Between Chalon-sur-Saône and Dijon, a road to sing, meditate and touch hearts

“You hold the note, and at the end it is a Gloria.” In the shade of a beech which protects them from overwhelming heat, thirteen young women, all sopranos, work a polyphonic anthem. Three other groups – one for each desk of the choir – are also busy. Coming from all over France, eighty young people aged 20 to 30 gathered for nine days in August to participate in the singing road Ad Aeternam. Launched in 2017 by young people from Lille wishing to combine song, walking and evangelization, the project is well established: around twenty kilometers of walking per day, song rehearsals, lessons, evangelization times in the street and a large concert in a church on the last evening.

“The people we meet are pleasantly surprised to see young people who have a smile,” explains Louis, a 28 -year -old Parisian engineer who has taken the presidency of the association this year. With Capucine and Médéric, who complement the office, and a team of thirteen young people, they have been working since January to the organization of this week: route of the route-this year, from Chalon-sur-Saône, in Saône-et-Loire, in Dijon, in Côte-d’Or-, search for places to welcome the tents of the participants every evening, solicitation of the parishes to celebrate the mass and theme of a spiritual theme.

“Almost a retirement”

Because the road is not just a week devoted to the evangelization of others, it is also a spiritual break for the participants. In recent years, priests of the Saint-Martin community and the sisters of the Annunciation rose have been walking with young people and have been offering training times. “We are there as guests,” says Don Valentin Rhonat. We ensure the topos, but the theme – this year, the creed – is chosen together. ” For Blandine, of which this is the first participation, this presence is welcome: “After a teaching, it has always been to talk about it again, to deepen the questions that work on us. It’s almost a retreat. “

Despite a raising at 6:30 a.m. and a long step, you have to follow with rehearsals. “All levels are represented,” explains Typhaine, an engineer from Lille and choir of the road for two years. Singing is a way to touch hearts. People stop to listen, giving us the opportunity to simply testify to our faith. God will do the rest. “