冈道尔夫堡（亚洲新闻）艺术品是其中的渠道，可带领人到天主，因为艺术就像是一扇门开放予无限、予美和真理，超越了普通。艺术品可以打开心灵的眼目，提升他的意念。
教宗本笃十六世今天（八月三十一日）谈到他最喜爱的主题之一，就是美作为引导至天主的路径。他在岗道尔夫堡向5000名朝圣者说：也许有时在雕塑、油画、诗句或歌曲面前，你可经历亲密而深刻的情感，一种愉悦，也就有清楚的认识，在你面前既存在问题，一块大理石或青铜，一个画油画，一系列的字母或声音的组合，但更大的东西，讲的东西，有能力触及心灵、沟通的讯息、提升的灵魂。”
他说：“艺术品是人类创造力的成果，哪些问题是可见现实，试图发现它的深刻意义，以及通过语言沟通，凭它的形状、颜色、声音。”艺术品是一个开放予无限的门，这开启了心灵的眼目。
“例如：当我们走进一间哥德式教堂，我们受到垂直线的吸引，直接引领到天空，把我们的眼睛和心神引领向上；同时，我们又感到自己渺小，却又渴望成为圆满...或者当我们进入一间罗马式教堂，我们自发地反省和祈祷，觉得好像几代人的信仰包含在这些辉煌的建筑物。或者，当我们听到一首神圣的音乐，振动我们心灵的琴弦，我们的灵魂，向天主扩展。一个在慕尼黑的巴赫音乐会，由伦纳德伯恩斯坦指挥，再次在我脑海泛起。最后一支乐章，我感受到而不是理性分析，在我的心里，那是我听到过的，传达伟大作曲家给我的信念，好使我赞扬和感谢天主...。”
但有多少次，油画或壁画，艺术家信念的成果，以其形式、颜色、光，鼓励我们把思想放在天主，滋养我们的渴望，从美的源头引进灵感。
他说，伟大的艺术家夏加尔（Marc Chagall）所写的依然如此，这几个世纪的画家，把画笔蘸在这彩色字母，就是圣经。但有多少次，油画或壁画，艺术家信念的成果，以其形式、颜色、光，鼓励我们把思想放在天主，滋养我们的渴望，从美的源头引进灵感。多少次，将艺术表现形式提醒我们关于天主，帮助我们祈祷或转化的心！保禄蜜儿（Paul Claudel）是一位诗人、剧作家和法国外交官。1886年，在巴黎圣母院大殿，当他在圣诞弥撒听到《圣母赞主曲》的歌声时，他感受到天主的临在。他还没有进入教会，不为信仰的理性，而是在搜索针对基督徒的辩论，而不是在他心中天主的恩竉。”
教宗说，即使今天对于每个人，他的邀请仍然有效。从中重新“发现这条祈祷道路的重要性，为我们与天主的生活关系。在世界各地的城市和城镇，保存艺术作品，表达了信仰，并提醒我们与天主的关系。它不仅是艺术之所，而是一次文化修养，但首先它可以是一个恩宠的时刻，鼓励加强我们的关系及我们与主的对话，停下来及默观，在过渡，从简单的外部现实，以至更深的现实，美之光振奋我们，我们几乎令我们在自我内心创伤，并邀请我们提升走向天主。”
On Beauty as a Way to God
Art "Is Like a Door Opened to the Infinite"
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 31, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience.
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Dear brothers and sisters,
On several occasions in recent months, I have recalled the need for every Christian to find time for God, for prayer, amidst our many daily activities.The Lord himself offers us many opportunities to remember Him. Today, I would like to consider briefly one of these channels that can lead us to God and also be helpful in our encounter with Him: It is the way of artistic expression, part of that "via pulchritudinis" -- "way of beauty" -- which I have spoken about on many occasions, and which modern man should recover in its most profound meaning.
Perhaps it has happened to you at one time or another -- before a sculpture, a painting, a few verses of poetry or a piece of music -- to have experienced deep emotion, a sense of joy, to have perceived clearly, that is, that before you there stood not only matter -- a piece of marble or bronze, a painted canvas, an ensemble of letters or a combination of sounds -- but something far greater, something that "speaks," something capable of touching the heart, of communicating a message, of elevating the soul.
A work of art is the fruit of the creative capacity of the human person who stands in wonder before the visible reality, who seeks to discover the depths of its meaning and to communicate it through the language of forms, colors and sounds. Art is capable of expressing, and of making visible, man's need to go beyond what he sees; it reveals his thirst and his search for the infinite. Indeed, it is like a door opened to the infinite, [opened] to a beauty and a truth beyond the every day. And a work of art can open the eyes of the mind and heart, urging us upward.
But there are artistic expressions that are true roads to God, the supreme Beauty -- indeed, they are a help [to us] in growing in our relationship with Him in prayer. We are referring to works of art that are born of faith, and that express the faith. We see an example of this whenever we visit a Gothic cathedral: We are ravished by the vertical lines that reach heavenward and draw our gaze and our spirit upward, while at the same time, we feel small and yet yearn to be filled. … Or when we enter a Romanesque church: We are invited quite naturally to recollection and prayer. We perceive that hidden within these splendid edifices is the faith of generations. Or again, when we listen to a piece of sacred music that makes the chords of our heart resound, our soul expands and is helped in turning to God. I remember a concert performance of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach -- in Munich in Bavaria -- conducted by Leonard Bernstein. At the conclusion of the final selection, one of the Cantate, I felt -- not through reasoning, but in the depths of my heart -- that what I had just heard had spoken truth to me, truth about the supreme composer, and it moved me to give thanks to God. Seated next to me was the Lutheran bishop of Munich. I spontaneously said to him: "Whoever has listened to this understands that faith is true" -- and the beauty that irresistibly expresses the presence of God's truth.
But how many times, paintings or frescos also, which are the fruit of the artist's faith -- in their forms, in their colors, and in their light -- move us to turn our thoughts to God, and increase our desire to draw from the Fount of all beauty. The words of the great artist, Marc Chagall, remain profoundly true -- that for centuries, painters dipped their brushes in that colored alphabet, which is the Bible.
How many times, then, can artistic expression be for us an occasion that reminds us of God, that assists us in our prayer or even in the conversion of our heart! In 1886, the famous French poet, playwright and diplomat Paul Claudel entered the Basilica of Notre Dame in Paris and there felt the presence of God precisely in listening to the singing of the Magnificat during the Christmas Mass. He had not entered the church for reasons of faith; indeed, he entered looking for arguments against Christianity, but instead the grace of God changed his heart.
Dear friends, I invite you to rediscover the importance of this way for prayer, for our living relationship with God. Cities and countries throughout the world house treasures of art that express the faith and call us to a relationship with God. Therefore, may our visits to places of art be not only an occasion for cultural enrichment -- also this -- but may they become, above all, a moment of grace that moves us to strengthen our bond and our conversation with the Lord, [that moves us] to stop and contemplate -- in passing from the simple external reality to the deeper reality expressed -- the ray of beauty that strikes us, that "wounds" us in the intimate recesses of our heart and invites us to ascend to God.
I will end with a prayer from one of the Psalms, Psalm 27: "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple" (Verse 4). Let us hope that the Lord will help us to contemplate His beauty, both in nature as well as in works of art, so that we might be touched by the light of His face, and so also be light for our neighbor. Thank you.
[Translation by Diane Montagna]
[The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]
I am pleased to greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors here today, especially those from Scotland and Malta. Today we reflect on the need to draw near to God through the experience and appreciation of artistic beauty. Art is capable of making visible our need to go beyond what we see and it reveals our thirst for infinite beauty, for God. Dear friends, I invite you to be open to beauty and to allow it to move you to prayer and praise of the Lord. May Almighty God bless all of you!
© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[In Italian, he said:]
Lastly, I address a word of cordial welcome to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. In particular, I greet the bishops who are friends of the Community of Sant'Edigio, the faithful of the various parishes, who are accompanied by their parish priests, and newlyweds. I hope that this meeting strengthens each of you in a renewed adherence to God, fount of light, of hope and of peace.
[After the prayer:]
Thank you, a good day to you all. Thank you!
[Translation by Diane Montagna]
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