Rusticatio Omnibus Experience: Summer 2019
Frater Paschalis, Ordinis Sancti Benedicti, vel simpliciter “Fra”
Br. Paschal Pautler, O.S.B.
St. Bernard Abbey, Cullman, Alabama, USA
It was not until the third day that I realized I had only been thinking in the present moment. I was not thinking of what was going on back at my home, some 700 miles south; I was not thinking about what would be for lunch in a few hours; I was not thinking about what I had learned yesterday. No. My whole experience was in the present moment. And better yet, my whole present moment was in Latin. Yet, I only realized that fact on the third day. Thinking in the present moment may seem like an odd detail to focus on as I recount my first experience at Rusticatio Omnibus, yet I think that detail is what makes Rusticatio such a success, such a phenomenal program.
While some might think that being surrounded by a foreign language is sufficient to learn the language, that is not the case. Immersion, as we know from its Latin root, means to be dipped in something. Immersion means to absorb and be changed by that in which we are immersed. That complete dipping, being baptized by full immersion as one might say, is what Rusticatio Omnibus created for me.
Instead of letting my nerves get the best of me or keep me at a distance from real learning, the relaxed environment and casual conversation allowed me to live in the Latin moment. Instead of worrying about how to decline nouns or conjugate verbs into the tenses I needed as I told a story at the dinner table, words just came. They were not always right or fitted with the perfect ending, yet I was learning nonetheless. Instead of gazing distantly at the sea of Latin around me, I was swimming in it; I was really experiencing and using one of the world’s greatest languages: the Latin language.
The profound immersive learning I experienced was no chance of fate. Undoubtedly it was due to the fine guidance and teaching of the Rusticatio Omnibus staff. These men and women could not have been more kind, more helpful, more enjoyable. The many pictures they drew, explanations they gave, and time they took to listen to my broken sentences were just a few of the pedagogical tools which made my experience of Rusticatio one which has changed my knowledge of Latin.
As a student of Latin and someone who is deeply committed to passing down the Latin language in both the academic and ecclesial worlds, I can say that Rusticatio Omnibus was a life changing experience for me. Rusticatio gave me, for the first extended time, the chance to live in Latin. I therefore recommend Rusticatio Omnibus most highly to anyone who wants to be immersed in Latin, to let the Latin sink in. There is no better way to live in the Latin moment.