There are many ways to support the Custody of the Holy Land and there are many ways to be close to the Christians who live in these places. There are those who have done so by offering their presence, voice and musical skills in the celebration of the Holy Week and Easter, all thanks to friendship.
The choir “Stella Nova” was founded in Milan about three years ago. Everything started from the experience of the private primary school “Maria Ausiliatrice”. The original nucleus – the pupils – was joined by their mothers and fathers and now has thirty adults and as many children, all conducted by Maestro Gabriele Oliveti. During a journey he made to the Holy Land about a year ago, he paved the way for collaboration of the “Stella Nova” choir with the Custody over Easter.
“I met Father Armando Pierucci,” he says, “who showed me around the ‘Magnificat’ Institute. We stayed in touch and, when I suggested bringing the choir I conduct here for a few concerts, he invited us for the Triduum. It was a moving letter in which he said that we, with them, are the custodians of the Holy Places. We could not refuse.”
In January, they started to rehearse intensely to sing in the Holy Sepulchre, at Gethsemane, on the stones of the Passion, the Death and the Resurrection of Jesus.
“It was very emotional to be in these places and we were impressed by the atmosphere here during the Triduum. We were expecting it to be calm, but we found the confusion of the different rites that are mixed together in the Basilica of the Sepulchre, there were so many people. We found a genuine and real concreteness, free of mysticism.”
It was also a fine experience for the youngest members of the choir, who did not take part personally in the celebrations but had the chance to be present, to visit the school and meet Father Armando. All together, the adults and children travelled to Nazareth, Jericho, Bethlehem and the Dead Sea with Father Frédéric Manns as their guide.
“We thank him from the bottom of our hearts, and along with him all the friars who truly gave us a warm welcome. We must, however, thank Father Armando and Tommaso Saltini, of the ATS Pro Terra Sancta, in particular, as they were our first link with the Custody.”
Written by Serena Picariello
The choir “Stella Nova” was founded in Milan about three years ago. Everything started from the experience of the private primary school “Maria Ausiliatrice”. The original nucleus – the pupils – was joined by their mothers and fathers and now has thirty adults and as many children, all conducted by Maestro Gabriele Oliveti. During a journey he made to the Holy Land about a year ago, he paved the way for collaboration of the “Stella Nova” choir with the Custody over Easter.
“I met Father Armando Pierucci,” he says, “who showed me around the ‘Magnificat’ Institute. We stayed in touch and, when I suggested bringing the choir I conduct here for a few concerts, he invited us for the Triduum. It was a moving letter in which he said that we, with them, are the custodians of the Holy Places. We could not refuse.”
In January, they started to rehearse intensely to sing in the Holy Sepulchre, at Gethsemane, on the stones of the Passion, the Death and the Resurrection of Jesus.
“It was very emotional to be in these places and we were impressed by the atmosphere here during the Triduum. We were expecting it to be calm, but we found the confusion of the different rites that are mixed together in the Basilica of the Sepulchre, there were so many people. We found a genuine and real concreteness, free of mysticism.”
It was also a fine experience for the youngest members of the choir, who did not take part personally in the celebrations but had the chance to be present, to visit the school and meet Father Armando. All together, the adults and children travelled to Nazareth, Jericho, Bethlehem and the Dead Sea with Father Frédéric Manns as their guide.
“We thank him from the bottom of our hearts, and along with him all the friars who truly gave us a warm welcome. We must, however, thank Father Armando and Tommaso Saltini, of the ATS Pro Terra Sancta, in particular, as they were our first link with the Custody.”
Written by Serena Picariello