Verba Ecclesia

This app is intended for the use of genealogical, or family history, researchers who are working with old church records written in ecclesiastical Latin. It has evolved from a personal collection of Latin phrases encountered while researching the ‘Slovakia Church and Synagogue Books, 1592-1910’ collection on FamilySearch.org. Upon discovering the dictionary, "Anyakönyvvezetők szótára" (English Translation: "Registrar's Dictionary”), many of the Latin words and phrases found in that book were added to the collection.

The dictionary, "Anyakönyvvezetők szótára”, was published in 1923 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kosice in present-day Slovakia. Written by Father Bertalan Szokolszky, the book was intended for use by those individuals tasked by the Church with creating vital records. In it, Father Szokolszky made an effort to standardize the terminology to be used in those records. This book codified these accepted and standardized words and phrases in each of the four languages being used in that area at the time: Magyar, Slovak, German, and Latin.