Expert: Maria - 1/18/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hi Maria,
I am looking to purchase a bronze statue for a friend and colleague who is retiring from the Fire Service after 30 years.  I would like to have a Latin inscription to accompany the statue (St Florian - our patron saint).
I was thinking about someting like "Saint Florian (is it Sanctus Florianus?)shield us from the flames" or "Saint Florian watch over us" or a similar invocation. Could you help me please?
Grazie
Gary

ANSWER: Hello Gary,

“Saint Florian shield us from the flames" translates as “Sancte Floriane, nos a flammis protege” or “Sancte Floriane, nos a flammis defende”, while  "Saint Florian watch over us" corresponds to “Sancte Floriane, nos quaeso custodi “.

See below for grammatical analysis.

Cordiali saluti.
Maria
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Note that:

-Saint = SANCTE (vocative of the adjective SANCTUS agreed with the name FLORIANE)

-Florian = FLORIANE (vocative case of the name FLORIANUS)

-shield = PROTEGE (2nd.person singular, imperative of PROTEGO, I shield) or DEFENDE (2nd.person singular, imperative of DEFENDO, I shield)

-us = NOS (direct object, accusative case)

-from = A (preposition which takes the ablative case)

-the flames = FLAMMIS (ablative plural of FLAMMA, flame)

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-Saint = SANCTE (vocative of the adjective SANCTUS agreed with the name FLORIANE)

-Florian = FLORIANE (vocative case of the name FLORIANUS)

-watch over= CUSTODI (2nd.person singular, imperative of CUSTODIO, I watch over)

-us = NOS (direct object, accusative case)


Note that in the second  translation “Sancte Floriane, nos quaeso custodi “ I’ve added the interjection QUAESO as a polite expression of entreaty meaning ‘I beseech you', ‘I pray', ‘Please’.

As you can see, Latin word order can be different from English. Latin  is in fact an inflected language where syntactical relationships are indicated by the endings of each term, not by the order of the words.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Mille Grazie Maria!

Could I please ask: when you refer to vocative does that mean speaking the name or his name spoken as part of a dialogue as opposed to say - seeing a manuscript or picture of the Saint; in which case he would be described as Sanctus Florianus?

Finally Maria,

I have the resposibility for organising this officer's gift and I am anticipating that some contributors to this gift may wish for an alternative quote.  In preparation I have found a small biblical verse (or part of) from Jude 23; "'snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy" would you have a moment please to translate this?
Ti Ringrazi
Gary

ANSWER: Hello,

The vocative case denotes an invocation as in “Saint Florian shield us from the flames"  or "Saint Florian watch over us" where the English “Saint Florian” (Latin, “Sancte Floriane” ) followed by the imperatives “shield “ / “watch over” indicates that we are invoking this Saint so that he protects us.

On the contrary  “Sanctus Florianus”, which is the nominative case, is used as a subject of a phrase like in “Sanctus Florianus nos custodit/ defendit/protegit” (“Saint Florian watches  over us / shields us”)where the verbs "custodit/ defendit/protegit” are in the present indicative.


As for Jude 23 “snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy" [New International Version ], it is the verse that the apostle Jude addresses to his coreligionists to urge them to snatch others from the fire of impiety and save them from the Godless Men “who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit”(Jude 19).

As you can see, these words have nothing to do with Saint Florian, the patron saint of the firefighters, since the fire mentioned in this verse refers metaphorically  to the fire of impiety and sin.

So, I don’t think that such a verse is suitable for your purpose.
Anyway, let me know what you are thinking about.

Best regards,
Maria


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Maria,

Thank you for your explanation of the meaning behind Jude's address.  I fully accept that in its entirety, it's not meant for Firefighters or their creed.  What drew my attention particularly to the excerpt Maria was that this particular segment:- “snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy" fully encapsulates what we do - we rescue from the flames and show mercy to others (rescue from floods, earthquakes road traffic collisions etc)and by rendering medical care at scene.
I suppose that in selecting this phrase Maria, my reasons were more emotive than factual.  It does have a close link with us in an abstract sense.
kind regards
Gary

Answer
Hello,

If you want  a Latin translation of “Snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy”, you can say:

-“Alios ex igne  eripe ac serva; aliis misericordiam adhibe”.

I think that such a Latin phrase could be an appropriate  inscription to accompany the statue of St Florian.

Best regards,
Maria
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Note that:

-Snatch = ERIPE (2nd.person singular, present imperative of ERIPIO)

-others = ALIOS (direct object, accusative plural of ALIUS)

-from = EX ( preposition which takes the ablative case)

-the fire = IGNE (ablative of IGNIS, fire)

-and= AC

-save = SERVA (2nd.person singular, present imperative of  SERVO)

-them = omitted in Latin

-to others = ALIIS (ablative  plural  of ALIUS)

-show = ADHIBE (2nd.person singular, present imperative of  ADHIBEO)

-mercy = MISERICORDIAM (direct object, accusative of MISERICORDIA, mercy)