Zagreb, (IKA) – Preparations for the First Encounter of Croatian Catholic Families, at which Pope Benedict XVI will preside, are in the final phase. The celebration of the encounter will begin with a Prayer Vigil starting at 3 a.m. on Sunday, June 5, which is being organized by the Subcommittee of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for the Content of the Preparatory Period and Preliminary Program. Together with prayer, meditation and family testimony, there will be particular emphasis on preparation for the celebration and musical elements.
In the first part of the Prayer Vigil, accompanied by the musical group Emanuel of Velika Gorica, a mixed family choir organized by the Forum of Family Communities, consisting of 250 members (children and parents) of family communities from the parishes of several Croatian (arch)dioceses, will participate. Joint choir rehearsals will be held in the Parish of the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac in Velika Gorica, between which the groups will rehearse in their own parishes.
In the second part of the Preliminary Program, there will be a poetic-musical recital entitled Adam, Where are You?, which, after months of dedicated work, has been specially created for the occasion of the celebration of Family Day and the visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Croatia. The author of the text and director is Rene Medvešek, and music was especially composed for the recital by Matija and Čedo Antolić.
Under their direction, rehearsals of the youth choir of the Zagreb Parish of the Queen of the Holy Rosary, which will provide the musical accompaniment to the recital, were held four times a week. The children’s choir Little Magic Flutes (Čarobne frulice) of the Zagreb Parish of the Holy Family, prepared by Sister Lucijana Bobaš, which, in coordination with Rene Medvešek has also been rehearsing several times a week, will also participate, reported the Subcommittee of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for the Content of the Preparatory Period and Preliminary Program.