Little Choir of the Antoniano, John Paul II, 14 May 1979

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II
TO THE BOYS OF THE "LITTLE CHOIR OF THE ANTONIANO"
OF BOLOGNA

Monday, 14 May 1979

Beloved!

My cordial and affectionate welcome to you, boys of the "Little Choir of the Antoniano", to your dear parents and to the good Franciscan Fathers. I know you have greatly desired this meeting, to manifest to me all your affection and enthusiasm. I, too, am happy to be able to satisfy you at this Audience, short though it is.

In the first place I wish to tell you my appreciation for the well-deserved "fame" you have acquired in these years with your attractive musical performances, which have found favour not only with boys of your own age, but also with adults. And this is because in your songs you often give, with great simplicity, a harmonious and concordant voice to the feelings by which man lives and which belong to his deepest being: love and solidarity for others, especially the neediest, affection and gratitude for those who do us good, the value of friendship, the need of justice, truth, the desire for beauty, respect for nature...

May your songs, limpid and crystalline, always rise to exalt these great values; but let your songs and your hearts rise especially to exalt, worship, and thank God the Father for everything he has done and continues to do for us. "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord", the Psalmist exclaims (Ps 104:33 f.).

Joy! Be bearers and transmitters of it. It is true: singing is the highest language with which man expresses his feelings, with hope, expectation, love, anguish, sorrow, but especially joy. Always sing of joy, joy of living, of being at peace with yourselves, with others, with God. Always be good; always be friends, sincere brothers of Jesus; put into practice, according to your possibilities, the teachings of the Gospel; communicate this Christian joy to your little companions and schoolmates; give it to grown-ups, who sometimes seem to have lost the sense of real joy.

To all of you, to your parents, and to the Franciscan Fathers, my good wishes and my special Apostolic Blessing.