Saturday, April 28, 2001
Saturday, April 28, 2001
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,
even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to
you.
Verdi himself had walked the dark corridors of bereavement in his mid-twenties. Three years in
succession he lost his infant son, then his infant daughter, and finally his devoted wife. The
father-child relationship comes up often in the Verdi operas, perhaps because their composer
never got over the loss of his own children. He would eventually marry again, but he was never
again blessed with children. In his art, Verdi confronted the problem of this final separation from
dear ones with prayer. A number of his operas conclude with a prayer for reconciliation and
personal reunion beyond the rupture of death.
All of us have experienced dark moments and events. May our prayer be one of reconciliation and
hope!
(Psalm 139:11-12
NRSV)
The composer Giuseppe Verdi knew about that darkness. You can see it in his operas. For
example, in his opera RIGOLETTO the ill-starred court jester mourns the death of his beloved
wife. And his opera LA TRAVIATA ends with the expiring heroine vowing that she will look
after her dear Alfredo from heaven.
Dear God, thank you for being with me in my dark moments. Amen.
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