The Importance of Music and Singing in the Liturgy – Part Two
Below are some comments by Pope Francis at a recent conference (italics are mine):
“Praise is the inspiration which gives us life, because it is intimacy with God, which grows with praise every day. ..Breathing is made up of two phases: to inhale, that is , to bring air inside, and to exhale, to let it go out. The spiritual life is fed , is nourished in prayer and is manifested in the mission: inhaling, prayer, and exhaling. When we inhale , in prayer, we receive the new air of the Spirit and in exhaling it we proclaim Jesus Christ inspired by the same Spirit. No one can live without breathing. The same is true for the Christian: without praise and without the mission he does not live as a Christian- and with praise, adoration. ..Adoration, to adore God. That is part of breathing : praise and adoration.
Praise is not only the prayer of Charismatics but of the whole Church ! It is the acknowledgement of the Lordship of God over us and over the whole of creation expressed in dance,in music and in song.
The prayer of praise is a Christian prayer for all of us. Every day in the Mass, when we sing repeating “Holy, Holy, Holy…” this is a prayer of praise: we praise God for his greatness because He is great. And we say lovely things to Him, because we like to do so…The prayer of praise makes us fruitful. Sarah dances in the great moment of her fruitfulness at 90 years of age ! Fruitfulness gives praise to God. The man and woman that praise the Lord, who pray praising the Lord – and when they do so thy are happy to say so – and they rejoice when they sing the Sanctus in the Mass, they are a fruitful man or woman. We think how lovely it is to engage in the prayer of praise. This must be our prayer of praise and, when we raise it to the Lord, we must say in our heart :”Arise, heart, because you are before the King of glory”
Praise the Lord always, do not cease to do it ; always praise Him more, incessantly “