Mater gaudet, quia infans nunc bene valet.

Mater is the nominative singular form, used because it is the subject of gaudet: the mother is the one doing the rejoicing.

It belongs to the third declension. Its basic forms are:

• mater = nominative singular
• matris = genitive singular

So in this sentence, mater means mother as the subject.

Latin normally has no articles. It does not have separate words for the or a/an.

So:

• mater can mean mother, a mother, or the mother
• infans can mean infant, an infant, or the infant

You decide from context which English translation sounds best.

Gaudet means rejoices, is glad, or is happy.

It comes from the verb gaudere = to rejoice / be glad.

The ending -et tells you it is:

• present tense
• third person singular
• active
• indicative

So gaudet literally means he/she/it rejoices. Here the subject is mater, so: the mother rejoices or the mother is glad.

Quia means because. It introduces a clause that gives the reason for the mother’s happiness:

• Mater gaudet = the mother is glad
• quia infans nunc bene valet = because the infant is now well

So quia is a subordinating conjunction linking the main idea to its cause.

Infans is also nominative singular, because it is the subject of valet.

In the clause infans nunc bene valet, the infant is the one who is well.

Infans is a third-declension noun. Its dictionary form is:

• infans
• infantis

Its stem is infant-, but the nominative singular is infans.

Infans literally means not speaking in origin, and it often means:

• infant
• baby
• sometimes young child

The exact age is determined by context. In this sentence, English often translates it as the baby or the infant.

Nunc means now. It is an adverb.

Here it modifies the whole idea bene valet:

• infans nunc bene valet = the infant is well now / is now doing well

Latin word order is fairly flexible, so nunc could appear in other places without changing the basic meaning. Its position here is natural and clear.

Bene valet is a very common Latin way to say is well, is healthy, or is doing well.

Breaking it down:

• bene = well
• valet = literally is strong, is well, is in good health

So together, bene valet means something like is in good health.

This is more idiomatic Latin than trying to say something like is good.

Because Latin distinguishes between:

• being good as a quality: bonus est = he/she is good
• being well/healthy: bene valet = he/she is well

In English, good and well can sometimes overlap in casual speech, but Latin usually uses valere for health or physical well-being.

So if the meaning is that the infant has recovered or is healthy, bene valet is the right expression.

Because its subject, infans, is singular.

Valet is the third person singular present form of valere. It means:

• he is well
• she is well
• it is well

Since infans is one infant, the singular verb is required.

The word order is not fixed the way it usually is in English. Latin uses noun endings and verb endings to show grammatical relationships, so the words can often move around.

For example, these would still mean essentially the same thing:

• Mater gaudet, quia infans nunc bene valet.
• Quia infans nunc bene valet, mater gaudet.
• Mater, quia nunc bene valet infans, gaudet.

However, different word orders can change emphasis or sound more or less natural. The given sentence is a straightforward, natural arrangement.

Latin verb endings do show the person and number:

• gaudet = he/she/it rejoices
• valet = he/she/it is well

So technically Latin could sometimes omit the subject if it is already clear.

But here the nouns are included because they identify who is glad and who is well:

• mater = the mother
• infans = the infant

Including them makes the sentence fully explicit and easy to understand.

In a common Classical Latin pronunciation, you could say it roughly like this:

• Mater = MAH-ter
• gaudet = GOW-det (with au like ow in cow)
• quia = often KWI-a
• infans = IN-fahns
• nunc = noonk
• bene = BEH-neh
• valet = WAH-let

So the whole sentence is roughly:

MAH-ter GOW-det, KWI-a IN-fahns noonk BEH-neh WAH-let.

If you are learning ecclesiastical pronunciation, some sounds would differ, but the grammar stays the same.