actually listen to the pronunciation is necessary.
• On that note, if you do choose to order the book, I'd highly recommend you check out the English/Latin pronunciation prayer cards made available through PrayLatin.org. They are planning to realize Spanish/Latin cards very soon too. Check them out.

Areas of Future Improvement:

• When it comes to prayer books, I prefer hard copy that is durable and will last a long time. Think of the Raccolta, the Douay Rheims Bible, or other Catholic treasures that stand the passage of time. While the paperback is fine, it just does not have that traditional feel that I'd expect in a book. I don't think it would hold up if put to daily use without the spine and pages showing noticeable wear after only a few weeks.
• I wish the prayers that carried indulgences were marked as such, especially if they referred to the Raccolta's listing.

Regardless if you choose to obtain this book, make it an effort to learn at least the basic prayers of our Faith in the Church's unifying and universal language. And after you master those, expand from there. While God of course hears us in any language, nothing can replace Latin as the unifying language - the counter to the Tower of Babel - which unites peoples from distance lands and various cultures into the one same expression of the Faith. The introduction to the book did give a nice explanation of why pray in Latin before starting on the prayers.