The Spanish daily, La Razon, announced the upcoming publication of new book by Pope Benedict XVI titled, “Praising God With Art.”In it, he illustrates his “passion for music and reflects on art, liturgy and theology.”
In “Praising God With Art,” the Holy Father “writes about theology, Vatican II, art and the liturgy,” and explains how “the beauty of artistic creation is an excellent means for reaching God,” reported La Razon.
“There is a profound relationship between music and hope, between singing and eternal life: it is not in vain that the Christian tradition depicts the blessed spirits singing in choir, in ecstasy and raptured by the beauty of God,” the article pointed out.
“Authentic art, like prayer, does not take us away from daily reality, but rather brings us back to it in order to ‘water it’ and make it germinate so that it bears the fruit of good and peace,” it said.
In the book Pope Benedict XVI “thanks the musicians who play for him at the audiences and official ceremonies,” and he expresses his passion for his favorite composer, Mozart, saying, “Above all he leaves me with a sense of gratitude for having given us all this and for the fact that all of that was given to him.”
The Holy Father also offers a theological and Christian critique of the great musical composers like Beethoven and Schubert, whose music produces a “melodic story that penetrates the soul with sweetness, leading the listener himself to feel the same call to the truth of the heart that goes beyond the reasoning felt by the musician.”
The book includes an introduction by Riccardo Muti, the director of the Opera Theater in Rome.