St. RIchard's Youth Choir at the Vatican, Address of the Holy Father

Our own dear MrsC from Plurk is currently in Rome with her youth choir. They are participating in the Pueri Cantores international congress, and had attended the papal audience. Here is the text of Pope Benedict's address to the attendees:


HOLY FATHER RECEIVES THE "PUERI CANTORES"


VATICAN CITY, 30 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received participants in an international congress of the International Federation of "Pueri Cantores", currently being held in Rome.

The Pope addressed the group in English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Polish and Ukrainian. "As you use your talents and your faith to sing God's praises, you give voice to the natural desire of every human being to glorify Him, with songs of love", he said. "Yet beautiful music is able to express something of the mystery of God's love for us and ours for Him, as we are reminded by the theme chosen for your Congress: 'Deus Caritas Est'".

"Always remember that your singing is a service. Firstly, it is a service to God, a way of giving Him the praise that is due. It is also a service to your fellow worshippers, helping them to raise their hearts and minds to the Lord in prayer. And it is a service to the whole Church, offering a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy that is the goal of all true worship, when the choirs of angels and saints unite in one unending song of love and praise".

AC/ VIS 20101230 (210)

Published by VISarchive 02 - Thursday, December 30, 2010