June 21 is the day on which we officially welcome summer! To give it a warm welcome, concerts and events celebrating music are held in many Italian cities! It is a true “Music Festival,” an event that began in France in 1982 and later spread throughout Europe.
Music is an art that expresses beauty, and never as in this year – when we can still feel the aftermath of the pandemic – have we needed beauty so much! In this regard, Saint Paul VI, at the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, stated: «This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to fall into despair. Beauty, like truth, brings joy to the hearts of men and women and is a precious fruit that withstands the wear of time, unites generations, and enables them to communicate through admiration» .
Indeed, music is a universal and timeless language that inspires joy and brings people together; it has the extraordinary ability to reach the heart and create harmony among mind, body, and soul, bringing order when we feel agitated for some reason. Many have called it a “cure” for the soul: when we listen to a beautiful song or gentle music with our eyes closed, it seems as though we almost reach another dimension. Precisely because of this ability, music is one of the principal means of drawing closer to God. Indeed, according to Bach, «the purpose of music is nothing other than the glory of God and the recreation of the mind».
The priest and composer Marco Frisina says that, through music, we express what we cannot communicate with words. As notes follow one another harmoniously, they foster within us a harmony with the Creator; in this case, music opens the heart, transforming itself into prayer and praise of God.
Saint Philip Neri gathered the needy and marginalized children and young people of Rome, helping them discover the beauty of God through hymns and popular compositions. Saint Francis, too, loved to end his sermons by singing the Lord’s Lauds and asked his friars to do the same. In this way, he wanted to convey to the people he met the joy that comes from above: true joy, connected to the beauty of Creation and God.
Editrice Shalom wishes everyone a wonderful summer filled with music!
