Benedict XVI. "May God keep watch over the Vatican State" "Let us ask the Lord, who firmly guides the fate of the Barque of Peter through the events of history that are not always peaceful, to continue …More
Benedict XVI. "May God keep watch over the Vatican State"
"Let us ask the Lord, who firmly guides the fate of the Barque of Peter through the events of history that are not always peaceful, to continue to watch over this small State." Benedict XVI recalled the Vatican City State's 80 years at the end of a concert that included excerpts from Handel's "Messiah." The concert was performed Thursday night in the Paul VI Hall by "Our Lady's Choral Society of Dublin" and the "RTE Concert Orchestra," directed by Maestro Proinnsias O'Duinn. The Holy Father also asked the Lord to assist him, as the Successor of Peter, to faithfully and efficiently carry out his own ministry "at the foundation of unity of the Catholic Church, that has its visible center in the Vatican and which stretches to the ends of the earth." Referring to the concert he had just heard, the Holy Father stressed that "music as art can be a particularly good way to announce Christ, because it makes mystery perceptible with an eloquence completely its own." He concluded that it appears evident that music and song, "thanks to their skillful intertwining with faith, can be of high educational value in religious areas."
"Let us ask the Lord, who firmly guides the fate of the Barque of Peter through the events of history that are not always peaceful, to continue to watch over this small State." Benedict XVI recalled the Vatican City State's 80 years at the end of a concert that included excerpts from Handel's "Messiah." The concert was performed Thursday night in the Paul VI Hall by "Our Lady's Choral Society of Dublin" and the "RTE Concert Orchestra," directed by Maestro Proinnsias O'Duinn. The Holy Father also asked the Lord to assist him, as the Successor of Peter, to faithfully and efficiently carry out his own ministry "at the foundation of unity of the Catholic Church, that has its visible center in the Vatican and which stretches to the ends of the earth." Referring to the concert he had just heard, the Holy Father stressed that "music as art can be a particularly good way to announce Christ, because it makes mystery perceptible with an eloquence completely its own." He concluded that it appears evident that music and song, "thanks to their skillful intertwining with faith, can be of high educational value in religious areas."