The Divine

• Part of the discovery and conquest of Chile involves the evangelization through the arrival of priests who spread catholicism, but one of the main problems for them was to communicate through a common language. In this problem born a new way to evangelize throught the countryside of Chile. The jesuit missionaries began to sing the prayers and spread with music the bible stories and prayers. Over that time, these songs became part of the religious culture in the countryside and becoming a tradition. The main characteristic, the singers improvise every time the lyrics,so it changes depending of the occasion, composing and creating new lyrics in these song-prayers for funerals or religious celebrations. “El Canto a lo Divino” (The song to the divine) one of the oldest manifestations of popular religiosity and faith in Chile continues until this day in the voice of anonymous singers and poets, but dissapearing slowly in the actuality. •