Maria Arnelöf Posted November 7 Report Share Posted November 7 Can someone please help me check if my translation is correct? "Banner bearer Holy Michael, light my way" Signifer Sancte Michael, illumina viam meam Thank you! //Maria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guidoLaMoto Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 Optime!......Hoc verum est.....although an ancient Roman may have used the dative of possession- mihi- instead of meam. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guidoLaMoto Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 After further cogitation, I thought maybe it would be a tad presumptuous to make a demand (imperative mode) of a saint, so maybe the more supplicative mode (subjunctive) would be in order-- illumines viam meam (may you light my way)-- but then I recalled my youth-- "Ave Maria......ora pro nobis peccatoribus....." The imperative is used there. (I'm so old, we didn't have History Class in school, only Current Events.) So your translation is good. When begging a favor, I always pray to the lesser known saints. I figure they're not very busy and would appreciate the attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guy Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 (edited) On 11/7/2024 at 7:39 AM, Maria Arnelöf said: Can someone please help me check if my translation is correct? "Banner bearer Holy Michael, light my way" Signifer Sancte Michael, illumina viam meam I asked a professor of Classics. He said the translation is good. "No problem on the translation. What your friend has is accurate in vocabulary, grammar and word order. Ready for a tattoo or motto! Signifer Sancte Michael, illumina viam meam" guy Edited November 9 by guy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria Arnelöf Posted November 10 Author Report Share Posted November 10 On 11/9/2024 at 3:02 PM, guidoLaMoto said: After further cogitation, I thought maybe it would be a tad presumptuous to make a demand (imperative mode) of a saint, so maybe the more supplicative mode (subjunctive) would be in order-- illumines viam meam (may you light my way)-- but then I recalled my youth-- "Ave Maria......ora pro nobis peccatoribus....." The imperative is used there. (I'm so old, we didn't have History Class in school, only Current Events.) So your translation is good. When begging a favor, I always pray to the lesser known saints. I figure they're not very busy and would appreciate the attention. I understand your point how ever it can be interpreted as a prayer or call in all humility. This is from where I came when I put the sentence together anyways Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria Arnelöf Posted November 10 Author Report Share Posted November 10 By the way....I asked a catholic priest about what he thought. He answered that it would be even better to say "Holy Michael, powerful (strong) banner bearer, light my way". However that sentence (loosely translated from his Swedish sentence) that would be far too long, imv. I have also sent a mail to the university where I live but have yet to hear from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria Arnelöf Posted November 10 Author Report Share Posted November 10 22 hours ago, guy said: I asked a professor of Classics. He said the translation is good. "No problem on the translation. What your friend has is accurate in vocabulary, grammar and word order. Ready for a tattoo or motto! Signifer Sancte Michael, illumina viam meam" guy Thank you, thank you so much for your answer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria Arnelöf Posted November 10 Author Report Share Posted November 10 On 11/9/2024 at 11:38 AM, guidoLaMoto said: Optime!......Hoc verum est.....although an ancient Roman may have used the dative of possession- mihi- instead of meam. You mean: "Signifer Sancte Michael, illumina viam mihi"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria Arnelöf Posted November 10 Author Report Share Posted November 10 On 11/9/2024 at 3:02 PM, guidoLaMoto said: .....I figure they're not very busy and would appreciate the attention. I beg to differ. Not that they might find my prayer insignificant but I have faith they could handle anything, including passing it on to a "lesser" saint if needed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guidoLaMoto Posted November 11 Report Share Posted November 11 (edited) On 11/10/2024 at 11:58 AM, Maria Arnelöf said: You mean: "Signifer Sancte Michael, illumina viam mihi"? The ancients were apparently big on the dative of possession-. We don't have that construction in English, so I have trouble dealing with it....Ecclesiastical Latin doesn't seem to use it, as I recall, so I would go with "meam "....If you use mihi it could also translate "light the way for me." I was joking about The Saints. I figure God must have a good sense of humor-- Have you ever watched people at Walmart? Edited November 11 by guidoLaMoto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria Arnelöf Posted November 12 Author Report Share Posted November 12 (edited) 12 hours ago, guidoLaMoto said: The ancients were apparently big on the dative of possession-. We don't have that construction in English, so I have trouble dealing with it....Ecclesiastical Latin doesn't seem to use it, as I recall, so I would go with "meam "....If you use mihi it could also translate "light the way for me." I was joking about The Saints. I figure God must have a good sense of humor-- Have you ever watched people at Walmart? Haha, nope. We don´t have Walmart here but I get your drift Yes, I´m leaning more towards the ecclesiastical Latin a.t.m. But must say that everything Roman "ancient speak" is the coolest. Edited November 12 by Maria Arnelöf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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