Amore Infinito: A tribute to Pope John Paul II

When I was in the seminary, one of our professors told us that the way the Faith was transmitted throughout history was not only in the preaching and correct teaching of priests and bishops, but also in bringing the teachings of the Faith to the "common person"; in other words, through song and ritual. He then said that in this time, the teaching of Pope John Paul II should be put into song, into a popular venue, in order that the core of his teaching about life, love, God, the dignity of the human person, etc. could be made "incarnate" in the lives of "everyman".

This, I believe, has been done in the new release of "Amore Infinito", a collection of the Pope's poetry set to beautiful music and performed by the great Placido Domingo, along with Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Vanessa Williams and Katherine Jenkins. Raymond Arroyo interviewed Placido on "The World Over" last Friday night. He spoke of the inspiration and depth of the Pope's poetry which is now put to music. And it is truly beautiful.

Today, the superior of our Institute of Saint Joseph, Fr. William Felix, gave us a copy of the CD and we listened to it while doing a mailing. Spectacular! There are songs in English and in Italian. And even if you cannot understand Italian, the beauty of the language, in and of itself, will move you. I love Italian. It is so expressive of the human soul. You can read the words in translation but just listening to the music and the words is breathtaking.

Now I am not advocating this for use at Mass. Oh, no. We use Gregorian chant exclusively in our monastic liturgies and some hymns with chant in the English Mass.
But for reflective listening, this is just perfect.

I recommend this CD highly.

It is making the truths of the Faith present in the words of the Servant of God, Pope John II, in a way that will be very positive for everyone, especially those who are searching.