Wounded by Beauty

I was reading this review of the Benedictine Sisters Of Ephesus new album, Angels and Saints, and found thiw quote:

Earlier, I mentioned a speech on beauty given by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI during his time as a Cardinal. In was in that speech, “Wounded By the Arrow of Beauty,” [available in this book] that he spoke these famous words:

I have often said that I am convinced that the true apologetics for the Christian message, the most persuasive proof of its truth, offsetting everything that may appear negative, are the saints, on the one hand, and the beauty that the faith has generated, on the other. For faith to grow today, we must lead ourselves and the persons we meet to encounter the saints and to come in contact with the beautiful.

I have often thought that the beauty of the Church's music, architecture, and religious art is a sort of Trojan Horse in the modern world, because it still is appreciated, precisely for its beauty, even by those who have no use for religion or Christianity.  Yet beauty speaks to us of God, and this beauty keeps the doors open for those who in intellectual argument would never consider a Christian point of view as reasonable or appealing.