Due to the public health isolation measures as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic and the closure of Taizé to visitors, the brothers would like to draw your attention to several occasions which will enable you to take part in the Holy Week and Easter celebrations from Taizé.
As on every evening since March 16, at 8:30 pm evening prayer will continue to be broadcast online via Facebook Live and on the Taizé web site. The national channel of RCF will continue to broadcast this prayer every evening from 8:30 pm to 9 pm (except on Holy Saturday) with a meditation in French by a brother during the time of silence.
Every morning of Holy Week at 10 am there will be a video with a short biblical meditation by a brother.
On Easter morning, a special prayer will be broadcast at 11am, with a meditation by Brother Alois.
As they do each year, the brothers came together for their annual council from February 5-10. Sunday evening, the council ended with an evening prayer that included the act of "prostration" by which the brothers recall the day of their life-commitment. Beforehand, Brother Alois spoke the following prayer.
Concluding prayer
God of all human beings, we praise you; you welcome us each day anew. Through Christ Jesus you bring us together in a beautiful diversity, in communion also with our brothers who are currently living in Brazil, Cuba, Senegal, Korea, Bangladesh, and with our brother Jacques in hospital.
Like the Virgin Mary, we want to listen to your voice and welcome the life you offer us, in the confident trust that it is you who give to us.
Christ Jesus, merely to say your name already reminds us of your presence as the Risen Lord. It comforts us and unsettles us. At each stage of life, you renew our readiness to follow you, and in joy and simplicity we go from one beginning to another.
We have listened to your call not to forget hospitality. Through your Holy Spirit, you enable us to put it into practice. From you, Christ, we receive the impulse of the heart that creates in us an attitude of hospitality. Thank you for this experience we can have: by welcoming others, we receive more than we give. Your love makes us free, free to go towards others with our vulnerability, without fear. You are gentle and humble of heart, and you give us the courage of humility, the knowledge that we need one another.
By this council, by these days lived together, you have renewed the kindness between us, that gift which is a pearl of great price. May this kindness grow between us, may it also grow throughout your Church so that Christians may progress ever more towards reconciliation and unity.
When the Church is radiant with your kindness, it communicates the Gospel; it fulfills its mission; it is a reflection of kindness for the poorest, the excluded, for migrants, a reflection of kindness for creation. Make us attentive to those who do not find their place in their local Church.
Through our life of communion you invite us to be a sign of your presence, especially with the young people you entrust to us. At a time when an attitude of "everyone for themselves" is increasing at every level, we would like to be attached to a deeper current that goes through humanity, a thirst for friendship and generosity.
Through the Holy Spirit you are constantly at work in the world. In gratitude for your love that will never end, let our life sing your praise! In Taizé and in our fraternities on the various continents, let us witness to the beauty of life!
The week of prayer for Christian unity will be celebrated from January 18th to 25th. In Taizé, a prayer open to all will take place on Friday 18 January at 6 pm, in the presence of the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Evangelical leaders of the region.
Since October 3rd, the synod of bishops brings together in Rome, with Pope Francis, bishops from across the world, experts, young people, and delegates from different Churches around the topic “Young people, the faith and vocational discernment.” Brother Alois is taking part in the assembly as a “special guest.”
Responding to the spiritual thirst of the young and to their search for communion
Articles 68 and 69 of the Instrumentum Laboris express the desire for a “more relational” Church, capable of “welcoming without judging in advance”, a “close and friendly” Church.
My brothers and I are often surprised to hear young people we welcome in Taizé say that they feel “at home” there, and we wonder why. It may be that, to be truly themselves, they need to feel useful, to see their creativity encouraged, to receive responsibilities.
Then their spiritual thirst awakens and it is important to go patiently, together with them, to the sources of faith. They know that they are welcomed by a community, first in the common prayer where all participate actively, by singing, listening to a brief biblical reading, a long moment of silence. And often they deepen a personal relationship with Christ.
We make sure that the liturgical signs avoid formalism, but are beautiful and simple. For example, we see how deeply young people participate, every Friday night, in a prayer around the cross, to lay down before Christ what is too heavy for them.
We say to ourselves: like Christ, let us listen to them with our hearts, reminding ourselves that he is already at work in their lives – and let us respect the sanctuary of their conscience. Those who listen must be accompanied themselves. There is a lack of accompaniers in the Church: could a ministry of listening be entrusted not only to priests, men and women religious, but also to lay people, men and women?
In Taizé, young people also discover that the Church is communion. Without creating an organized movement, we always send the young people back to their parishes and the places where they live. So many of them like to pray together with others of different faiths. They understand, if only implicitly, the call of Christ to be reconciled without delay.
We have recently experienced such a communion at an Asian young adult meeting in Hong Kong, a stage in our pilgrimage of trust. Of the young participants, 700 came from mainland China – it was the joy of the Holy Spirit.
I would now like to make a concrete proposal. Often, the words used and the manner of speaking are obstacles that prevent many young people from hearing what the Church says. Could not the final document be accompanied by a short letter, written in a simple style, addressed to a young person looking for meaning in his or her life?
I would like to summarize what I just said with a few words from Brother Roger, the founder of our community:
“When the Church listens, heals, reconciles, she becomes what she is at her most luminous, a communion of love, of compassion, of consolation, a clear reflection of the Risen Christ. Never distant, never on the defensive, freed from all harshness, she can radiate the humble trusting of faith into our human hearts.”
Letter from Brother Alois to the World Council of Churches
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches, Brother Alois wrote a message to the General Secretary, Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, in which he recalled the long friendship between Taizé and the Council.
Dear Olav,
The World Council of Churches and the Taizé Community came to birth in the same period, Taizé at the beginning of the Second World War, the Council shortly after its end. In the mid-twentieth century, their respective initiators were animated by the same passion for Christian unity. They had the vision, for the divided Churches, of a new period that had to begin, a period of communion and fraternity among Christians, to foster peace on earth beyond the conflict that had torn the world apart. In their wake we try to keep alive this flame of unity.
I am happy then, in this anniversary year of the Ecumenical Council, to assure you that we, the brothers of Taizé, are close to you. We thank God for the work you do, and we pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide you along the ecumenical path.
Willem Visser ‘t Hooft, your first general secretary, and Brother Roger, our founder, knew each other and were in dialogue since the 1940s. Throughout the decades, brothers of our community have collaborated in various ways with the WCC, whether for theological work or in the area of the search for justice and peace. Brother Roger took part in the General Assemblies of Uppsala and Vancouver, and I myself in the last two, Porto Alegre and Busan. The geographical proximity between Geneva and Taizé has allowed many contacts; most of the Secretaries General of the WCC have visited us more than once. Your own trips to Taizé have made us happy, and I was very touched by your welcome during my visit to Geneva with brothers and young people.
I say to you, dear Olav, and to all the staff of the World Council of Churches: happy anniversary! And also: let us continue our common journey!
Brother Alois
Rev. Olav Fykse-Tveit at Taizé, August 16, 2015
Easter 2018
Holy Week at Taizé
Palm Sunday
On Palm Sunday, the Church commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. It is also the beginning of Holy Week. In Taizé, as has been the case for a few years, this celebration began at the edge of the lake of the Saint-Etienne spring, where the brothers, the volunteers, the young people present in Taizé and friends from the region gathered, this year with the presence of the Bishop of Autun, Benoît Rivière.
On Sunday morning, for the Feast of Palm Sunday, the brothers and young people present in #Taizé gathered at 9.15am at the Saint-Etienne spring. Recalling the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, all went from there to the Church of Reconciliation, with branches in hand. pic.twitter.com/OcAUAv8xh9
For me this Palm Sunday procession was just this great feeling of being a part of the whole creation, and it made me very happy and very joyful. You really wanted to celebrate that Jesus was there with us. I had never experienced Palm Sunday in such a way.
Monday – Wednesday
During the common prayers, Holy Week is marked by specific songs and responses and, morning and evening, two brothers take turns reading at the lectern in different languages an excerpt from the gospel accounts of the Passion.
During the Monday evening prayer, two specific intentions were read: one for the victims of the tragic fire at a shopping center in Kemerovo, Siberia; the other for the victims of the terrorist attack in Carcassonne and Trèbes, a few days earlier in the South of France. Every night, other intentions were read for difficult situations in the world.
Rob, Ireland
It’s much different than what I expected. It’s a really tightly knit community. I love going to the prayer services, at first I was not too keen about it, but it’s really grown on me, and it’s really interesting and engaging.
Holy Thursday
The evening prayer was marked by the washing of the feet. As is now the tradition for many years, the brothers went through the church to wash the feet of all who wished. Then the Eucharist was celebrated as a memorial of the last supper of the Lord. It is the first day of the Easter Triduum.
Youssef, Egypt
Being a Coptic Orthodox deacon, where prayers in the Holy Week are very rich and special, I found also the same core here, the humility, the love which is coming from God and also directed towards God. Holy Thursday is the day where Jesus, Emmanuel, God who is incarnated in the midst of us gives his body and blood for us ... for all of us to be one in Him and with Him. Not all the disciples at this table were the same, just like us here in the Church of Reconciliation we are really diverse. Different countries, different beliefs, different cultures, different traditions, but we are all united in the humility and love of God the Father in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, this communion can never be broken.
At 3 pm, the hill entered for a few minutes into silence, while one of the bells rang to remind people of the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross (after Luke 23:44-45). At this time, everyone stopped what they were doing for a short time of silence.
At #Taizé this afternoon a bell rung for three minutes in order to commemorate the hour of Christ's death. Everyone on the hill was invited to remain silent during this time. pic.twitter.com/LxYQl6dL4V
In the evening, the procession of the cross took place in the Church of Reconciliation. At the beginning of the prayer, all the brothers were gathered behind the altar and then the cross was carried across the church to associate the thousands of young people present at that moment. Then the prayer continued around the cross throughout the night.
Holy Saturday
The last arrivals before Easter arrived in Taizé in the afternoon. In the evening, the icon of "the descent of Jesus into Sheol" was carried by the brothers to the end of the Church of Reconciliation and its extensions, now fully open because of the large numbers present.
In the evening, Brother Alois spoke for his weekly meditation - before a prayer vigil began in the church, interrupted by the reading of prophetic texts from the First Testament.
Easter Sunday
This year, the Easter celebration began at 6:30 am in the large, fully open church still in darkness. While a young girl was playing a cello piece, and female voices of the choir sang a resurrection song in Syriac and various languages, four sisters crossed the church carrying a lantern that contained the fire - the light of the resurrection - and a white cloth, a symbol of the shroud in which Jesus had been buried.
From this lantern, the paschal candle was then lit and then - for the first time - the sisters and women of the village of Taizé transmitted the Easter flame to all. It was a way of emphasizing that it was the women, Mary Magdalene and some others, who first believed in the resurrection of Jesus.
During the Easter celebration, the resurrection was proclaimed by the liturgical prayer of the Exultet, read by several brothers in six languages. A French brother made his life-commitment in the community, in the presence of his family, and the Eucharist was celebrated with joy.
The last highlight of the celebration was the proclamation, again by women, of the Easter greeting, traditional in the Orthodox Church, in twenty languages: "Christ is risen! with each person answering in their own language, "He is risen indeed!" While the bells were ringing.
Easter Booklet
Tim, Netherlands
I felt a lot of joy during these days. I appreciate the rhythm; the structure of the prayers allow me to focus on the story of Easter: in the beginning you feel down, then it gradually ascents towards Easter. I felt so much joy among the people after the service, celebrating this festival of happiness together. The days here helped me to discover hope for people all over Europe, to have this celebration together and to believe that this light of Easter will be transferred all over the world.
New Decorations in the Church: A Work in Progress
Over the past few weeks, the decoration of the area of the Church of Reconciliation around the altar is being redone. The east wall of the church needs some internal thermal insulation, so it was decided to take the opportunity to rethink the design. The chimney bricks have been part of the area around the altar for more than forty years, and the orange sails for twenty.
Now, squares of natural pigments (20cm x 20cm) have been painted on canvas, using more than thirty colours; we can think of the diversity of those who come to pray three times a day. We can also think of us and all of creation. We raised the candles so they can be more visible in the extensions of the church.
In terms of greenery, for the moment we have orange trees which can survive in a low-light environment. We have also put in epipremnum aureum, a houseplant native to the Solomon Islands.
If the decoration seems a bit unfinished, that is because it is a work in progress! The internal thermal insulation work should be done between Easter and Pentecost, after which we will repaint the whole choir with lime-wash. Hopefully, by the summer things will look a bit more in order.
February 2018
News of the Migrants Welcomed in Taizé
Since 2015, Europe has been in a migratory crisis of unprecedented scope. Faced with this challenge and supported by the generosity of many neighbors, the community continues to open its doors to welcome migrants.
Welcome and Referral Centers
In November 2015, to welcome migrants from Calais, a so-called CAO (reception and orientation center) was opened in Taizé. This place was able to accommodate thirteen young men aged 19 to 40, all Muslim, from Sudan and Afghanistan. Nine of them, who have been granted refugee status, are now working or training in the region around Taizé. One of them, widowed, had a 13-year-old son in Sudan. On the occasion of his visit last year to that country, Brother Alois brought the child back to his father. He is now attending school and his father works in a foundry of the region.
In November 2016, the community opened a CAOMI (reception center and guidance for minors) to host for a time eighteen young minors from Calais, who wanted to go to England. Seven young people decided to stay in Taizé for their asylum application procedure. One of them is now in an educational center near Taizé and four refugees are still living in the village, seeking to settle in the area.
Families
In recent years, the community has also welcomed four refugee families from Iraq and Syria. After several months in Taizé, which allowed them to regain their autonomy and begin to be integrated well in France, two of these families settled elsewhere, keeping an almost family-like relationship with the community.
Awaiting Protection
Last September, the community welcomed three young migrants from South Sudan and Sudan, aged 20 to 28 years. These young people do not yet know if they will be able to make their asylum application in France because of the Dublin regulations. In the meantime, since they do not have permission to work, they are learning French, do volunteer work and participate in exchanges on the causes and difficulties of their migratory journey.
Sponsoring Families
Every young migrant welcomed in Taizé is accompanied by a family from the region. By simple regular visits to their sponsoring family, these young people are helped to head towards a good integration into French culture and receive invaluable support. One of the young refugees recently said, “Françoise takes care of me more than a mother cares for her own son!”
French Classes
When the community opened its doors to young people from Calais, immediately a great generosity on the part of the inhabitants of the region was manifested. Today, French classes are offered four days a week at the Taizé town hall and a dozen volunteers take turns to give classes. Christine, a teacher of French as a Foreign Language (FLE), writes: “My great astonishment and my great pleasure is also to see the motivation of the asylum seekers and their commitment to learning French, despite all their other concerns.” In addition to the three migrants who participate today in the courses, a dozen foreigners from different countries living in the region also benefit from the quality of these courses.
Exchanges
Migrants welcomed in Taizé were invited to lead a day of reflection on migration at Saint Joseph High School in Châteaubriant, Brittany. In November 2017, three of them went there and the high-school students were impressed by the story of these young people who crossed the Sahara, and the experience of hell in Libya and the Mediterranean. The migrants were likewise impressed by the quality of the listening and the seriousness of the students.
In Taizé, migrants sometimes participate in the workshops offered to the young pilgrims, where they can share their background and motivation.
At the European Parliament
In January 2018, a group of young migrants visited the European Parliament. During a meeting with the European Commissioner for Migration, with members from different parties and from different countries and with the Director General of the OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons), migrants were able to talk about their reception experience in Europe and their respective situations: statutory refugees, asylum seekers, “dublined” migrants, and unaccompanied minors whose age has not been recognized.
A Member of the European Parliament sent us images of this visit, filmed by Claudio CUTARELLI, concerning the Dublin Agreement:
To watch a longer clip of this meeting, click here.
Volunteering
Migrants welcomed in Taizé have always been happy to lend a helping hand around them and to feel useful in fulfilling a service for others. They regain dignity when they can give something of themselves.
Edith, treasurer of the Cluny team of the Catholic relief agency, writes that “three young migrants are volunteers and they come to lend a hand for the our activities. They have participated in several things, such as helping to staff a stand and organizing the annual big meal, where they were congratulated by everyone for the quality of their commitment.”
Migrants also enjoy volunteering alongside the young pilgrims who visit the community. Gonçalo, a young Portuguese, recently wrote: “Working with three young migrants was a unique experience; they were well integrated into our team and we shared together about some aspects of our culture and theirs. They told us about their experience and their search for peace.”
Last summer, many young people responded to the call for solidarity with migrants and donated to Taizé. With Orsi, a volunteer, three young migrants went to Calais in November to give the local Catholic relief agency sleeping bags, shower gels, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes. They were guests for two nights at the Maria Skobtsova House, where the doors are open to the most vulnerable exiles. Orsi writes: “Our three friends from Taizé had seen the same misery during their own journey through many countries, the desert, the Mediterranean, and they understood what the young people of Calais are going through.”
Council of the Community: Prayer by Brother Alois
The brothers held their yearly council-meeting from January 23-28. Sunday evening, the council concluded with an evening prayer that included the gesture of "prostration" by which the brothers recall the day of their life-commitment. Beforehand, Brother Alois said the following prayer.
Concluding prayer
We praise you, Christ Jesus, you are risen from the dead. You lead us to follow you, so that we may become witnesses to the joy of God and peacemakers, wherever we may be, in Taizé, in other countries or on the road.
We praise you for our brothers who live in Korea, Bangladesh, Senegal, for those who are going to South Africa, for those who are in Brazil, Cuba and Alsace, and for those who will be in Hong Kong during this year.
We praise you, Christ Jesus, for having nourished us during our council at the table of your word and your Eucharist. We praise you for the joy of brotherly love, especially apparent these days. You have also renewed us in simplicity.
Holy Spirit, you make of us a microcosm of the Church to which each adds a new stone by his life . You reawaken in us a passion for the unity of the Body of Christ, his Church. You teach us to rejoice in the diversity of ways to be Christian. In you we are already united, while being in solidarity with the Churches that are still divided.
Living God, with all our heart we would like to manifest your love by our community life. So we listen to your call to accomplish a common creation. It is as if you yourself were telling each of us these words from our little rule: "From now on, your worship and your service will take place in a community of brothers, itself set in the body of the Church ... You will be encouraged by the impetus of community life. You are no longer alone. You must take your brothers into account in all things."
You invite us to put our common creation at the service of those entrusted to us in so many places across the earth. We pray for all those we carry in our hearts.
For the participants in the European meeting in Basel. May through them the joy and peace experienced there continue to shine in the world like glimmers of hope.
For the inhabitants of our region, the Christians who live here, those who are in hospitals and care homes, the homeless, migrants, all those who support the poorest and who commit themselves for the common good.
For those around the world who are sad, for those who suffer violence, wars, injustice and famine.
Keep your song in us from dying out, even in our nights, this song of which the psalm we sang tonight speaks. With the psalmist we would like to gather together all our expectations and all our desire in a movement towards you, the God of the universe. "Happy are those whose strength is in you. Happy are those in whose heart is the road upward,” those moments of intimate joy in your presence. And, by the presence of your Holy Spirit, even the valley of tears can become a place of wellsprings on the path of our pilgrimage, the source of a serene joy.
Living God, we thank you for having made yourself known, for having come to us through Christ Jesus. He loved us and gave himself for every human being. By your Holy Spirit he is present today. May the joy of his risen life be known to all. May it be a source of fraternity and peace in the brokenness of our wounded humanity and in all your creation.
And now, after singing together, those brothers who have committed their entire lives will lay on the ground to recall their offering to God.
[LIVE] Broadcast from Taizé
On Sunday evening, January 28, the evening prayer will be broadcast live on “Facebook Live” and on the Taizé website, from 6.45pm onwards (Central European Time / Paris Time). It will conclude the yearly council of the community and include the gesture of “prostration” by which the brothers remember their commitment for life.
Basel 2017
On social media
On social media
Daily news, links of importance, photos and testimonies of participants will be published through these social media:
If you put photos or feedback about the meeting online, please use the hashtag #Taize
Prayers streamed live
The media team wants to set up a live stream of the evening prayers, and needs help to do so. If you are participating in the meeting and think you may be able to help, please make contact by email.
Radio RCF (French Catholic Radio) will broadcast the evening prayers live. For the programme it will broadcast live on 31 December, from 9pm until after midnight, the RCF team is looking for young people ready to tell of their experience of the meeting, and of their hopes for the future. If you can help, please contact RCF (even in English) by email.
On Tuesday evening, October 24, a special programme will be offered on “Facebook Live” and on this page from 8.15 pm to 10.15 pm. It will include the evening prayer and the weekly meditation by Brother Alois.
The Prior of Taizé in South Sudan and Sudan
Taizé has been welcoming refugees from Sudan for the past two years, and the Prior of the community, brother Alois, has just spent a week in Juba and Rumbek, South Sudan, and a week in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, to better understand the situation of these two countries, to meet people active on the ground and to pray among people who are some of the most afflicted of our time.
He and another brother of the community visited the various churches, observed their work of teaching, of solidarity, of caring for the sick and the excluded, and they had many contacts with the deeply deprived population. Among other things, they visited a camp for displaced persons operating under the protection of the UN, including many children lost and never recovered by their parents in the course of violent events in the country.
Brother Alois in Juba, South Sudan, in a camp for displaced persons
Through this visit, Brother Alois also wished to express gratitude to so many people who are engaged on the ground: humanitarian workers, Church personnel and diplomats, serving local communities and the development of education, agriculture, infrastructure, and services, or the promotion of culture. Upon his return he said: “I was particularly impressed by the situation of women and children. Mothers, often very young, bear a large part of the suffering caused by the violence. Many have fled in an emergency. They remain resolved to serve life. Children from an early age must undertake an important part of everyday chores but they aspire to attend school. The courage and the hope of mothers and children is an exceptional testimony.”
The prior of Taizé will draw from this visit to Africa some concrete proposals that he will publish at the 40th European youth meeting hosted by Taizé in Basel from 28 December to 1 January next.
Brother Alois visits a village of lepers near Rumbek, South Sudan.
Refugees: helping fraternity to grow
On the international day of refugees, the brothers of Taizé and the young people gathered in Taizé have been praying for the migrants who have died in recent days off Libya as they tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. A new workshop was also held like every week of the summer with the title “Taking the risk to welcome. Migrants, asylum seekers, refugees... Who are you?”
In addition, the preparations for the week looking at the theme of migrations are progressing. Many speakers have confirmed their presence, such as Pascal Brice (France), the director of OFPRA, Catherine Wihtol de Wenden (France), director of research emeritus at the CNRS, the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu (Uganda / England), Father Michael Czerny (Canada / Italy) from the Section for migrants and refugees in the Vatican, Petra Feil (Germany / Switzerland) of the Lutheran World Federation and representatives of various movements involved in providing support for migrants, such as the Jesuit Refugee Service or Caritas Europe.
It would be important for young people who know Taizé to suggest to some refugees to come and live this week together with them. If you are interested in this meeting, or if you have a suggestion for a speaker, you can contact the team at solidaritytaize.fr. Finally, a concrete initiative of solidarity will be proposed in early July for young participants who wish.
On the occasion of the World Refugee Day, an ecumenical statement has been published - here are two excerpts.
Refugees: a chance to grow together
The Christian Bible tells the story of two men, Peter and Cornelius, utterly divided by religious belief and culture, who in encountering each other discovered a truth about God’s common will for them that neither had previously grasped. They learnt that the Holy Spirit brings down walls and unites those who might think that they have nothing in common.
All around the world, women, men, and children are forced by violence, persecution, natural and human-caused disasters, famine, and other factors, to leave their homelands. Their desire to escape suffering is stronger than the barriers erected to block their way. The opposition by some countries to the migration of forcibly displaced people will not keep those who undergo unbearable suffering from leaving their homes. (….)
Signs of solidarity can be multiplied beyond the borders of religion and culture. Meeting believers of other persuasions encourages us to deepen our knowledge of our own faith, and in our encounter with our refugee brothers and sisters, God speaks to us and blesses us as He did Cornelius and Peter.
Weekend of friendship between young Christians and Muslims
Testimonies by Brother Alois and some young adults
This broadcast (mainly in English) includes: young people speaking about Holy Week at Taizé commentaries and responses by Brother Alois short video clips musical breaks with the boys of Belvedere College, Dublin, Ireland, young people from the choir of Albaida, Valencia, Spain and a harp piece by Odile, France.
On Facebook
On YouTube
Brother Alois received by Pope Francis
This Thursday March 30, Pope Francis received in a private audience the prior of Taizé, Brother Alois, for the fourth time since the beginning of his pontificate.
This year, Brother Alois wished to speak, among other things, of the community life of the brothers, the search for Christian unity, the welcome of the young in Taizé, and the presence alongside the community of refugees from different parts of the world. He also told the Pope about the upcoming visit to Taizé of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople on April 25.
Patriarch Bartholomew in Taizé Tuesday, 25 April
A few days after Easter, the Taizé Community will welcome a very special visitor. For the first time, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople will visit for a few hours on Tuesday, 25 April. The pilgrimage to Taizé by the Ecumenical Patriarch will conclude his pastoral visit to Switzerland on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Orthodox centre of Chambésy.
During his visit, the Patriarch will take part in the community prayer at 12:00 in the Church of Reconciliation, in the presence of the brothers, representatives of different Christian communities and the young people gathered in Taizé. He will be welcomed by Brother Alois and will speak at the end of the prayer.
The prayer will be open to all. If anyone wants to come specifically to spend the day in Taizé, have lunch and participate in a workshop in the early afternoon, they should register as visitors through the Taizé website.
The groups and individuals present in Taizé the previous week, who planned to leave on Sunday 23rd, are invited to stay on longer – until Tuesday 25th in the afternoon (for adults over 30 years, this invitation applies within the limits of the available housing). If you wish to extend your stay in this way, please notify the meetings team by changing the departure date in your registration.
“Coexister”: Bonds of friendship growing deeper
For several years now, under the impulse of its founder Samuel Grzybowski, the association “Coexister” has regularly sent groups of young people to Taizé. One particularity of the initiatives of this young association is that they always bring together young people of different religions.
Radia Bakkouch, the current National President, participated in the special week for 18-35 year olds in September 2016. The community of Taizé and the Coexister association also took part together in the new initiative of the parish of Saint-Merry in Paris, the “sacred night”, which will take place again this year in the night 3 - 4 June.
Maud is a young French woman who stayed in Taizé with one of the “Coexister” groups who came in 2016. She shares her experience here:
We were ten young people from different religions: Christian, Jewish and Muslim people. I am Jewish and I have never been to Taizé before. It was really interesting for me to know the faith of Christian people better and to live with them for a week-end. I think I found peace in Taizé. I surprised myself just gazing at the landscape and thinking how extraordinary this experience is. We made strong bonds with lots of different people there and I am thinking of going again next year.
Council 2017
Prayer by brother Alois
As every year, the brothers met for their yearly council meeting from January 24-29. On Sunday evening, the council concluded with evening prayer together, including the prayer of "prostration" by which the brothers recall the day of their life-commitment. Beforehand, Brother Alois spoke the following prayer.
Concluding Prayer
We praise you, Christ Jesus, you are risen from the dead. You lead us in your steps to be witnesses to hope, peacemakers wherever we are, here in Taizé or in Senegal, Kenya, Korea, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cuba, and France .
These days you have renewed us in our vocation. We want to follow you, Jesus, gentle and humble of heart. Your Gospel invites us to develop a spirit of sharing, always seeking to simplify our way of life. So help us to focus on the essential, on the love and the continual presence of the Holy Spirit. Enable us to welcome this love, so that it touches our depths that are in need of conversion until our last breath. There lies the source of a joyous inner freedom.
When violence and the fear of the future seem to increase in the world, you enable us to stand firm in the hope that comes from your resurrection. For us it is like the anchor of our lives, sure and solid. Faith in you opens our eyes to see your presence in the world. And our prayer becomes more ardent: that the kingdom of God may be revealed and come for all human beings.
Risen Christ, your love impels us to seek the visible unity of Christians in order to be a ferment of peace in the world. It is when we go together to the wellspring that arises from your Passover that the dynamics of the Gospel unfold. Then we can welcome as a gift, with the necessary discernment, the great diversity between Christians. Enable us, the brothers, and all Christians, to consent to the sacrifices that reconciliation involves. Reawaken in our community the passion for unity; make us feel how urgent reconciliation is so that we do not stop creating trusting relationships between different traditions and so that an exchange of gifts may take place.
To prepare peace in the world, you encourage us to cause brotherhood to grow. We pray to you this evening for all those whom you entrust to us, through the welcome here in Taizé as well as in our fraternities, during the journeys and the stages of the pilgrimage of trust, for the refugees who live in our villages. Very often, through those whom we welcome, you open our hearts to your love, even without their knowing it. Keep us all in the spirit of the Beatitudes, joy, simplicity, and mercy.
And now, after the next song, those brothers who have made their life-commitment will lie on the ground to recall their offering to God.
young people speaking about Holy Week at Taizé
