Mozart: Death is the key

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (c. 1780 - PD)

According to Hollowverse, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once wrote the following:  I thank my God for graciously granting me the opportunity of learning that death is the key which unlocks the door to our true happiness. 

Although a "high-ranking Freemason" towards the end of his life, Mozart remained a Roman Catholic unto death.  His Catholic funeral and "honorary knighthood" by Pope Clement XIV attest to that, as do his letters and more than 60 religious compositions.  Hollowverse explains that in the Austria of Mozart's day, Freemasonry and Roman Catholicism were not yet at severe odds with one another.

Wikipedia reports that Mozart's upbringing was one which encouraged "family prayer, fasting, the veneration of saints, regular attendance at Mass, and frequent confession."  His parents had both insisted upon "strict obedience" to the dictates of the Catholic Church.

Leopold Mozart strongly believed that his son Wolfgang's genius was one of God's miracles.  He would therefore remind his then-adult son that "God must come first!"

It is somewhat unclear whether or not Wolfgang "received last rites on his deathbed."  However, it is widely agreed that "he would have received extreme unction."  He was also "given postmortem exequies at a Requiem mass in St. Michael's church."

This lifetime of faith strongly suggests that the key which Mozart had spoken of ultimately unlocked his door

to true happiness.  

Resources

http://hollowverse.com/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_and_Roman_Catholicism#cite_note-Eisen_and_Keefe_2006.2C_325-18

Copyright January 27, 2014 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved