{"id":62374,"date":"2025-10-22T19:59:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T17:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/?p=62374"},"modified":"2025-10-22T19:59:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T17:59:56","slug":"a-young-pianists-sign-of-the-cross-goes-viral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2025\/10\/22\/a-young-pianists-sign-of-the-cross-goes-viral\/","title":{"rendered":"A Young Pianist\u2019s Sign of the Cross Goes Viral"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-130260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pianista_segno_croce.webp\" alt=\"pianist Piotr Pawlak sign of the cross\" width=\"608\" height=\"319\" data-wp-editing=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i>On one of the world&#8217;s most important stages, the young <strong>Piotr Pawlak<\/strong> prepared himself by praying the <strong>rosary<\/strong> and making the sign of the cross. A simple gesture that <strong>went viral<\/strong>.<\/i><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">When <strong>a sign of the cross<\/strong> goes viral.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It happened on October 11th just before the start of the <strong>XIX International Chopin Piano Competition<\/strong> at the Warsaw Philharmonic in Poland.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the foyer of one of the world&#8217;s most prestigious stages, the Polish pianist <mark><strong>Piotr Pawlak<\/strong><\/mark>, during a moment of silence heavy with tension before his performance in the semifinals, took his <strong>rosary<\/strong>, made the <strong>sign of the cross<\/strong> and prayed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A <strong>simple and spontaneous gesture<\/strong> by a young artist that was, however, captured by cameras and broadcast live on television, immediately becoming <strong>viral<\/strong> worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Below<\/strong> the video (also published on our <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@UCCR_TV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube channel<\/a><\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yrFvt0C5Nic?si=AzBrpPlpZgtkIpVm\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Piotr Pawlak: &#8220;I do not hide my faith&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Surprised by the commotion, the 27-year-old Pawlak <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.osvnews.com\/pianists-sign-of-the-cross-goes-viral-as-he-enters-worlds-famous-chopin-piano-competition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explained<\/a><\/em><\/strong> that it was an action <i>&#8220;absolutely <strong>natural<\/strong>, I pray before every performance&#8221;<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The reason? <i>&#8220;I always ask for support, because what we do as musicians somehow <strong>goes beyond our human abilities<\/strong>. I simply did what I always do. <strong>I do not hide my faith<\/strong>, and I am not ashamed to ask God for help.&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The competition, established in 1927, is considered <strong>one of the most prestigious<\/strong> in the international music scene and features the best pianists in the world. It takes place every five years in Warsaw and is entirely dedicated to the music of <strong>Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Chopin<\/strong> (1810-1849).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This year&#8217;s winner was the American <strong>Eric Lu<\/strong>, who received a prize of $70,000 and a gold medal funded by the President of Poland. Although Pawlak did not manage to reach the final, he nonetheless <strong>consolidated<\/strong> his international reputation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Born in Gda\u0144sk, Pawlak is famous for his ability to combine technical precision and emotional depth and is also connected with <strong>Italy<\/strong>. Since 2024, in fact, he has been studying at the International Piano Academy at Lake Como.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Raised in a Catholic family, he explained that <i>&#8220;faith has always been present. Above all <strong>thanks to my mother<\/strong> who used to take me to church every Sunday and taught me how to pray&#8221;<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Surely Pawlak knows very well that this is what happened to <strong>Chopin<\/strong> himself, raised as a devoted Catholic precisely thanks to his beloved mother. But then, with success, <strong>the world&#8217;s sirens<\/strong> prevailed over faith.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/2025\/10\/19\/la-conversione-cattolica-di-chopin-sul-letto-di-morte\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Just a few days ago we published<\/a><\/em><\/strong> the testimony of his priest friend, <strong>Father Aleksander Je\u0142owicki<\/strong>, who helped bring him back to God and administered the Sacraments a few moments before his death on October 21, 1849.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The famous pianist still plays at his parish<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For now, however, Pawlak does not seem to be distracted by success.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Despite his busy concert schedule, he still finds time to <strong>lend a hand at the parish<\/strong> in Gda\u0144sk, dedicated to Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of the Child Jesus.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i>&#8220;Even today&#8221;<\/i>, he reveals, <i>&#8220;sometimes <strong>I play the organ at church<\/strong>. We do not have a permanent organist, so if I am there and see that no one is at the organ, I go and play during Mass. Our parish priest often mentions it, so everyone knows who plays. It is always a joy to lend a hand&#8221;<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is interesting Pawlak&#8217;s emphasis on the difference between music in church and music on the stage: <i>&#8220;On stage, in a certain sense, <strong>I am the center of attention<\/strong>, together with the composer and the work itself. It is almost like theatre. But liturgical music is completely different. Its purpose is to <strong>help people pray<\/strong>, not to distract them. It supports singing and prepares the faithful to live the liturgy&#8221;<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the interview the famous Polish pianist also tells an <strong>anecdote<\/strong> that links <strong>Chopin<\/strong> to sacred music: <i>&#8220;He also used to play the organ. Once, during Mass, he <strong>began to improvise<\/strong> during Communion and kept playing for so long that the priest sent an altar boy upstairs to tell him to stop, because the Mass had to continue&#8221;<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Returning to the <strong>sign of the cross<\/strong> that made him viral these days, Pawlak reiterates that <i>&#8220;there is nothing wrong with publicly showing our faith. Even small gestures demonstrate that <strong>Christians are still here<\/strong> and we continue to believe that Someone above us always supports us&#8221;<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Below<\/strong> the video (also published on our <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@UCCR_TV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube channel<\/a><\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yrFvt0C5Nic?si=fFARA0ukYVsjdgK1\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On one of the world&#8217;s most important stages, the young Piotr Pawlak prepared himself by praying the rosary and making the sign of the cross.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":256,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2063,2062,2061,2064,2065],"class_list":["post-62374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-believing-musicians","tag-catholic-musicians","tag-chopin","tag-pianists","tag-piotr-pawlak"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - 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