{"id":6184,"date":"2020-03-02T03:30:33","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T02:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/words-of-the-popes\/s-john-paul-ii\/meeting-with-the-cantors-in-the-courtyard-of-san-damaso-3-31-1981\/"},"modified":"2021-08-10T11:01:11","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T10:01:11","slug":"meeting-with-the-cantors-in-the-courtyard-of-san-damaso-3-31-1981","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/words-of-the-popes\/s-john-paul-ii\/meeting-with-the-cantors-in-the-courtyard-of-san-damaso-3-31-1981\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting with the cantors in the courtyard of San D\u00e1maso 3-31-1981"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Meeting with the cantors in the courtyard of San D\u00e1maso 3-31-1981<\/h1>\n\n
<\/div>\n\n

St. John Paul II<\/h4>\n\n
<\/div>\n\n

In the courtyard of San D\u00e1maso. Rome, March 31, 1981<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

More than three thousand cantor-psalmists<\/em> \nfrom many Neocatechumenal Communities in Italy ended yesterday <\/i>afternoon the national convivence organized to prepare the songs of the<\/em> \nEaster Vigil, finishing in the courtyard of San D\u00e1maso in the presence of the Holy Father.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

The singer-psalmists, gathered all day yesterday in a retreat in \nRome, wanted to have a meeting with the Pope to offer him, through \nsong, a sign of Christian witness and its heartfelt meaning. In the Neocatechumenal Communities, more than two thousand in all of Italy, the cantor-psalmist is one who, even though he has no gift for singing or a particular musical sensitivity, \ninterprets the song as a prayer and conveys to others the sense of this prayer-song. Yesterday afternoon, guided by Kiko Arg\u00fcello, the \nfounder of the Neocatechumenal Communities, they offered to the Holy Father the fruit of Kiko’s intense work and preparation, playing some psalms adapted to a more modern style and some significant songs which by their execution, they hope to bring alive during the Easter Vigil, to the brothers themselves, the true hope of the Resurrection. \nIn this regard, it was extraordinarily significant the song \nperformed yesterday afternoon for the Pope by a group of children belonging to four Neocatechumenal Communities in Rome.<\/p>\n\n

“Why,” asked these children who \nwere four to six years old- “is this night \ndifferent? Why do we go to bed every night after \nhaving dinner, and tonight we are up late and have been fasting? Why on other nights we expect nothing and this \nnight are we waiting for someone? Is it that this night is different from all other?” The entire community responds by singing the joy of \nResurrection.<\/p>\n\n

“Thus,” Kiko explained to the Holy Father, “we will live our Easter together with our brothers and our children.”<\/p>\n\n

The Holy Father, once the songs were finished, wanted to thank them for the meeting he so strongly desired and the \ntestimony that, with their songs, they came to bring him.<\/p>\n\n

“I want you to prepare well for this great \nmystery of the Paschal Night. The Church -said the Holy Father, later- \nprepares to celebrate the Paschal Night of the Lord, the night of his \nResurrection, throughout this whole period of Lent. It does it so that \nthe Lord find our hearts ready, mature, mature at his \nmystery, mature to his love. It is certainly with the testimony of the \nWord of God and with gestures of love that we should mature for this \nnight and for this definitive love that has been revealed in the Paschal Night. So I wish you to prepare well for this great mystery, \nwhich is at the center of our faith, and is also at the center of the \nhistory of man and the universe. \nI have met you other times in different Roman parishes and I hope \nthat in these parishes you collaborate with the priests and also with the \nbishops in the sectors of the diocese of Rome, with the Cardinal Vicar, for this is how you affirm your paschal enthusiasm. Easter is the \nday of the Church. In the Church, as a whole, in your life we \u200b\u200bmust \nlook for a space, an authentic space for our religious enthusiasm \nand for our apostolate. \nI would like to thank you for your visit, for all these very beautiful religious songs, and sung with great strength, with great enthusiasm. \nI thank you for this visit and I bless you all, I bless your \nfamilies and your children, these who took part \nin a very special and very beautiful way this afternoon.<\/p>\n\n

I would still like to say a special word \nfor all those near you who suffer: transmit this \nword, this memory of the Pope to all of them, because spiritually \nI hold them very close, since they participate in a special way in the \nPassion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus participating in the mystery of \nHis Passion, they prepare us for his Easter. \nFinally I want to bless you also blessing all the people \nthat, in Rome and also in all the other cities of Italy and outside of \nItaly, they are loved by you.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meeting with the cantors in the courtyard of San D\u00e1maso 3-31-1981 St. John Paul II In the courtyard of San D\u00e1maso. Rome, March 31, 1981 More than three thousand cantor-psalmists from many Neocatechumenal Communities in Italy ended yesterday afternoon the national convivence organized to prepare the songs of the Easter Vigil, finishing in the courtyard of San D\u00e1maso in the presence of the Holy Father. The singer-psalmists, gathered all day<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":3033,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6184","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6184"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24025,"href":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6184\/revisions\/24025"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}