History is written! Fiery spiritual birthday card on the birthday of the Church on Maksimir stadium ignited 50,000 visitors of the concert "Look through the heart"

The Church in Croatia congratulated the universal Catholic Church on her birthday, the Feast of Pentecost, in a very special and unique way - with the concert "Look through the heart" which on Saturday, June 4 at the football Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb represented the largest, most numerous spiritual vigil of a particular Church on a global scale.

50,000 people from all parts of Croatia and Croats from the diaspora with the sixth concert "Look through the heart" wrote and signed a unique spiritual and musical postcard of the Church of the Croats, which achieved great momentum, the movement of spiritual renewal of the river of souls faithful to the Lord and the Church.

This was confirmed by the touching sight of long lines of people patiently waiting for confession with many available priests who mediated the healing of Jesus' soul to many in the multi-hour giving of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Welcome to Jesus!

The stands were filled with many seekers of the Way, Truth and Life who, like Zacchaeus on the fig tree, wanted to climb the Maksimir stands and curiously, benevolently participate in the time and space where He had to pass.

During this spiritual movement and initiation, many must have heard in themselves the voice of Jesus Christ whispering to the wounded hearts carefully and healingly, "Today I am to dwell in your house."

The welcome on the big video wall at the beginning of the concert was: "Welcome to Jesus!"

Whose heart would not be encouraged to look at that welcome that was written on the big video walls at the beginning of the concert:

Welcome to Zagreb! Welcome to "Look through the heart"! We are a generation united in the glory of Jesus! This evening is dedicated to Jesus. Jesus is at the center of everything. Isn’t it wonderful to be here with so many people who love Jesus?

The dynamic building of the atmosphere was contributed by the questions to which the audience, if the answer is yes, answered by raising the light on the mobile phone.

Who was born in the seventies, eighties? Who is a student, a high school student? Are there any families in the audience? All generations were represented.

Our country was represented with questions: who came to us from Slavonia and Zagorje? Međimurje, Podravina and Posavina? And the Banovina? Is there anyone from Lika and Gorski Kotar? Istria and the Primorje? Are there any Dalmatians?

The voices of the diaspora were led by the question: who came to us from Bosnia and Herzegovina? Do we have anyone from other countries?

And then: who is at the "Look through the heart" concert for the first time?

Dalmatians gave the most exclamations in response, Bosnia and Herzegovina surpassed Dalmatians with the presence of votes and raised hands, and many hands were raised to be on "Look through the heart" for the first time.

With the encouragement "Don't be afraid, we don't condemn", touching encouragements were further written on the big video wall: "We know that your life is not always the way you present it on social media. We all struggle with difficult situations. Does anyone have any doubts, worries? Questions about your future? ''

There are a lot of us like that. Raise the light if your loved one has been battling cancer. Have you experienced any adversity or lost someone lately? Has someone’s relationship ended and you have a broken heart? Does anyone think he is not worthy of love?

Is anyone frustrated or ashamed of their recent decisions? Does your heart break because your family or friends do not know Jesus?”

The question "Does anyone want to know Jesus even more deeply?" provoked a strong response from the audience.

''No one is alone. We all have similar experiences, good and bad. We are united! Not just in our experiences and our suffering. We are united in our faith, that Jesus is greater!

We believe that God is greater than our suffering! Fear and anxiety are less than our God!

Our Creator loves each of us! The Lord is our Creator, His love for us is expressed on the cross. He came to light the darkness. He came to rebuild what was broken.

He invites us all to renounce our sins and our past. Let's say goodbye to the old way of life and accept the new life of hope and freedom. Let's ring too! We are the generation that follows Jesus! Welcome to Jesus!'' shined from the video wall in Maksimir, with a panorama of the Croatian metropolis and stadium, on all four sides of the world.

They will ask you: "Have you been to Maksimir on June 4, 2022"!?

It was a day, evening and night that lasted up to 1 hour in the morning. On Sunday, June 5, the Feast of Pentecost, a dignified and peaceful community of 50,000 people in Zagreb, the city of all Croats that the Croatian people experience at home.

The wonderful mega-musical spectacle "Look through the heart" produced by Laudato television has been preparing from November 2021.

It was a perfectly accurate, like a Swiss clock, audio and visual program and a harmonious whole, a solid flow of each point of the concert according to a carefully thought out and deeply designed scenario, with a number of coordinated factors, without a second of idling.

The concert provided perfect tonal quality and purity of sound in every corner and reach of the stadium.

The lavish dynamic and playfulness of light effects in pure, bright and penetrating colors (light design leader was Sven Kučinić) synchronously followed the power of God-sung verses, in a playful dance embrace of colors and sound, effectively breaking the darkness with light.

Light and video design was projected through three 200-square-meter video walls, 500 lighting fixtures and state-of-the-art L-Acoustics open-air sound system.

On the 4th day of June, the Summer of the Lord 2022, a page of history was written in public testimony and the manifestation of the affiliation of the Croatian people to Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.

A deep furrow has been plowed, sown and soaked, and another new, springy level came about in the history of the development of contemporary spiritual music in Croatia.

Abramović and Kotlar - masterful producers of the concert

This impressive spiritual event, for which the concert is a name and denominator, although considered by all to be a meeting that goes beyond the concepts and framework of the concert, because it surpasses it in content, high, deep and wide, was a unique event in Southeast Europe and the world.

People in charge were Ksenija Abramović, director of Laudato TV and executive producer of the concert "Look through the heart" and Luka Kotlar, creative producer of the concert and program coordinator.

They led a knowledgeable technical-creative organizational team that had 12 closest associates at its core (can we avoid the comparison with the 12 apostles), and a wider circle of 1,200 people in the organization of the Maksimir event, with the support of 200 volunteers, including the members of the "Heart of Jesus" Prayer Community from Zagreb and sacrificial volunteers from various communities and parishes.

Performers and songs on Maksimir

Performers were the ambassadors of the Lord and His Church, but in managerial terms incomparable with the musicians of 'this world': 17 performers (soloists and groups), a total of 100 musicians accompanied by an orchestra of 24 top instrumentalists conducted by the experienced Goran Kovačić. They afforded us, Croatia and the world an unforgettable celebration of the Holy Trinity; thanksgiving, adoration, glory and prayer to the name of every name, Jesus Christ - the only Savior and Redeemer of man.

Performers: Alan Hržica, "Amorose", "God's Victory", "God's Glory Band", Emanuel, Fr. Ivan Matić, Fr. Marin Karačić, klapa "Sveti Juraj" of the Croatian Navy, Rafael Dropulić Rafo, sisters Halužan, sisters Husar, sisters Palić, Toni Cetinski, Vanessa Mioč and choir "Mihovil".

The host Marin Periš showed his sympathetic spiritual wit during the almost four-hour spectacle in his recognizable style.

After the question "Have any of you experienced the spiritual desert?" Fr. Marin Karačić sang "I will not give up" with piano accompaniment.

With the encouragement "We believe that God is greater than our suffering," visitors raised their cell phone lights to encourage the message, "We are a generation that follows Jesus."

The choir "Mihovil" performed the song "Salvation of Power", and Domagoj Pavin joined them in the chorus.

Medley songs "Let it rain", "He loves us" and "Awesome God" were sung by Petar Buljan, Iva Smojver, Kornelija Palić, Alan Hržica, Marina Matošević, Magdalena Halužan and Vanessa Mioč.

The audience showed the strength of their heart at the chorus of the song "Mighty God". At the chorus of the song "Salvation of Power", eight red fountains rose on both sides of the stage, symbolizing fire. The sumptuous lighting enhanced the chorus of "Jesus Moves the Mountains", as well as the stands at the foot of Zagreb's Medvednica, whose sky at the beginning of the concert was adorned with a beautiful crescent moon.

The song “Šlom Leh Mariam” was performed by Ivana and Marija Husar, the Palić sisters and the "Mihovil" choir, accompanied by the bursts of the fountain.

"God's Glory Band" sang "Holy Spirit, Welcome", "My Jesus" and "You are Great", and Fr. Ivan Matić "Only Yours, Love, God".

Vanessa Mioč performed "I Believe", and Fr. Marin Karačić performed "Change Me", "Prayer" and "You Loved Me First".

The choir "Mihovil" and Ivana and Marija Husar sang "Lord, thank you", "Agnus Dei" and "All our strength". With the encouragement to protect and respect our families who are particularly attacked today, Rafael Dropulić - Rafo sang "Our God is great".

"Here I am" and "First Love" were performed by the Halužan sisters, and "Amorose" sang "Blessing".

During the song "Blessing", the organizer caused a magnificent moment when he surprised the audience and lit up Zagreb with big and long fireworks, following the singing of the verse "Amen, Amen" in that song.

The biblical "Blessing" of the song is also wished to future generations with verses: "May the Lord bless you, shine on your face and keep you; let him look at you and give you peace!”

“May the grace of God accompany you and your home and your children, through all your generations and all the children of your children. May His Spirit go with you and before you and with you, around you and in you He is with you. Every morning, every night, when you go, when you come back, when you cry and when you shout. He loves you, He loves you, Amen, Amen, Amen!”

Accompanying that "Amen" was a spectacular fireworks display that caused enthusiasm and tingling in souls and bodies.

The Palić sisters additionally raised the audience with the song "Lord, I need you", "Forever" and "Now bless".

Alan Hržica ignited the stadium with the songs "Jeshua", "Humble Child" and "Your Name is Holy", a verse that was written on the background of the stage with a scene of the host.

Spiritual homily

Below the south stand in the chapel of St. Joseph Eucharist was exhibited during the concert. ''The Lord of all the world is there, alive and He prays for each of us. Along with the Blessed Sacrament are friends from the Advocacy Network who pray for all participants in the concert, and a large group of prayers at the stadium also pray for all. I want you to know this: Jesus prays for you and a group of people pray for you", said Fr. Boris Jozić in his spiritual exhortation, emphasizing that the Holy Spirit creates communion.

Father Boris read a Gospel passage in which Jesus prays to the Father that all may be one in the Father, just as God the Father is in the Son Jesus.

Members of the "Arka - Korablja" community, Ljilja, Marko and Dominik, followed the reading of the Gospel with appropriate movements.

“Jesus says God's name is the Father. We allow so many quarrels in our families and our homeland to lead our lives, and the Father longs to be one. We cannot be one without the Holy Spirit. Our Lady allowed the Holy Spirit to take over her completely. She hugged him like a person. This is what Mary teaches us. When we embrace the Holy Spirit, God is born in us. To be able to do that, we have to accept our weakness. And it's not easy. The ego in us says that we can do something on our own. And Paul says, "When I am weak, then I am strong,"” said Fr. Boris, encouraging us to be free from false considerations and to recognize with our hearts what real life is.

After the homily of Fr. Boris, the end of the concert was opened by "Emanuel" and Toni Cetinski singing "Happy Song", "King of Kings", "Hosanna", "What a wonderful name" and "You are Wonderful''.

The visual of the spiritual atmosphere on the eve of the feast of the descent of flaming tongues over the apostles was shown by strong red spotlights and fountains in the color of fire.

May God’s grace awaken in us

The new beats and verses of the song "Love from Heaven" caused a new culmination, raising of hands and rising: "Love from heaven has come down, to save you from death, to You, Lord, I belong. Wherever life leads me, my soul seeks you, I belong to you, Lord", performed by "Božja pobjeda".

"Božja pobjeda" continued to glow with the songs "Light the fire" whose verse is "Light the fire in me, let the heart burn with love, I want more of you" eagerly pampered the audience, as well as the famous hit "Oceans" '.

Maroje Burum, leader of the "Božja pobjeda" community, said a prayer to the Holy Spirit, wishing a new Pentecost to take place in the lives of each individual and our people, as experienced by Jesus' apostles in the upper room of the Last Supper.

"We need more Jesus, more His Spirit, the same Spirit that the apostles received. May the dormant grace awaken in us, the Spirit received at baptism and confirmation. May the grace that is within us awaken and change our lives. He can do it, He wants it. It is his longing to bring us to the home of our heavenly Father,'' Burum said, wishing that what we had received in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation should be revealed in us.

The stands and the lawn of the stadium were raised to their feet with dynamically fast and energetic songs "Roofs" and "Jericho Walls".

"This is our Croatia! I want a Croatia like this! "Look with the heart 'is the fruit of the unity, connection and image of the unity of our people, especially after two years of not meeting each other," said Ksenija Abramović, producer and director of LTV.

In the spirit of love for the Croatian homeland, at the end of the concert, the Our Father was prayed for Croatia, and the klapa "St. Juraj' elated everyone with the song "Moja domovina" which was sung by the whole stadium with raised hands.

Laudato television is in the service of the unity of the Croatian people, so in that spirit, at the end of the concert, the surprise guest, Doris Dragović, performed the song "I give you my heart, my country".

After the rain, the Sun was shining

The stage was in front of the east stand of the stadium. It had a roof structure of 20 m and two side wings of 14 m, which was erected in four days by 75 employees who also worked in the rain.

The production of the concert at the Maksimir Stadium started on Friday, May 27, and raised the stage in nine days, which was also a sign of the novena that the faithful in the Church pray for a purpose. A spiritual novena was prayed for the concert and a great 30-day devotion of St. Joseph.

The night before the concert, Zagreb and Maksimir were showered with rain. But the next day, just on the day when it was supposed to, June 4th, all the clouds and rain were dispelled, and the sun was burning with all its strength and warmth and dried up what had been washed. Climate soaking was taken over and continued by rain and showers of spiritual grace.

The success of the event and the ideal and weather conditions for the realization of the open-air meeting were also helped by the long prayers of the Advocacy Network and the “Renewal in the Holy Spirit” in the months-long prayer preparation for June 4, 2022.

The concert, which started at 9pm, was preceded by a prayer and spiritual pre-program, which gave the event the character of a festival. It began with the prayer of the Rosary of Divine Mercy at 3 p.m. The pre-program led by Zrinka Glavaš was attended by performers of spiritual music, including LTV employees, Mihaela Borić and Filip Panza.

Appropriate spiritual encouragement in the pre-program was given by the priests: Fr. Marijan Zubak, Rev. Ivica Tolla, Fr. Ivan Matić and Rev. Dražen Radigović.

At the entrances to the stadium, the visitors were animated by twenty performers of spiritual music exposed to the rays of the hot Zagreb sun.

Support of Pope Francis

The news of the Maksimir Spiritual Vigil was enthusiastically received by Pope Francis, who sent a letter to the participants, which he called "dear friends", signed by the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and was read at the beginning of the concert. "We are spiritually connected and we sail together in the same ship. You know how turbulent today's sea is and how many dangers and temptations we are going through. In this stormy sea, the Risen Christ tells us, “Do not be afraid! I am with you always! ”His words are a source of hope, strength and joy for us.

Dear young people, allow yourself to be taken over by His gaze which is full of love and which invites us to meet, to act, to be gentle, to be together. As you gather in faith to give thanks for the gifts you have received from our Heavenly Father, especially the gift of the Holy Spirit, remember that it is a characteristic of a young person to dream of great things, to seek broad horizons, to dare to do more, to desire to conquer the world. Therefore, renewed in the Spirit, walk boldly in the newness of life, spreading the goodness of the Lord in a world that needs witnesses of Christ's love ", encourages Pope Francis, invoking the intercession of the Mother of God of the Stone Gate and Blessed Alojzije Stepinac.

Support for the concert was also expressed by the highest representatives of the Church in Croatia: the Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić; President of the CBC, Archbishop of Zadar Želimir Puljić and Msgr. Giorgio Lingua, Apostolic Nuncio to the Republic of Croatia and Provincials: Salesian, Don Tihomir Šutalo; Franciscan Conventuals, Fr. Miljenko Hontić and Jesuit, Fr. Dalibor Renić.

It was a meeting of peace and holy unrest, emotions, personal struggles, self-examination and new decisions.

In any case, according to "Look with the heart", the (invigorating) movement of the spirit, soul and body in man is happening! Because He is alive! And waiting for you…