During the first two weeks of October, a brother from Taizé travelled through eleven towns and villages in Transylvania and Moldavia, in Romania (itinerary on Google Maps). This time was particularly varied, in several ways.

There were encounters with people of different generations, reflecting the long friendship between Taizé and Romania: elderly people who had welcomed brothers back in the 1970s and 1980s; adults who came to Taizé during the 1990s and 2000s; students and high-school pupils, some of whom have visited Taizé in recent years; and even children – such as a choir from a Waldorf school that sang during a prayer in Brașov.

The cultural and linguistic diversity of Romania itself is a gift: Romanians, Hungarian- and German-speaking people, and others live side by side.

There were prayers and meetings in Orthodox communities, and also at Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Reformed, and Lutheran churches – and at many of these gatherings, other Christians joined in, making these moments a true opportunity for encounter among believers of different traditions.

A few days after the visit to Romania, during morning prayer in Taizé, the reading was from the beginning of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians – words which, with a little adaptation, beautifully express the reason and the aim of the journey to Romania: to encourage one another as Christians and to give thanks for the relationships already established.

The brothers of Taizé, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Romania, with the bishops and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. [...] For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. (cf. Philippians 1:1-11)

1 | After the Divine Liturgy in the chapel of the Nicolae Steinhardt high school in Satu Mare (photo: Florin Groza)

2 | Prayer in the church of the Greek-Catholic seminary in Oradea (photo: Ramona Benedek)

3 | Prayer in the Roman-Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Iași (photo: Nicoleta Bacaoanu)

4 | After the prayer in a chapel of the Saint Francis high school in Roman (photo: Bogdan Balașcă)

5 | Young people prepare the prayer in the Lutheran Stadtpfarrkirche in Sibiu (photo: Sofia Modrescu)

6 | Decoration for the prayer in the newly renovated Reformed Church with two Towers in Cluj (photo: Emőke Bodor)

7 | Prayer in the Orthodox St. Stephen’s Church in Zalău (photo: Ioan Coste)