Translation Notes #3: Capitalisation

For my goal of translating liturgical texts, I have tried to keep to consistent principles of capitalization, which are detailed here:

Capitalize:

• Proper Names
  • Names of individuals (Joachim, Anna)
  • Place names (Alexandria, Constantinople)
  • Names of sacraments (Baptism, Confession)
• Proper Nouns
  • Categories of saints (Martyrs, Confessors, Apostles)
  • Epithets (the Great, the Trophy-bearer)
  • Objects of veneration when used as proper nouns (the Cross)
  • Titles when directly connected to a proper name without intervening commas (Patriarch of Constantinople, Archbishop Gregory)
• Adjectives when directly connected to a proper name (Great and Holy Pascha, Holy Baptism)

Note: Words are directly connected when there is no intervening punctuation or words except for articles, conjunctions, and prepositions. For example, in "St. Basil the Great," "St.," "Basil," and "Great" are directly connected.

Do not capitalize:

• Common nouns, including names of objects in the temple (altar, sanctuary)
• Pronouns, including those referring to God
  • The capitalization of divine pronouns is relatively late, beginning in the 19th century.
• Adjectives when not directly connected to a proper name (holy and glorious Great-martyr George)
• Titles when not directly connected to a proper name (our archbishop, Gregory)

Here is an example text that follows these principles:

Save, O God, thy people, and bless thine inheritance, visit thy cosmos with mercy and compassion, exalt the horn of Orthodox Christians, and send down upon us thy rich mercies. Through the intercessions of our all-immaculate Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary; through the power of thy precious and life-giving Cross; through the protections of the honourable and heavenly Bodiless Powers; through the supplications of the honorable and glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John; of the holy, glorious, and all-praised Apostles; of our Fathers among the Saints, Great Hierarchs, and Œcumenical Teachers Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom; of Athanasius, Cyril, and John the Merciful, Patriarchs of Alexandria; of Nicholas of Myra in Lycia, Spyridon the Bishop of Tremithus, and Nectarios of Pentapolis, the Wonderworkers; of the holy and glorious Greatmartyrs George the Trophy-bearer, Demetrius the Myrrh-streamer, Theodore the Recruit, Theodore the Commander, and Menas the Wonderworker; of the Hieromartyrs Charalambos and Eleutherius, of the holy and glorious Greatmartyrs Thecla, Barbara, Anastasia, Kyriake, Photine, Marina, Paraskeve, and Irene; of the holy and victorious Martyrs, of our venerable and God-bearing Fathers, of the holy [patron saint of the temple], of the holy and righteous Ancestors of God Joachim and Anna, of the holy [saint of the day], and of all thy saints we beg thee, O only greatly-merciful Lord, hearken unto us sinners who pray unto thee, and have mercy on us.