It is wonderful that we once again have a pope with regal tastes and desires to promote the arts at the Vatican and attend various concerts. This is another grand reversal of Pope Francis by Pope Leo, all the while praising his predecessor—genius!
At the end of the concert, Pope Leo gives a little fervorino and then leads the audience in chanting the Pater Noster in Latin which is robustly chanted by the pope and all in attendance. I can’t imagine Pope Francis being at a concert like this let alone leading the chanting of the Pater Noster in Latin.
9 comments:
Just wonderful. The All Highest K and MT Suit must be depressed!
A beautiful concert.
I appreciate Pope Leo XIV, in line with his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis (requiescat in pace), having praised the Sistine Chapel's Christmas Concert.
In 2020 A.D., for example, Pope Francis declared:
"I greet all of you most cordially and I thank you for your presence.
"In his famous Message to Artists on 8 December 1965, at the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, Saint Paul VI described them as being “in love with beauty”.
"Dear artists, in a special way you are “guardians of beauty in our world”.
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This year, in eloquent, profound fashion, Pope Leo XIV declared:
"Who were the spectators and witnesses of that first "Christmas concert"?
"They were — we know — some shepherds from Bethlehem, who, after seeing the Child in the manger, with Mary and Joseph, returned praising and thanking God.
"And I like to think that they also did so by singing and perhaps playing a rudimentary flute.
"But there is another place where heavenly music resounded on that holy night. A silent, recollected, and deeply sensitive place: I am speaking, of course, of the heart of Mary, the woman chosen by God to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word.
"Let us learn from her to listen in silence to the Lord's voice, to faithfully follow the part He entrusts to us in the score of life."
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Pope Leo XIV is a holy, exceptional, Roman Pontiff.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
With Father McDonald's permission:
GREETING OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SISTINE CHAPEL'S CHRISTMAS CONCERT
Sistine Chapel
Saturday, January 3, 2026
"Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Authorities, Dear Brothers and Sisters!
"I would like to thank the Sistine Chapel Choir , which in this concert led us to meditate on the mystery of Christmas through the language of music and song, a language capable of speaking not only to the mind but also to the heart.
"I congratulate the Conductor, Monsignor Marcos Pavan, and the Maestro dei Pueri , Michele Marinelli.
"There is no Christmas without carols. Everywhere in the world, in every language and nation, the event of Bethlehem is celebrated with music and song.
"And it could not be otherwise, since the Gospel itself recounts that, when the Virgin Mary gave birth to the Savior, the angels in heaven sang "Glory to God and peace on earth" (cf. Luke 2:13-14).
Who were the spectators and witnesses of that first "Christmas concert"?
"They were —we know — some shepherds from Bethlehem, who, after seeing the Child in the manger, with Mary and Joseph, returned praising and thanking God (see Luke 2:20). And I like to think that they also did so by singing and perhaps playing a rudimentary flute.
"But there is another place where heavenly music resounded on that holy night.
"A silent, recollected, and deeply sensitive place: I am speaking, of course, of the heart of Mary, the woman chosen by God to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word.
"Let us learn from her to listen in silence to the Lord's voice, to faithfully follow the part He entrusts to us in the score of life.
"Dearest ones, I would like to dedicate this Concert to the children who, in so many parts of the world, experienced this Christmas without lights, without music, without even the necessities of human dignity, and without peace.
"May the Lord, to whom we have chosen to raise our songs of praise this evening, hear the silent cry of these little ones, and grant the world, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, justice and peace.
"Thanks again to the Sistine Chapel and best wishes for a Happy New Year to all of you!"
[Applause]
I dare to invite all of us to sing the Pater Noster in this beautiful Sistine Chapel.
[Song and blessing]
Best wishes to everyone!
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Pax.
Mark Thomas
There are folks who are not keen with such images of a Pope sitting in regal splendor and comfort, attending a concert...as millions of Catholics/non-Catholics are consigned to lives in filth, war zones...immense poverty, hunger...in Gaza, for example.. Sewage.
Popes, Cardinals, bishops, priests, eat well...live easy lives.
I also am far removed from the hunger, poverty, and dreadful living conditions to which many of my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ are consigned.
I have long respected Pope Francis' (requiescat in pace) humility...his unease in regard to splendor...trappings. Nevertheless, he promoted the arts.
I appreciate the following from Pope Leo XIV:
"Dearest ones, I would like to dedicate this Concert to the children who, in so many parts of the world, experienced this Christmas without lights, without music, without even the necessities of human dignity, and without peace.
"May the Lord, to whom we have chosen to raise our songs of praise this evening, hear the silent cry of these little ones, and grant the world, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, justice and peace."
However, the sight of the Pope enjoying in comfort and splendor, a concert...as immense suffering engulfs much of humanity...does not sit well with various folks.
Pope Francis understood that.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
There’s for show and then there’s for shoe. True humility is receiving humbly what is given to you.
So Pope Leo does not understand that? I thought he unfailingly did the will of God in being our Chief Sanctifier, just like Alexander VI, Formosus, Stephen VI and so many more. Awkward.
Nick
Also, there’s a bit of a meme among younger folks that amounts to “how dare you enjoy anything when bad things are happening in the world!” It’s interesting that MT praises the Tremendous Oracle’s ostentatiously humble (and obvious) unenjoyment of things, for the sake of pleasing certain particularly scoldy men (and probably women, too).
Remember the phone calls taken during papal audiences? And the watch-checking? He sure made it known how much he wouldn’t even appear to be comfortable. How very humble!
Nick
Nick,
Francis frequently used profanity - quite the oracle of God! There are a lot of standard profanities that apply to Francis! Thank God he is now just a bad memory and no longer actively malevolent!
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