On iOS, Android & the web

Lingua Sacra

Learn Ecclesiastical Latin through prayer, Scripture, and liturgy.

Start with familiar Catholic prayers, then build toward Mass responses, Vulgate reading, vocabulary, pronunciation, and spaced repetition.

Start free on web
Lingua Sacra Today screen showing daily Latin practice

Designed for prayer, school, choir, seminary, and parish use with web access and native apps.

Seminaries Catholic schools Homeschool families Choir directors Latin Mass communities
197lessons
2,137words
7,536+audio clips

Three steps to reading Latin

01

Find your starting point

Take placement if you already know Latin, or begin with the first prayers and core vocabulary.

02

Practice in context

Hear each word, study grammar in real prayers, then reinforce it through drills, quizzes, and reading.

03

Remember over time

Spaced repetition brings material back before it fades, so vocabulary turns into durable reading fluency.

Everything you need to learn Latin

Lessons screen — Master Church Latin step by step Word-in-context detail — definitions, roots, audio, and examples Today hub — daily quests, word of the day, and the day's challenge Prayer detail — Pater Noster with word-by-word grammar and audio Vulgate reader — John 1 with color-coded grammar tagging Profile — XP, streak, level, lessons completed, and badges Daily Challenge — Vita Nova, seasonal practice tied to the liturgical calendar
01

Structured Lessons

202 lessons across 18 tiers move from first prayers to seminary, patristic, scholastic, magisterial, and manuscript Latin.

02

Words You Can Actually Hear

Definitions, roots, examples, and 7,536 Ecclesiastical recordings make pronunciation part of every study session.

03

A Daily Liturgical Companion

The Today hub ties practice to the Church year with daily quests, a Word of the Day, and focused review.

04

Prayer & Liturgical Library

Study 52 prayers, the full Rosary, major litanies, chant, Mass responses, and daily prayer with word-by-word help.

05

Vulgate Bible Reader

Tap any word in selected Vulgate readings to see meaning, part of speech, form, and root at a glance.

06

Track Your Pilgrimage

See level, XP, streaks, lessons, mastered words, and badges while core lessons and reviews keep working offline.

07

Daily Challenges & Community

Daily challenges, optional sync, study groups, and shared leaderboards support parish, school, and seminary use.

Latin before & after Lingua Sacra

Drag the slider to see how the app transforms unfamiliar Latin into something you can understand

Before
Introibo ad altare Dei. Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam. Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam.
After Lingua Sacra
Introibo (I will go in) ad altare (altar) Dei (of God). Ad Deum (to God) qui laetificat (who gives joy to) juventutem (youth) meam (my). Judica (Judge) me, Deus, et discerne (distinguish) causam (cause) meam...
Nouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Prepositions

← drag to reveal →

Try one sacred Latin card

Tap the card, hear the word, then mark whether it stuck. This is the core Lingua Sacra study loop: Latin, meaning, grammar, and review in one focused moment.

Dominus
DOH-mee-noos
Tap to reveal
Lord, Master
"Dominus vobiscum" — The Lord be with you
2nd Declension, Masculine
Card 1 of 6

Made for Catholic Latin, not generic drills

Context

Prayer, Scripture, and liturgy first

Lessons draw from Mass responses, prayers, the Vulgate, hymns, and Catholic study instead of disconnected sample sentences.

Pronunciation

Ecclesiastical audio throughout

7,536 recordings support the living pronunciation used in Catholic worship, with audio attached to words, prayers, and review.

Depth

A complete path, not a phrase list

202 lessons, 18 tiers, grammar feedback, Vulgate reading, and spaced repetition move learners toward real reading fluency.

Access

Free start, optional Full Access

Core lessons and prayers are free on web and mobile; Full Access unlocks the full curriculum without ads or trial gimmicks.

From first words to seminary Latin

18 tiers, 202 lessons. A complete path through the sacred language.

I

First Steps

9 lessons

Core prayers, basic vocabulary, and your first Latin sentences. Pater Noster, Ave Maria, essential greetings.

II

Foundations

11 lessons

The Mass ordinary, basic grammar, first and second declension nouns. Begin reading simple Scripture passages.

III

Grammar & Scripture

12 lessons

Third declension, verb conjugations, adjective agreement. Read John 1:1–5 and the Magnificat in the original Latin.

IV

Intermediate Latin

13 lessons

Subjunctive mood, relative clauses, passive voice. Tackle the Te Deum, psalms, and longer Vulgate passages.

V

Advanced Grammar

10 lessons

Deponent verbs, ablative absolute, complex sentence structure. Read the Benedictus and extended Gospel passages.

VI

Vulgate Mastery

11 lessons

Extended Vulgate reading. Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, and prophetic texts. Build fluency with sustained Latin prose.

VII

Complex Constructions

13 lessons
NEW

Conditional sentences, gerunds & gerundives, fear clauses, indirect questions. Read Philippians and Romans in the original.

VIII

Reading the Tradition

13 lessons
NEW

Extended readings from Augustine’s Confessions, Aquinas’s Summa, Isaiah, Wisdom, and Jerome. Medieval Latin vocabulary.

IX

Ecclesiastical Latin

15 lessons
NEW

The Ordinary of the Mass, liturgical calendar, conciliar and papal Latin, the Divine Office, canon law, and theological vocabulary.

X

Seminary Capstone

8 lessons

The Armor of God, the Order of the Mass, and the last words of Christ. The capstone of the core path — the sacred language of the Church is now yours.

XI

Patristic Voices

9 lessons
NEW

Drink from the patristic springs — Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, Gregory the Great, Leo, Cyprian, Tertullian, and the Desert Fathers.

XII

Councils & Canon Law

9 lessons
NEW

The Latin of the councils and the canons — Nicaea, Trent, Vatican I and II, papal encyclicals, and the living legal language of the Church.

XIII

Scholastic Philosophy

9 lessons
NEW

Scholastic rigor: Aquinas, Boethius, Scotus and Ockham. The Summa’s structure, the cardinal virtues, metaphysics, and natural theology.

XIV

Latin Composition

9 lessons
NEW

Compose what you have learned to read — hymns, prose, sermons, and letters. Disputation, poetry, and the grand capstone: Lingua Sacra Doctus.

XV

Liturgical Mastery

12 lessons
NEW

The great hymns, sequences, and canticles of the Church: Te Deum, Pange Lingua, Dies Irae, Magnificat, and more.

XVI

Patristic Latin

12 lessons
NEW

Read Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, Leo the Great, Gregory the Great, Benedict, and Bede in the Latin that shaped Christian thought.

XVII

Scholastic & Magisterial

12 lessons
NEW

Aquinas, Trent, Vatican I and II, and modern encyclicals: the precise Latin of doctrine, councils, and magisterial teaching.

XVIII

Codex & Manuscript

10 lessons
NEW

Paleography, nomina sacra, scribal abbreviations, ligatures, and the conventions of medieval Latin manuscripts.

Latin you’ll hear at Mass

Essential responses, short translations, and replayable Ecclesiastical audio.

Greeting
Dominus vobiscum
The Lord be with you
Gloria
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Glory to God in the highest
Creed
Credo in unum Deum
I believe in one God
Sanctus
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Holy, Holy, Holy

Built on proven learning science

Every feature is designed to move Latin from short-term memory into lasting knowledge

01

Spaced repetition

Words return at the right interval: familiar material spaces out, uncertain material comes back sooner.

02

Active recall

Lessons move through Learn, Practice, and Master so recognition becomes production.

03

Grammar-aware feedback

Mistakes surface targeted grammar notes, so corrections explain the pattern behind the answer.

04

Adaptive practice

Mastery checks and 20+ exercise types focus attention on weak forms without turning study into busywork.

Start praying in the Church’s Latin

Preview a core prayer, then keep going with the rotating prayer library inside the app.

Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
This Week
Salve Regina
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae, vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae.
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

A small daily return to Latin

364 phrases keep practice brief, memorable, and tied to the language of prayer.

Today’s Phrase
Deus caritas est
DEH-oos KAH-ree-tahs est
God is love
1 John 4:8

Not sure where to begin?

Take placement in the app to skip what you already know, or start with the first prayer card above.

Frequently asked questions

Is this Classical or Ecclesiastical Latin?

Ecclesiastical (Church) Latin. This is the pronunciation used in the Vatican, in Catholic liturgy worldwide, and in sacred music. It differs from Classical Latin mainly in pronunciation — for example, “c” before “e” or “i” is pronounced “ch” (as in “charity”), not “k”.

Does the app work offline?

Yes for the core native experience: lessons, quizzes, saved progress, prayer text, and bundled review audio work without a connection after install. Some expanded audio, sync, groups, leaderboards, and web content use the network when available.

Do I need any prior Latin knowledge?

Not at all. Lingua Sacra starts from absolute zero. If you do have some background, the built-in placement test lets you skip ahead to the right level so you’re not bored with basics you already know.

How is the pronunciation audio generated?

Lingua Sacra uses high-quality generated audio tuned for Ecclesiastical Latin pronunciation. Each recording is reviewed so it sounds natural, reverent, and close to the way you would hear Latin spoken in a Roman church.

How much does the app cost?

Lingua Sacra is free to download on the App Store, Google Play, and the web. Every account gets a permanent free tier with the first 10 lessons, the four core prayers (Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Gloria Patri, Signum Crucis), Vulgate Genesis and the Gospel of John, the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Mass companion. To unlock the rest — all 202 lessons, every prayer, the full Vulgate, every recording, and all the practice tools — Full Access is $9.99/year (auto-renewing subscription) or $39.99 one-time for lifetime access. No free trial, no ads, no upsells. Purchases restore to your signed-in Lingua Sacra account on every device.

What devices are supported?

Lingua Sacra runs on iPhone (iOS 15+), Android, and any modern web browser at applinguasacra.com/app. Sign in with the same account and your progress follows you across every device. The iOS and Android apps keep the core learning path available offline once installed; the web version always has the latest content.

How does spaced repetition work?

Spaced repetition (SRS) is a proven learning technique. When you get a word right, the app waits longer before showing it again. When you struggle, it shows the word sooner. This optimizes your review time so you remember more with less effort.

Help us improve Lingua Sacra

Begin your journey

Start free on web, iOS, or Android. Full Access unlocks the complete curriculum for $9.99/year or $39.99 lifetime.

Progress syncs across every device you sign in on.

Core lessons work offline on iOS & Android · Always current on the web