These days, listening to a radio program, I was reminded of the full meaning of the Galician word saudade. It has no exact translation, but we’ve all felt it at some point. It’s that serene sadness, that nostalgia that leaves a sweet mark. It’s missing something or someone, but doing it with love and a smile. Because saudade, at its core, is a way of giving thanks: being grateful for what we’ve experienced, thanking the one who has passed away for what they gave us with their life.

This is how we feel the passing of Pope Francis now. With a deep longing, woven with affection, gratitude, and faith. We grieve for his absence, but even stronger is our gratitude for his life, for his closeness, for his way of speaking of God with simple words and courageous gestures. He was a shepherd with the smell of sheep, a tireless sower of mercy.

He himself left us a wish that today sounds almost prophetic: “If he who sings prays twice, don’t forget to sing for me.” And that’s what we will do.

This Saturday, April 26th, at 6:30 p.m., in Plaza de Cibeles (Madrid), we will join together in a great song of praise for the Resurrection of Christ and in prayer for the soul of Pope Francis. We will do it as he would have wished: with music, with joy, with a grateful heart.

Cali & El Dandee, Beret, Kike Pavón, Hakuna Group Music, Siempre Así, DJ Pulpo, Pablo del Prado, and many more will join us for an afternoon of faith, hope, and encounter.

And once again, thanks to the CEU San Pablo Foundation, which continues to help us look toward what is essential, promoting events like this one that invite us to go deeper: to sing, to pray, to remember what is important. This Sunday, he’s doing it again, with the delicacy of someone who knows that the soul also needs to celebrate gratitude.

Admission is free and open to all.

Come. Sing. Walk. Pray. Because sometimes, when faith meets music, even saudade becomes thanksgiving. See you this Saturday? Why not?