Rehearsals for the Ecumenical Musical Event “Beirut 2024” Are Ongoing
The MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs: Singing together constitutes a process of leaving the boundaries of the Ecclesiastical and Liturgical self that characterize every Church, to move towards other Churches and interact with them
The MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs
You can find some photos following the text.
Few days separate us from the Ecumenical musical event “Beirut 2024”, as the Ecumenical choir prepares for this spiritual meeting which is full of hope and praise. It will be held on Saturday 20 January 2024, at the Forum de Beirut, on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and the Fiftieth Year of the Founding of the Middle East Council of Churches.
Since a year and the Churches of Beirut witnessed with great joy the choir rehearsals, where the choristers and musicians raised their voices and melodies in glorification of God and in confirmation of the bond of love that unites them in unity in our Lord Jesus Christ. Noting that the trainings took place in the Churches of Central Beirut and the Monasteries therein, in an attempt to revive them on the pastoral and spiritual levels, and with the aim of introducing the choir members to these places, their history, and the Ecclesiastical heritage that distinguishes each of them.
In the week before the expected event, the choir continues its training in order to perform on Saturday a collection of hymns selected from various Church Families and Liturgical melodies. During one of the rehearsals’ sessions held on Monday 15 January 2024, in the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of Saint Elias and Saint Gregory the Illuminator in Central Beirut, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs visited the choristers as he motivated them to carry out their important mission, praising their efforts and perseverance.
Dr. Abs addressed a word in which he stressed that “we meet in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity that determines the path of our lives, values, future, and salvation. Your faces, as people driven to Church work and full of faith, confirm the good upbringing you received in your homes and schools..., and also the work of the Holy Spirit in you... The Holy Spirit works when people gather and work together to continue this path of salvation that the Lord charted more than two thousand years ago. These faces are birth and renewal.”
He added, "The Church, the Ecumenical movement, the Middle East Council of Churches, and any collective Christian work cannot be renewed except with the presence of young men and women like you, full of solid faith and determination to establish this faith and its values in an international society that is going through difficult situations as a result of the rampant corruption, conflicts, and irregularities that we witness at all levels. How much this society needs to be reminded of the basic Christian values that have, for thousands of years, determined the course of humanity and human behavior.”
He continued, "The Middle East Council of Churches, which is celebrating the Fiftieth Year of its founding, witnessed, about thirty years before its founding, an interaction between religious and Church groups in the region, as they came together and allied with one other in order to be able to develop a model that lies in the Middle East Council of Churches, which includes all the Churches present in the region. This is the path towards the Council’s birth, but we don’t know what tonight’s path and Saturday’s path will lead to. I expect it to be the beginning of the birth of something new, deeply rooted in faith and Christian values that determine our behavior and behavior.”
Regarding music, Dr. Abs said “Singing together, through which we address the Creator, constitutes, in addition to its faith, Liturgical, and artistic dimension, a process of leaving the boundaries of the Ecclesiastical and liturgical self that characterize every Church, to move towards other Churches and interact with them. As well as, singing in joy together with a spiritual and divine content brings people closer together, especially since Christians yearn for an awaited unity...”
In turn, the choristers emphasized the experience of the Holy Spirit’s work, which they lived together with great spirituality and in an atmosphere of faith, Prayer, and hope during the entire period of the rehearsals. They also expressed their enthusiasm for the Ecumenical musical event that will reflect the image of the body of the one Church, calling on everyone to participate and praise the Lord Jesus Christ.
