Meditations and Reflections

Questions on the Bible and the Christian Faith

Portraits of witnesses to Christ

Short Writings from Taizé

Weekly Meditations by Brother Alois

80.Annual message

Letter from Taizé: Testimonies

Towards a new solidarity

Commented Bible Passages

These Bible meditations are meant as a way of seeking God in silence and prayer in the midst of our daily life. During the course of a day, take a moment to read the Bible passage with the short commentary and to reflect on the questions which follow. Afterwards, a small group of 3 to 10 people can meet to share what they have discovered and perhaps for a time of (...)

1 May

An article by Brother Alois: Five years after Laudato Si’

Five years ago, Pope Francis published his encyclical Laudato Si’ in which he expressed “an urgent invitation to a new dialogue about how we build the future of the planet.” He added: “We need a conversion that unites all of us, because the environmental challenge we are experiencing, with its human roots, concerns and touches us all.” [1] Today this call is more urgent than ever. And the crisis (...)

26 May 2020

“What is best in our life grows out of a simple trust in God.”

To commemorate Brother Roger’s birthday, Brother Emile wrote the following meditation.In a time of trial, we can sometimes latch onto a verse from a psalm or from the gospel as to a life preserver. And perhaps the more the words we are using are simple and direct, the more helpful they are. One person may say : “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear ?” Another will remember (...)

15 May 2020

Biblical meditation online: See, I am doing a new thing

Biblical passage Isaiah 43:18-19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Commentary by Brother KomboQuestions for a sharing What helps me to live during this moment of crisis and why? Which activities were I was doing before the crisis and (...)

6 May 2020

Lent 2020: Message from Brother Alois

“Not simply to endure events but, in God, to build with them.”As we come nearer Easter, anxiety is growing across the world in the face of the spread of the coronavirus. At Taizé, it seems that for the first time we will probably spending Holy Week and the Easter celebration without visitors. We have had to ask the people who had registered for the meetings to put off their stay, and the Church (...)

20 March 2020

Brotherhood begins by listening to others

Monday 25 July 2016We are beginning a beautiful week of meetings, but I have to leave tomorrow to attend World Youth Day with Pope Francis in Krakow, Poland. With several of my brothers, we will be in a church in the city centre to lead daily prayers. So I wanted to greet you this evening before leaving. I address a special greeting to the young Spaniards because today’s feast, the feast of (...)

26 July 2016

A Way of the Gospel at St Stephen’s Source

In spring 2015, icons made from tree bark were put up on the path down to St Stephen’s Source, the place set aside for silent meditation in Taizé. These icons were prepared in the worshop of the brothers living in Nairobi by Brother Denis, who entered into eternal life on 28 November, 2015. Brother Denis’ work was also the subject of an exhibtion in Taizé, "From Scrap to Art". This "Way of (...)

30 November 2015

“A very simple reality”

When we open the Gospel, each of us can say, “These words of Jesus are rather like a very ancient letter written in an unknown language. But since it is written to me by someone who loves me, I am going to try to understand its meaning, and to put into practice right away the little I have grasped.”… Extensive knowledge is not important at the outset. In time that will be of great value. But it is through the heart, in the depths of themselves, that human beings begin to grasp the Mystery of (...)

10 September 2003