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Music enhances faith experience at Youth Rally and Mass for Life

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – While the focus for the 2015 Youth Rally and Mass for Life was “Every Life is a Gift,” with an emphasis on preborn babies diagnosed in the womb with a fetal abnormality, another prominent theme was music.

During the event, which preceded the March for Life, participants clapped, stomped their feet and sang along to music performed by bands and musicians. Many teens said the music enriched what was already a positive and energetic atmosphere at Washington, D.C.’s Verizon Center.

“It has a message in it; it’s not just music,” said Ruben Trejo, 13, a parishioner of Holy Spirit Parish in Central Falls. “It motivates people to try even harder to make abortion illegal. It shows that people really care.”

Mark Priam, 17, attended the event with his friend, Sandor Papp, 18. They are exchange students from Hungry, and currently live in Wisconsin.

“The music bolsters the people,” Priam said. “It makes them feel happier and gives them more energy. In our country, they used to say that singing in a group is twice as strong as praying.”

Papp agrees.

“It makes you feel really close to God - and to each other,” Papp added.

Papp and Priam, along with Trejo, enjoyed performances by Bob Rice, a musician and catechetic teacher at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, as well as DJ Bill Lage, a Catholic disc jockey from Minnesota.

But other teens said they particularly enjoyed a performance by Chris Duffley, an autistic and blind child. Born premature, Duffley sang and played “Open the Eyes of My Heart” on the piano.

“Even though he wasn’t able to see the keyboard, he was able to play it,” said Cesar Farjardo, 16, also a parishioner of Holy Spirit.

Shyann Stroud, 15, and Claritxa Aquirre, 22, of Ithaca, New York also enjoyed the music. No matter a person’s ethnicity, race, even faith, they said, music is universal.

“It’s something that everyone in the world has in common,” said Stroud, with Aquirre adding, “We express ourselves through music; it’s so much easier than speaking.”

Twins from Louisiana, Morgan and Maci Briley, 18, said the music made them feel “happy inside,” while others noted the fact that music was also a key element during the March for Life. Pro-life supporters sang as they paraded through the National Mall.

“We want to show everyone that we can change things with prayer and with singing,” Priam said. “We are showing the world that we are here and that life is important. It’s a gift.”

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