Music and art join earth to heaven

Christian art reflects beauty of God - pope

By CAROL GLATZ
Catholic News Service
Vatican City

Christian-inspired art, architecture and music are not dead artifacts from the past, but are living treasures reflecting the beauty of God and the joy of being a child of God, Pope Benedict said.

The Christian culture is “born out of faith, born from the heart of one who has encountered Christ” and has felt his truth and love, he said.

As long as this “faith stays alive, this cultural heritage does not die, but stays alive and timely,” he said during his May 21 general audience.

The pope focused his catechesis on the life and contribution of St. Romanus the Melodist, a sixth-century poet and composer.

He said this patron saint of Church singers shows how powerful “symbolic communication” is when it “joins earth to heaven” in the liturgy and “uses imagery, poetry and song to lift our minds to God’s truth.”

Joy of God’s children

Byzantine icons “are not things from the past,” but still “speak to the hearts of believers today,” the pope said.

“Cathedrals are not medieval monuments, but houses of life where we are at home encountering God, meeting one another,” he said.

“Great music” like that created by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the composers of Gregorian chant, the pope said, is not a thing of the past, but lives on “in the vitality of the liturgy of our faith.”

The pope said creativity and innovation that bring in a new Christian culture do not discard Christianity’s cultural past, but are part of the same, continuous heritage and represent “one single reality.”

“The beauty of God, the joy of being a child of God are present” in all Christian-inspired art, both traditional and modern.

The pope said if one’s faith is alive then Christian culture will always be renewed and the faithful will be able to do as one psalmist implores: “Sing to the Lord a new song.”

Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 -- Western Catholic Reporter