"Here life itself becomes a song"

Laatste regels van de toespraak (in Zenits vertaling) van B16 tijdens een concert afgelopen vrijdag in de Paulus VI-zaal van het Vaticaan:

Joining this work [the Cecilia, vergine romana, of Arvo Part] on St. Cecilia to Haydn's and Beethoven's works offers a contrast rich in meaning, which invites us to reflect. The text of the saint's martyrdom and the particular style that interprets it in a musical key, seems to represent the place and task of faith in the universe: In the midst of the vital forces of nature, which are around man and also within him, faith is a different force, which responds to a profound word, "arising from the silence," as St. Ignatius of Antioch would say. The word of faith needs great interior silence, to hear and obey a voice that goes beyond the visible and tangible. This voice also speaks through the phenomena of nature, because it is the power that has created and governs the universe; but to recognize it, a humble and obedient heart is necessary - as the saint teaches, whose memorial we celebrate today: Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Faith follows this profound voice where art on its own cannot reach: It follows it on the path of witness, of selfless giving of oneself out of love, as Cecilia did. Then the most beautiful work of art, the masterpiece of the human being is his every act of genuine love, from the smallest - in the daily martyrdom - to the extreme sacrifice. Here life itself becomes a song: an anticipation of this symphony that we will sing together in Paradise. Thank you again and good evening.