Posted on 09/10/2007 1:05:37 PM PDT by NYer
Modena, Sep 10, 2007 / 10:49 am (CNA).- Luciano Pavarotti, the world renowned tenor was laid to rest in Modena’s cathedral with a grand funeral which paid tribute to the opera legend and gave witness to his return to the Catholic faith.
The diocese had received criticisms that it had gone overboard in honoring a remarried divorcé. But Pavarotti's parish priest, Fr. Remo Sartori, said the twice-married singer had been reconciled with the Catholic faith, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Pavarotti had received the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick before losing his battle against pancreatic cancer last Thursday, aged 71.
Church leaders and pastors, including Pope Benedict XVI, sent messages conveying their condolences. The Pope’s message expressed his sorrow at the loss of "a great artist who with his extraordinary interpretative talent honored the divine gift of music".
In his tribute, Archbishop Benito Cocchi of Modena recognized Pavarotti as an exceptional talent and as someone who “expressed himself in charity towards those who suffered."
One of the emotional climaxes of the funeral was a 1978 recording of Panis Angelicus (Bread Of Angels), performed by Pavarotti and his father, Fernando.
Another followed a prayer composed by Pavarotti's three eldest daughters from his first marriage, which said: "We thank God for having given Dad the gift of a great voice and we pray that he will allow him to use it in heaven to sing his praise."
Pavarotti's musical talent emerged in a church choir, where he sang with his father, Fernando Pavarotti, who was a baker. His father also had a terrific tenor voice, but stage fright prevented him from developing his talent.
You obviously know NOTHING about Catholic sacramental theology. So please don’t tell those of us who do what to think. At least have the courtesy to add “in my opinion” to your erroneous statements.
It is truly an amazing gift from God.
What a fantastic voice! What a loss for us, but as his daughters point out with their prayer, heaven may just have another dolce voiced tenor. I was glad to hear he reconciled with the Church. Panus Angelicus was never more beautifully sung, imho.
It's the "celebrity reunification exception."
It's in the apocrypha somewhere.
The young may die and the old MUST die.
I ask St. Joseph EVERYDAY to obtain the grace for me and my loved ones a happy death WITH the last sacraments. I am sure he will not fail me.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic Ping List:
Please ping me to all note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
“Pavarotti returns to the Catholic faith before dying”
Don’t they all. LOL
Most people face death with panic and desperation. They grasp at straws...try to cover all bases.
Personally, I don't see that this has much to say about the reality -- or not -- of the Holy Spirit.
Indeed. Last Monday, a young mother went into a major hospital up here, to deliver her 2nd child. When the child did not pass naturally, the doctors decided to do a C-section. Following surgery, her blood pressure dropped. They brought her back to the O/R for follow up surgery. She never resumed consciousness, and died several hours later. It was a trememdous shock, as you can imagine, for the entire family.
Diane and her husband, Joseph
I suspect that a lot of people at the very end of their lives come to some very great realizations.
My grandfather, for instance, a very quiet man, spent the last week of his getting it all out; he probably talked more during that week than in an entire year.
TM, I say this is all respect. I am a devout Catholic. Please check my replies on the Catholic threads.
My concern is that people who are NOT Catholic sometimes have the wrong impression of our beliefs. Has no one ever said to you that Confession is just an excuse to commit sin? Do you really want them to believe that?
I sought to explain, and I think that I did explain, that Pavarotti’s Confession had to include real repentence, in which case God would forgive him, and I hope that He did.
Again, I hoped to explain the Church’s belief that Confession requires repentence so that our non-Catholic friends would understand our belief.
As for sacramental theology, even your catechism makes it plain that repentence is necessary to make a good Confession. When one is at the point of death and unable to speak, we know that God is the only real judge.
Confession is a beautiful sacrament with many graces and forgiveness by God. Indeed, it is a most beautiful sacrament as ordained by the Son of God while He was here on earth.
May he rest in peace.
As Evelyn Waugh makes clear in “Brideshead Revisited,” divorce and remarriage is a far more serious sin than an occasional affair, because it is harder to repent. The sinner has assumed conflicting obligations that are impossible to resolve.
True repentence includes the determination not to repeat or continue the sin in question. The sinner may fall again, but at the time of confession he must be resolved to fight the temptation as best he may. So the tangled situation of someone who has accepted an obligation to a second wife that is, however, sinful, is very difficult.
This problem can be resolved if the improperly married couple resolve to refrain from any further sexual acts together and to live chastely. Presumably this is what Pavarotti and his second wife—not a true wife in the eyes of the Church—agreed to.
If so, then having his second wife attend the funeral would be legitimate, I believe. Christian charity does not demand that he should throw her off and never see her again, only that they should refrain from further consummating their non-marriage.
Requiescat in pace.
Now now. Don’t be jealous of the workers who came last and received the same wages as you.
Can you believe the Moderator removed my comment pretending to be Pavarotti? Sheesh. That was pretty innocuous.
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