In Boston, the center of Kennedy power and myth for decades, locals and politicians also reacted to word that the commonwealth's senior senator, who served the state for 46 years, had passed away.Posted on 08/26/2009 9:26:20 AM PDT by NYer
BOSTON -- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died in peace with his whole family praying around him, the clan's priest said Wednesday morning as the world mourned Massachusetts' senior senator, who died from brain cancer at the age of 77.
"It was a total surprise to me to see another world he was involved in -- the spiritual world," said Rev. Patrick Tarrant of Our Lady of Victory Church.
Tarrant, who was called to Kennedy's bedside late Tuesday as the senator was dying, said it was clear that Kennedy was ready for the journey that awaited him. He described the senator as "a man of quiet prayer" in his last hours.
"The truth is, he had expressed to is family that he did want to go. He did want to go to heaven. He did want to die and he did want to go. He was ready to go. There was a certain amount peace -- a lot of peace, actually -- in the family get-together last night. I couldn't help but think that the world doesn't know that part of the senator at all," Tarrant said in a lilting Irish brogue.
As is part of the family tradition, Kennedy was surrounded by loved ones, including his wife, Vicki, his children and other relatives, the priest said.
"I was there last night when he died and the whole family were praying. They'd been praying all day, and it was a wonderful experience for me. I don't see it that often," Tarrant said. "It's commendable."
The Roman Catholic priest was called to Kennedy's bedside when Kennedy took a "serious turn for the worse" between 9 and 10 p.m.Tuesday, Tarrant said.
Kennedy died about 11:30 p.m., he said.
Tarrant said the public generally knows about Kennedy the politician, but in death, he said, he saw a more personal side that was deeply devout.
"I think the whole world knows certain parts very well, but I think there's another part of his life that very few people know, and that's his deep faith. His very deep faith in God and his love for his family," Tarrant said.
The priest recalled how Kennedy led the prayers following Kennedy's sister Eunice's death Aug. 11, even though he was debilitated by his brain cancer. He said it was clear it was Kennedy's faith that gave him strength.
"He was there and very reverent. I wish the world had known that part of him, but that was his secret. It was like it was the secret of his power, to be involved in doing good for others and it was what, I believe, drove him," Tarrant said.
He said priests pray for the faithful to go in peace and Kennedy did, comforted and consoled by his family.
"They were there and they were very prayerful and reverent and of course, crying," he said. "Of course they were aware that the very sick, the sense of hearing is the last thing to go. So, whatever is said around the sick bed is always heard by the patient ... and they were very well aware of it. They let him know how much he was loved and cared for and missed ... it was quite an experience, for me," he said.
National and State Reaction
Long before dawn, residents, press and Kennedy aides began gathering outside Kennedy's Hyannis Port compound, brought there by the news that Kennedy had lost his year-long battle with brain cancer.
In Boston, the center of Kennedy power and myth for decades, locals and politicians also reacted to word that the commonwealth's senior senator, who served the state for 46 years, had passed away.
"Sen. Kennedy was the real deal -- an authentic, principled and giving public servant who pushed us to work for things yet to be. His work eased our concerns, lifted us with opportunity and filled us with pride," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said.
"Boston has never had a greater champion. Massachusetts has never known a more relentless fighter for economic and social justice. America has never witnessed a more influential and productive legislator," Menino said.
"He was always the first one to call if you needed encouragement," U.S. Rep. John Tierney said.
“Never afraid to sail against the wind in the name of justice, equality and opportunity, Senator Kennedy was a treasured friend and a legislator without peer. Throughout his distinguished career, he helped bring health care to millions of children, enabled many young people to afford a college education and ensured that so many could realize the American dream," U.S. Rep. Ed Markey said in a statement.
President Barack Obama, vacationing nearby on Martha's Vineyard, offered his condolences to the Kennedy family, calling Ted Kennedy a "colleague, counselor and friend."
Obama said although everyone "knew this day was coming," it was anticipated "with no small amount of dread." Still, he said, the senator's battle with brain cancer allowed him the "blessing of time" for loved ones and public to "say thank you and goodbye" that wasn't given to Kennedy's brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated in the prime of their lives.
"His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and affect millions of lives," Obama said, adding that Kennedy was a "defender of a dream" for many Americans.
"He lived an extraordinary life and the good that he did lives on," Obama said.
Vice President Joe Biden wept as he talked about the passing of his longtime friend and senate colleague.
He said he served with Kennedy since Biden was elected at the age of 29 and Kennedy was 30. He said he was profoundly affected by Kennedy's infectious optimism.
"He was never defeatist. He never was petty ... He was never small," Biden said. "And in the process of his doing, he made everyone he worked with bigger. Both his adversaries and his allies."
Biden said Kennedy altered lives and helped change the way Americans saw themselves and saw each other.
"Every important event in my life ... every single one, he was there. He was there to encourage, to counsel, to be empathetic, to lift up," Biden said.
"I, literally, would not be standing here if it were not for Teddy Kennedy," he said. "He was there, he stood with me, when my wife and daughter were killed in an accident. He was on the phone with me, literally, every day, in the hospital."
Biden said Kennedy affected hundreds of people the same way.
"He's left a great void in our public life and a hole in the hearts of millions of Americans," Biden said.
“but I think there’s another part of his life that very few people know, and that’s his deep faith. His very deep faith in God and his love for his family,” Tarrant said.”
His faith must have been deep............subterranean
Funny how Ted finally realized what the public thought of him.
I agree with Ted this time.
I hope he's taking his Nomex suit since it's going to be really hot where he's going.
“Funny how Ted finally realized what the public thought of him”
Ted to America: “ I know what you must think of me”
America: “ But we don’t think of you”
What took him so long? Wasn’t he an advocate of assisted suicide?
So he and I were in agreement. I wanted him to go too. (at least out of the Senate)
Correction: the world, minus one.
All this fluff about his religion and deep faith reads like a satire. I could be wrong, but he seemed to be his own god in many ways. How else could you consistently vote against bans on partial-birth abortion, among many other things?
Ted Kennedy was a blessed man. Many, many people don’t know when their hour of reckoning is approaching. He knew. He was given that chance at repentence and forgiveness. Did he take it? Who knows.
And now he knows what Mary Jo and millions of babies think of him.
“He did want to go to heaven.”
Fat chance!
I love these gushing tributes the libs write when one of their’s passes. I swear they have it all written up in advance. “The world mourns.....” Give me a freaking break.
He wasn’t Camelot, gang.
Too bad Mary Jo didn’t get the same opportunities...
>> Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died in peace with his whole family praying around him
One at each corner of the pentagram?
He was able to get a year more to be with family and friends after his diagnosis before he made that decision. That's a year more than someone of his age and health history but with a different last name would be allowed to have under Obamacare.
Were they praying to a picture of Obama?
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