School choirs to pay tribute to Pope Benedict in Helix Concerts
“Sail the Soul in Waters so gentle remain” *
Press Release/Diary Notice Friday February 22nd
Thousands of secondary school students will pay a special tribute to Pope Benedict in a series of concerts next week, which conclude on Thursday, the day his Pontificate ends in retirement.
Over 2,000 students, from 58 different schools in the Archdiocese of Dublin are taking part in the Emmanuel concerts in Dublin’s Helix theatre next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night (February 26th, 27th,28th)
They will sing a wide repertoire of liturgical music with a full orchestra, which they have been studying and rehearsing with music and religion teachers in the lead up to the concerts.
As the concerts coincide with the historic resignation of His Holiness, each evening will open with a special musical tribute to Benedict XVI — Sail the Soul, a hymn based on the prayer of St. Colmcille. The hymn will be sung by hundreds of students in tribute to the Pope as he ends one stage of his journey of life and to wish him well as he enters into another.
Pope Benedict will also be remembered during each concert when students will read from texts prepared by him at the start of his papacy and most recently for the Year of Faith. To mark this Year of Faith, each student taking part will also receive a Credo Card from the Archdiocese of Dublin, which includes a special message from the Pope;
‘What you believe is important, but even more important is the One in whom we believe’ (Benedict XVI)
At the exact time of the Pope’s resignation on Thursday evening (February 28th 7pm GMT) the students present in the Helix will collectively tweet a message of thanks to His Holiness to his twitter account @pontifex.
Since it began over six years ago, Emmanuel has developed into the largest event of its kind. Secondary school children from around the city and county take part in three days of music and prayer workshops, run by the Liturgical Resource Centre of the Archdiocese of Dublin.
The students, all aged between 12 and 17, take the music and prayer they learn during the Emmanuel workshops and concerts and return and use and adapt them in their own prayer services and liturgies in their school communities.
There is also competition for the positions of soloists each night with 300 boys and girls competing against each other for coveted solo positions on the Helix stage.
Last year, for the first time, students from St. Mary’s School for Deaf girls in Cabra took part in the concerts, signing the entire repertoire each night. As a result of the overwhelmingly positive response to their participation in Emmanuel, they went on to participate in the Liturgies of last year’s Eucharistic Congress and will be back in the Helix next week. ENDS
· A limited number of tickets for next weeks are still available at www.helix.ie
· A full list of the schools taking part in Emmanuel is available at www.litmus.dublindiocese.ie
· Lyrics from Sail The Soul, by Liam Lawton arranged by John Mc Cann and based on the prayer of St. Columcille.
For more informaton and to see clips from previous Emmanuel Concerts Click Here to go to our Education Website
