The Schola Cantorum of the Sanctuary of Rho had the honor and privilege of participating in the general audience in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, an audience presided over by Pope Francesco every Wednesday and which gathers thousands of faithful.
A gift for maestro Achille Nava who has been directing the choir for 50 years
The presence at the audience was intended as a gift from the Schola Cantorum to the director Achille Nava who this year celebrates 50 years of uninterrupted direction of the choir. Thanks to the intervention of Bishop Michele Di Tolve, current director of the Pontifical Lateran Seminary in San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome, who many Rhodesians will remember as parish priest of the parishes of San Giovanni and Passirana, in February they received the letter of confirmation from the Papal Prefecture confirming participation in one of the Holy Father’s general audiences, with the unexpected possibility of a photo.
At the end of the audience, the meeting with the Pope and the exchange of gifts
“Singing and hearing the voice of our songs throughout St. Peter’s Square remains an indelible memory, in an almost unreal atmosphere – say the leaders of the Schola Cantorum of Rho. The message of the prayer sung in a context of unity and sharing with the faithful from all over the world was powerful. At the end of the audience we had the grace of meeting Pope Francis, with the exchange of greetings, gifts and words, in an atmosphere of extreme cordiality, as is the style of a simple Pope who is impossible not to love, a man among men. Everything happened in a suspension of time, in the glances and in the handshake the essential was present”.
A moment that will remain in the choir’s century-old history
Accompanied by the Oblate Fathers Don Ilario Rudelloassistant of the Schola Cantorum, and by Father Francesco Ghidini, the choir experienced a moment that will remain in the more than one hundred year history of the choir which, wherever it is, proudly carries in its name its belonging to the Sanctuary of Rho.
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