The Pope spoke extemporaneously at the Sistine Chapel on the beauty of chant.

Here is a translation:

Remarks of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
To the Choir of the Pontifical Chapel, the “Sistine” Chapel

Sistine Chapel
Tuesday, December 21, 2005

Dear Maestro, Mr. Liberto,
Dear boys of the Sistine Chapel Choir,
Dear singers, teachers, colleagues, and assistants,

I did not find the time to prepare a statement, but my thoughts are very simple to say. In these days before Christmas, it is the time to give thanks for gifts. Thank you for how much you give all year, for this great contribution to the glory of God and for the joy of men on the earth.

On the night of the birth of our Savior, the angels announced to the shepherds the birth of Christ with the words “Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus.” The story says that the angles did not simply speak to the men, but that they sang so that there would be a song of divine beauty, which revealed the beauty of heaven. The choirs of pristine voices have made an angelic and resonant song for us to hear. And it is true that in the chant in the Sistine Chapel, in the great liturgies, we are able to hear the presence of the heavenly liturgy, a little of the beauty inside which the Lord wishes to communicate his joy to us.

In reality, the praise of God demands the chant. That is why in all of the Old Testament, with Moses and with David, in the end of the New Testament, and in the Apocalypse, we have heard chants of the heavenly liturgy, which offer a teaching for our own liturgy in the church. For this, your contribution is essential for the liturgy: not a peripheral ornament, but the liturgy demands this beauty, demands a song to praise God and to give joy to the worshipers.

For this great contribution, I wish to give thanks to you with all my heart. The liturgy of the Papacy, the liturgy in Saint Peter’s, must be an exemplar liturgy for the whole world. We hope that with television and with radio, today in all the parts of the world many may follow this liturgy. They learn from here, or perhaps not learn, what is liturgy, and how they themselves must celebrate the liturgy. Therefore, it is very important, not only that our ceremonies show them how to celebrate the liturgy well, but also that the Sistine Chapel may be an example of how they themselves must give beauty into chant for the praise of God.

I know, since my brother he has given me a little hint, that the beauty of a choir of pure voices demands much work and also a great sacrifice on your part. You boys must get up early to arrive at school; I know the traffic in Rome, and therefore I imagine how difficult it often is for you to arrive on time. Then, you must work yourselves hard until the end of the day, so that you might realize this perfection, which we now have heard.

For all this, I thank you. Also because during holidays, while your schoolmates take wonderful vacations, you must remain in the Basilica to sing and all the time patiently waiting for a break. And still, you are always eager to give your contribution through singing.

I feel this gratitude every time I hear you, and, on this occasion, I wish to communicate it to you. Christmas is the feast of gifts. God made for us the greatest gift. Christ was made man in the flesh, and he was made an infant. God gave us the true gift, and so he also invites us to give, to give with all our hearts; to give to God, and to promise a little of our ourselves, and also to give a token of our goodness, and to offer wishes of joy unto others.

And so, I have tried to make my gratitude clear. I hope that I have conveyed this well, as my words come short of expressing my gratitude.

Pope Benedict XVI
Tuesday, December 21, 2005
Translated by Daniel G. Fulton