VATICAN CITY, 2 OCT 2010 (VIS) - Yesterday evening in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall, Benedict XVI attended a concert sponsored by ENI, Italy's national electricity company. Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G Major; Cecilia, vergine romana by Arvo Part, and Beethoven's Choral Fantasy in C Minor were performed by the orchestra and choir of the Italian Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
At the end of the performance the Pope expressed his gratitude to ENI, which is currently financing restoration work on the Vatican Basilica.
Going on then to refer to the music itself, Benedict XVI remarked how "the combination of a work on St. Cecilia with compositions by Haydn and Beethoven, presents a contrast rich in meaning, one which invites us to reflect. The piece concerning the martyrdom of the saint, and the particular style with which it is rendered into music, seem to represent the place and role of faith in the universe: in the midst of the living forces of nature, which surround man and are also in him, faith is a different force, one which responds to a profound word 'that emerges from silence' as St. Ignatius of Antioch would say.
"The word of faith", the Pope added, "has need of great inner silence in order to listen and obey a voice which lies beyond the visible and tangible world. This voice speaks through natural phenomena, because it is the power that created and governs the universe. But to recognise it we need a humble and obedient heart, something also taught us by the saint whose feast day falls today: St. Therese of the Child Jesus".
And Benedict XVI concluded: "Faith follows this profound voice in places that even art itself cannot reach alone. It follows it along the path of witness, in the giving of self for love, as Cecilia did. Thus the most beautiful work of art, the masterpiece of human beings, is each of their acts of authentic love: from the smallest (in everyday sacrifice) unto the extreme sacrifice. At this point life itself becomes a hymn; an anticipation of the symphony we will sing together in heaven".
BXVI-CONCERT/ VIS 20101004 (370)
At the end of the performance the Pope expressed his gratitude to ENI, which is currently financing restoration work on the Vatican Basilica.
Going on then to refer to the music itself, Benedict XVI remarked how "the combination of a work on St. Cecilia with compositions by Haydn and Beethoven, presents a contrast rich in meaning, one which invites us to reflect. The piece concerning the martyrdom of the saint, and the particular style with which it is rendered into music, seem to represent the place and role of faith in the universe: in the midst of the living forces of nature, which surround man and are also in him, faith is a different force, one which responds to a profound word 'that emerges from silence' as St. Ignatius of Antioch would say.
"The word of faith", the Pope added, "has need of great inner silence in order to listen and obey a voice which lies beyond the visible and tangible world. This voice speaks through natural phenomena, because it is the power that created and governs the universe. But to recognise it we need a humble and obedient heart, something also taught us by the saint whose feast day falls today: St. Therese of the Child Jesus".
And Benedict XVI concluded: "Faith follows this profound voice in places that even art itself cannot reach alone. It follows it along the path of witness, in the giving of self for love, as Cecilia did. Thus the most beautiful work of art, the masterpiece of human beings, is each of their acts of authentic love: from the smallest (in everyday sacrifice) unto the extreme sacrifice. At this point life itself becomes a hymn; an anticipation of the symphony we will sing together in heaven".
BXVI-CONCERT/ VIS 20101004 (370)
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