in saecula...

Pax et bonum!
explain "in saecula saeculorum"
is this the same as "in aeternam"?

yupp. it's found quite often in Christian literature. I suppose it is an attempt to mimic Hebrew

mimic Hebrew?

Yes, it probably entered Latin with the translation of the Old Testament, which was originally written in Hebrew.

henrikhank dixit:

mimic Hebrew?

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Yes, expressions like "the king of kings" or "from eternity to eternity" typically stem from Hebrew.

btw, it's in aeternum

At the risk of getting a silly slogan engraved on me, it's a rendering of the Greek "εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων." It occurs in the New Testament nineteen times, but never in the Old Testament. It is similar to "king of kings and lord of lords," but that expression was borrowed from the Persians. Perhaps the Greeks were mimicking the Persians too. Or perhaps the New Testament authors were using Greek to mimic the Hebrew, which was mimicking the Persian.

Eternity is expressed with the same words in the septuaginta already, although rendered differently; e.g. 1.Chr. 16,36:
36 εὐλογημένος κύριος ὁ θεὸς ισραηλ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ ἐρεῖ πᾶς ὁ λαός αμην καὶ ᾔνεσαν τῷ κυρίῳ

The vulgate translates "ab aeterno usque ad aeternum" here, but the Greek has the doubling of a form of αἰών, too, just like in the NT

Since by the time the Septuagint was commissioned Alexander had already borrowed the term βασιλεύς τῶν βασιλέων from the Persians, I'll stick with my Persian hypothesis. At least until some Hebrew scholar proves me wrong. "From age to age," occurs in the Hebrew, but "age of ages" does not.

henrikhank dixit:

explain "in saecula saeculorum"
is this the same as "in aeternam"?

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Strictly speaking, no, but it's commonly interpreted as the same. Saeculum and αἰών both originally referred to a finite period of time. Theologians differ as to how to interpret the phrase, so whether or not it's the same depends on which sect of Christianity you believe, if any.