On Friday, Pope Benedict XVI received participants of the 33rd international congress of Pueri Cantores, a group founded in 1965 to promote the performance of liturgical music by school children. We would all do well to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the following excerpts of his remarks to the group.
"It is particularly appropriate at Christmas to sing the praises of the Lord and to express our happiness, following the example of the Virgin Mary, who was the first to give thanks to the Lord for the mystery of the Incarnation, in the Magnificat, which the Church repeats from generation to generation.
"The Second Vatican Council also recalled how much the Church values the role of those who, in their song, contribute to the the beauty of the liturgy." Because "Christ is present when the Church prays and sings, joining us with the Church in Heaven.
The Pope underlined the important mission of the Pueri Cantores in "helping the people of God pray with dignity,"because sacred music is a "ministerial function of the Divine Service." When the "Church prays, sings or acts, the faith of the participants is nourished and their souls are lifted up to God to pay him spiritual homage and receive his grace more abundantly."
Vatican Information Service
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