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from Robert Tyrała

Letter for Ecclesiastical Assistant's of FIPC

2011-07-22

Kraków,  23 June 2011
The Feast of Corpus Christi
 
 
Dear Fathers,
Fr. Stanisław Mieszczak, PhD, SCJ, the Ecclesiastical Assistant of FIPC
Ecclesiastical Assistants of all Federations
Ecclesiastical Assistants of all Choirs of the Federation
         
           
In the Eucharist, specially adored and reverently performed on this day when carried onto city squares and country paths in solemn processions, we find the sense of our priesthood. The Eucharist forms us and helps to develop our spirit. From the Eucharist we gather our strength. For, before Christ hidden in the Most Blessed Sacrament do we piously kneel and pray for the people entrusted to us by God. Today we celebrate the feast of the Christ hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, yet it is also the feast of each of us. Since without the Eucharist there is no priesthood. Thus it is also the feast of priests’ unity. We live on different continents and in different cultures, but we are united with the same priesthood and the same Eucharistic service. The Eucharist gives us strength to proclaim the Gospel. And it is Jesus present in the Most Blessed Sacrament who gives sense to our life and our vocation.
 
            And that is why, my Dear Brothers, I have decided to write this letter of brotherly greetings to you all who devotedly attend to Pueri Cantores all over the world. Let me take this chance to express to you my gratitude and the assurance of unity. Our work in service to Pueri Cantores is of tremendous need and importance. For, through the Holy Sacraments, and particularly, through the Eucharist, can we properly see our young singers, their families, choirmasters and choir assistants. And here I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude for your work, devotion and determination, and for everything you do for all Pueri Cantores, for each chorister. Your work cannot be overestimated. Needles to say, our Federation was established by a priest and many clergymen contributed to its beginnings. Today, the major part of responsibility is held by laypersons, and we are mainly their assistants. And that is why I ask you, so that in this fight for God, we would not abandon our lay-brothers: presidents, choirmasters, assistants, and all those we combine in our memory and prayer.
 
Whatever place I reach in my travels when visiting our Federations, I see you hard work and you dedication. Each of those encounters made me feel like kneeling and kissing priest’s hands, like on the day of ordination. These hands which bless and minister, which cure in God’s way. We devote our time, despite many other duties, to this work because we see that in these young singers abides God. And what is more, these young people are truly the future of the Church. Only God knows how educational your work, your care for each choir or singer is. Forming  a young person and a good Christian brings fruit in their adulthood. For we teach them how to choose between good and evil. We show them and teach them how to carry out a dialogue with God. These activities are truly beneficial for the future of our Church. If today we can save God in our choristers, in our choirs, we can be sure that one day, in the end of the world, God will open the gates of His Kingdom, as we believe after the words: 'Well done, my good and faithful servant…’. Let me once again thank you for your work. Please, do not stop in it. Let us seek new ways to make God living in Pueri Cantores worldwide. It is also going to be your duty when following a new programme of spiritual growth, currently formulated by the Pueri Cantores Federation. There were so many holy masses performed, conferences delivered, confessions heard and absolutions granted! And so many adorations and prayers for these young people.
 
            There are also many places which desperately call for priest’s assistance. There are people who need and wait for it in their pleas. And I believe we can help them most with our prayers. I remember a story associated with John Paul II, from a few days after his election to the papal office, when he asked his assistants what the pope should do today? Ones answered that he should fight against communism, others that he should fight against materialism, and John Paul II said: you know, I think that the Pope should pray more. And we know that such was his life, that he turned words into deeds. And hence my reflection, perhaps all of us, the priests of Pueri Cantores worldwide, should unite in one praying choir, and by our breviary prayers “for the day” we should pray for all those who create our Pueri Cantores family. Let it be our obligation. This is what I have been doing for some time now and I warmly encourage you to do join me.
 
            Finally, let me share one more thought with you. From the two years’ perspective I can clearly see how our Lord acts in His people, Lord bestows grace on His People. And we know that His Church is living in us. Our choristers are the future of the Church, and who knows, maybe they will once succeed us in our places? Thus, let us pray for priestly and monastic vocations in our Pueri Cantores community. Jesus said: you will know them by their fruits. May people know us by the good successors of ours.
 
 Please, let us embrace with our prayer this living Church – the icon of Jesus in Pueri Cantores.
           
           
Robert Tyrała
President of
International Federation of Pueri Cantores

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