ICYM News

My Experience at Taize France

1st April 2014 to 29th June 2014: At the beginning, I had not intended my visit to Taize to be part of my Youth ministry – Taize quite clearly doesn’t fit into that category of a typical strict religious figure. But once I was there on April 1st 2014, I realized that here was a place that was connecting with the post-modern generation on a far larger scale than any of the churches and religious places I had so far visited. Taize welcomes around 80,000 people a year, the vast majority between the ages of 15 and 29 from almost every continent.

What is Taize?
Taize is an ecumenical monastic community made up of over a hundred brothers, both Catholic and from various Protestant backgrounds and coming from around thirty nations. The community was started by Brother Roger in 1949 when he and seven other young men came together to commit themselves to a life of celibacy and great simplicity. The brothers of the community live solely by their work such as crafts, writing and publishing. They do not accept donations. In the same way, they do not accept personal inheritances for themselves: any received the community gives to the very poor.

Common community life:
Since the 1960s the community has been welcoming young people to share in the common prayer and community life. Young people are invited to come for a week. They are expected to participate in the Taize Prayer held three times a day, listen to a Bible introduction by one of the brothers and join in a discussion group. They are also involved in some sort of practical task to enable the community to function.

There is also a fairly significant group of ‘permanent’ volunteers who spend at least a month , where the invited youth stay for three months and sometimes years at Taize, where they take more responsibility for the running of the community.

Prayer Life at Taize:
The daily Prayer is at the heart of life at Taize, and for those from a free church it is initially a very alien experience. The Church is largely without chairs, at the front, a simple unobtrusive altar and large orange coloured drapes hanging like sails from the high ceiling. The lighting is low and effective, with many candles flickering at the front and small low hanging lights throughout which give a gentle glow. Around the Church there are a number of small modern stained glass windows and icons as a focus for prayer. . In the centre there is a sectioned off area where the brothers sit and to the right at the front there is a large painted crucifix. At the back of the brothers ‘area’ there is a small lectern from which the Bible is read.What is interesting in terms of the layout is that there is no ‘person’ to focus on during the Prayer.

The value of silence:
Three times a day, everything on the hill of Taizé stops: the work, the Bible studies, the discussions. The bells call everyone to church for prayer. Hundreds or even thousands of mainly young people from all over the world pray and sing together with the brothers of the community. Scripture is read in several languages. In the middle of each common prayer, there is a long period of silence, a unique moment for meeting with God. Silence makes a very peaceful communion with God, it makes you offer your nothingness to him. “The stillness and repetition allowed me to settle deeply into my whole being, inviting me into a communion with the Divine, that is always available to me…”

When I looked up the community I immediately fell in love from the start. I admired the communal and contemplative nature of their practice and was invited into a new way of prayer and worship through their music. Singing their chants left me transported – centering me, bringing me peace, and thus opening me up to the Sacred. I’ve been known to describe it as the perfect combination of the contemplative and charismatic – the words simple and liturgical in nature, with the repetition making space for the Sacred Guide to enter the kingdom of God.

On June 28th 2014, I left Taizé after three months of work as a volunteer. There were many things which were on my mind and distracted me after returning back home, but after some time, I discovered more and more the huge treasure I carried within myself: the memories of Taizé life. “And Taizé life means common life, meeting others, exchanging, sharing what we have”.

I must say Taize is one of those moments which will linger on in my memories, unforgettable, waiting to be shared again…

Sharyl Almeida
Girl Representative
ICYM Belgaum Diocese.