2021-08-24 18:02:38 +00:00
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<p>I have recently spent a week in Taizé,<sup><a href="#r1" >[1]</a></sup> an
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ecumenical Christian community in France. It's not the kind of prayer I'm used
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to, but nonetheless it was a good overall experience. I figured I may as well
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share what I had experienced - the good and the bad - as well as what I had
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managed to reverse engineer of the liturgy of their prayers, and some of what I
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had managed to learn from asking one of the brothers from the community.</p>
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<h3>The Music</h3>
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<p>I must admit that I wasn't expecting the music to be as solemn and beautiful
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as it was. It truly created a great environment for prayer and contemplation, as
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well as a communal spirit in song & prayer.<sup><a href="#r2" >[2]</a></sup>
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When you enter into the church, there are papers with the songs they will be
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singing during the prayers, and there are electric signs on the sides of the
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church which indicate (the number of) the song which they'll be singing. These
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papers also have the score.</p>
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<p>Many folks like to sing along, as the songs are short and repetitive, making
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them easy to learn (if you can read the language they're in). Especially those
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who have been to Taizé before have learned to sing the song with multiple
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voices, making the experience much more majestic and beautiful.</p>
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<p>Now, as for myself, I'm not really able to concentrate on praying while
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singing. I end up getting distracted with singing in tune and my breathing such
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that I cannot concentrate on the words I'm singing. In this regard I did feel a
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2021-08-24 18:02:38 +00:00
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somewhat uncomfortable pressure to sing along; almost as though if you didn't
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sing along there was something wrong with you. Yet even without singing along,
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the music is something absolutely beautiful, and it helped me to enter into a
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spirit of prayer, and reflect upon the readings of each prayer.</p>
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<h3>Camping</h3>
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<p>Camping is something I've always loved. The connection to nature and the
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struggle to accomplish even menial daily tasks are at the heart of the camping
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experience for me. And at Taizé I had the opportunity to combine this with a
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life of prayer, and a spirit of mortification. In fact, the spirit of
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mortification was so present during our stay, that among those in our group,
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whenever we would complain about an inconvenience we were facing, we would
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half-jokingly say that we were offering it for: the conversion of China, the
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conversion of Germany, or the prohibition of pornography.</p>
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<p>In particular, I was blessed to be able to find God in the sounds and sights
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of His creation. Listening to the birds, the wind, the water, the sound of the
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gravel and grass beneath my feet; seeing the green hills, the cattle, and the
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storms. For a short while I took to calling these sounds "God's Symphony", but
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once my friends misunderstood this to mean excretion, the term became
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unusable.</p>
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<h3>Volunteer Work</h3>
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<p>Staying in Taizé is extremely cheap. We paid a total of 50€ per person for a
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whole week, camping in tents on Taizé grounds, with access to all their
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facilities & activities, as well as eating four (rather good) meals per day.
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Where's the catch? It's run almost entirely off volunteer work. The only income
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the community has is from their souvenir shop, primarily the pottery made by the
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brothers, which they charge only what they need in order to cover expenses.
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Other than that, all other work at the camp is run by the visitors: cooking,
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cleaning, washing, etc. The work you are assigned depends primarily on which age
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group you are in. Some of my younger friends had to cook, others had to wash
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dishes. In my case, as I fell into a different age group, work was optional, but
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we decided to volunteer anyways.</p>
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<p>In my case, the work was holding "Silence Signs" outside of the church,
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starting 30 minutes before the prayers began, until the bells calling people to
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prayer stopped ringing. Actually a rather simple job, although if you're taking
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it seriously, it's not as easy as you may think - though I don't want to say I
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worked more or harder than those who were in the kitchen or cleaning - as in
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order to give example you should also remain silent during the entirety of those
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30 minutes. Something which may be easy for some, but harder for others.</p>
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<p>Regardless of what job we were all assigned, I believe this helped us to put
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into practice the old Benedictine phrase: <i>ora et labora</i> (pray and work).
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Everyone's job, no matter how menial, played a fundamental role in the proper
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functioning of the community - except perhaps mine. It created a very monastic
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environment, and I believe it helped structure our time while we were there so
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that it wasn't simply a leisurely camping trip, but a way of living out a truly
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Christian community life.</p>
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<h3>Silence</h3>
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<p>I'm extremely fond of prayer in silence, for as St. John of the Cross once
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wrote: "God's first language is silence." Perhaps some of the most fruitful
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experiences of prayer in my life have been while praying in silence at a
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perpetual adoration chapel in Seville. I think this is because silence is
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neutral. When you play music, or read Scripture, you predetermine to an extent
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the kind of interaction you want to have with God. And this can be good and
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2021-08-25 07:19:53 +00:00
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helpful under many circumstances. But when we are silent is when we truly give
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2021-08-24 18:02:38 +00:00
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God the reigns of our time in prayer to bring to light that which He wants to
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show us. Maybe He wants to humble us, and so He shows us our faults; maybe He
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wants to bring us joy, so He comforts us; maybe He wants to celebrate with us,
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so He rejoices with us. And I was glad to discover how in Taizé, silence is
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sacred.</p>
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<p>Apart from during the prayers themselves, silence and peace are very present
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in the life of the community. In the introduction we were given, the brother who
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was speaking to us made a point of emphasizing the importance of silence in and
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out of the church, and especially during the later hours of the day.</p>
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<p>During the prayers, in particular, silence gave the space necessary to
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reflect on the passages of Scripture which had been read almost immediately
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prior. This is something which, lamentably, is not as present even in most
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reverent Catholic Masses, where ideally there should be a long moment of silence
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after both the Homily and Holy Communion.</p>
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<p>Silence in Taizé is something that I truly valued, and is among the most
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beautiful aspects of life in the community.</p>
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<h3>The Schedule</h3>
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<p>Staying in Taizé we had to follow a schedule, and punctuality was very
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important. In the schedule below the activities marked in bold were obligatory.
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As for the volunteer work, that depended on which job you had. I'll also be
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adding the time for the Catholic Daily Mass, since that's what I attended.</p>
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<h4>Monday - Saturday</h4>
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<ul type="none" >
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<li>07.30: Catholic Daily Mass</li>
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<li>08.30: <b>Morning Prayer</b> and then Breakfast</li>
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<li>10.00: Bible Reflection</li>
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<li>12.30: <b>Noon Prayer</b> and then Lunch</li>
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<li>14.00: Workshops, singing practice, and much of the volunteer work</li>
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<li>17.00: Snack</li>
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<li>19.00: Dinner</li>
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<li>20.30: <b>Evening Prayer</b></li>
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</ul>
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<h4>Sunday</h4>
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<ul type="none" >
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<li>08.30: Breakfast</li>
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<li>10.00: <b>Sunday Mass</b></li>
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<li>13.00: Lunch</li>
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<li>17.00: Snack</li>
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<li>19.00: Dinner</li>
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<li>20.30: <b>Evening Prayer</b></li>
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</ul>
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<h3>Daily Catholic Mass</h3>
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<p>It was a treat to be able to attend the Mass on a daily basis once again.
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Ever since the churches in Seville switched to their summer schedules, I've
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found it extremely difficult to attend Mass on a daily basis, even more so in
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August. So to be able to receive the Eucharist every day that week was truly a
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gift; and as it was celebrated in the morning, it helped to fuel the rest of my
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day.</p>
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<p>I will admit, however, that one thing that bothered me about the Mass, given
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the international context, was with regards to the readings. The entire first
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segment of the Mass is dedicated to Scripture, and therefore I believe it's
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important that all attendees have equal access to the daily readings. Yet the
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readings were always read in a different language, not necessarily understood by
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all attending. This would not have been much of a problem had they provided the
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daily readings in multiple languages on a sheet of paper, as they do with other
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activities (e.g. the Bible reflections), but this was not the case. I also
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believe that it would've been more fair had the readings been proclaimed in
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Latin, which is the universal language of the Church. But that's not as
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important.</p>
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<h3>Sunday Mass</h3>
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<p>I place Sunday Mass in particular as a separate section because it was
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celebrated differently from the Daily Mass - or from any other Catholic Mass in
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the Ordinary Form, for that matter.</p>
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<p>I will say first that, despite how oddly it is celebrated, it is truly a
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Catholic Mass. They celebrate it, however, in their own style (as the Ordinary
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Form permits). There is a valid consecration, and therefore we do receive the
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true Body & Blood of Jesus Christ.</p>
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<p>The structure they follow is more or less the same, with some additional
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hymns here & there, and with some additions to make the Mass similar to
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their daily prayers. If I remember correctly, the readings were also proclaimed
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in two languages (French and English).</p>
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<p>I was disappointed, however, in how they skipped the epistle reading for that
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Sunday, which was Ephesians 5:21-32. I speculate it is likely due to its
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controversial meaning. If this is the reason, then I would find this to be
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greatly disappointing, as just like the rest of the readings, and the entirety
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of the Bible, it is divinely inspired. To hide such things does not inspire
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trust or confidence, but rather skepticism and a questioning of their true
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intentions.</p>
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<h3>The Workshops</h3>
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<p>I must admit that I was a little disappointed with the workshops, but that
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probably has more to do with my expectations than with the general quality of
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the workshops themselves. That is, I was expecting the workshops to be hands-on
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activities (e.g. pottery, woodworking, iconography), but instead they were
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presentations on different topics.</p>
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<p>The topics were primarily international issues and cultures,
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environmentalism, and spirituality. I only ended up attending one workshop, so I
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don't consider my experience to be representative of all the others. I also
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believe that there were less workshops than normal due to the situation with the
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pandemic, and therefore in other years there may have been a greater variety of
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topics.</p>
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<p>The one workshop that I did attend, however, was quite terrible. It was about
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women in the Bible and in the Church. From the name alone I already wasn't
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expecting much, and was prepared for some heretical views, but somehow it
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managed to be way worse than I thought. I had already expected they'd try to
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promote a female priesthood,<sup><a href="#r3" >[3]</a></sup> and I more or less
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guessed they'd complain about some depiction of women in the Old Testament - in
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this case, they decided to pick on the beautiful story of Ruth - but what I
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wasn't expecting was that they'd make use of Servant of God Dorothy Day, to
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promote their own political agenda and justify abortion and divorce, by omitting
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her later condemnation of these evils after her conversion to the Catholic
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Faith.<sup><a href="#r4" >[4]</a></sup> It is likely that the two women
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presenting continued to spew such things after this point, but I had already
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left.</p>
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<p>I do not write this last paragraph to make it seem that all the workshops at
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Taizé are this aweful, or that this is the general position of the brothers who
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lead the Taizé community. It is an isolated experience. However, I do believe
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that this is motive enough for the brothers to develop a filtering process that
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would prevent this sort of presentation, if they do not have one already.</p>
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<h3>Bible Reflection</h3>
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<p>Every day (except Sunday) we had Bible reflection at in the morning. They had
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divided us into age groups in order to make it more cohesive, so during the
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discussion it would be easier to relate to others.</p>
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<p>Before starting, we had to pick up a paper that had the reading for the day,
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as well as some questions for small-group discussion. Then one of the brothers
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would give an introduction to the passage which was about a hour long. After
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that, we would split up into our small groups of about seven people, and go over
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the passage as well as answer the questions.</p>
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<p>I must admit that, at least personally, I don't think I was prepared for
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this. Generally I'm used to group readings of the Bible being an intellectual
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exercise. In this regard, I believe that I wasn't going about the Bible
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reflection in the right way, which is probably what lead to my mediocre
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experience. It instead felt more like I was getting to know the other members of
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my group, than exploring the spiritual depth of the passage with them and their
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unique experiences. In this regard, I wish that I had had a little more guidance
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as to how to go about the small groups. In retrospect, it may have been better
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to avoid the questions altogether and work directly on the text, as I have
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experienced with <i>Lectio Divina</i>.</p>
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<h3>The Liturgy</h3>
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<p>I'm generally a person who needs a lot of structure. In fact, when I first
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started attending Catholic Mass, I carried a small notebook with me in which I
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had written down the ordinary for the Mass, with all the prayers in it, so I
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could follow along with the structure. So it is to no surprise that in Taizé I
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did the exact same thing. I did, however, have to reverse engineer the
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structure, as they did not provide any kind of rubric.</p>
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<p>Below are the structures of the three different prayers celebrated throughout
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the day: morning, noon, and evening. To an extent, it would seem very inspired
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by the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours.<sup><a href="#r5" >[5]</a></sup></p>
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<h4>Morning Prayer</h4>
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<ol class="roman-numerals" >
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<li>Introductory Hymn</li>
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<li>Psalm</li>
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<li>Old Testament Reading</li>
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<li>Morning Hymn</li>
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<li>Segment of the Reading</li>
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<li>Hymn</li>
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<li>Silence</li>
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<li>Petitions (Kyrie)</li>
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<li>Our Father</li>
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<li>Hymn I (Preparation of the Blessed Bread)</li>
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<li>Hymn II (<i>Communion</i>)</li>
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<li>Hymn III</li>
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<li>Hymn IV</li>
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<li>Hymn V (exit)</li>
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</ol>
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<h4>Noon Prayer</h4>
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<ol class="roman-numerals" >
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<li>Introductory Hymn</li>
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<li>Short Reading</li>
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<li>Hymn</li>
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<li>Silence</li>
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<li>Prayer</li>
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<li>Hymn I</li>
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<li>Hymn II</li>
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<li>Hymn III (exit)</li>
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</ol>
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<h4>Evening Prayer</h4>
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<ol class="roman-numerals" >
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<li>Introductory Hymn</li>
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<li>Hallelujah</li>
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<li>New Testament Reading</li>
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<li>Evening Hymn</li>
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<li>Segment of the Reading</li>
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<li>Hymn</li>
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<li>Silence</li>
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<li>Petitions (Kyrie)</li>
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<li>Hymn</li>
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<li>Prayer</li>
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<li>Hymn I</li>
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<li>Hymn II</li>
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<li>Hymn III (exit)</li>
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</ol>
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<p>Regarding this structure, I will note a few things. First of all, regarding
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the selection of the readings and hymns, I asked a brother from the community
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and he said that the readings are selected for an entire year, and the readings
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for each day can be found on their website.<sup><a href="#r6" >[6]</a></sup> The
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hymns, however, are selected based upon the origin of the visitors to the
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community for each given week - as well as the language in which most of the
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prayers, as well as the Mass, are said in. As for where it says "(exit)", this
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does not mean it is the end of the session, but rather that at this point it is
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normal for people to leave. Generally they continue to sing more hymns
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afterwards - especially with evening prayer.</p>
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<p>On Friday and Saturday, the evening prayer is slightly different, as they
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celebrate an adoration of the Cross on Friday (in commemoration of the
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Crucifixion), and a candle vigil on Saturday (in waiting of the Resurrection).
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Since I only got to experience these once, I was not able to write down their
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structure, but I believe it was pretty similar to the normal evening prayer.</p>
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<h3>Conclusion</h3>
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<p>My week in Taizé was a mixed experience, and for the most part a very new
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experience. It showed me new ways to enrich my relationship with God, and also
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helped me to discover God in my love for the outdoors. At the same time, there
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were parts which I had difficulty with, or that were even scandalizing,
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disturbing the peace of an otherwise beautiful experience. I was able to share
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moments of prayer, song, and overall joy with my friends who had come with me;
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and was able to strengthen my relationship with them. As such, in spite of the
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problems it may have, I hope to visit Taizé again some day with the
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foreknowledge I have now.</p>
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<h3>References</h3>
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<ol class="refs" >
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<li id="r1" >
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<a href="https://www.taize.fr/en"
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target="_blank" >
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Taizé Official Website
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</a>
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</li>
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<li id="r2" >
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPW8Zdd9YUo"
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target="_blank" >
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"Taizé - Laudate Omnes Gentes" on YouTube
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</a>
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</li>
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<li id="r3" >
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<a href="https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/call-no-woman-father"
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target="_blank" >
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"Call No Woman Father" from Catholic Answers
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</a>
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</li>
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<li id="r4" >
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Day#Social_activism"
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target="_blank" >
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"Dorothy Day" § Social Activism on Wikipedia
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</a>
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</li>
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<li id="r5" >
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liturgy_of_the_Hours"
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target="_blank" >
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"Liturgy of the Hours" from Wikipedia
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</a>
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</li>
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<li id="r6" >
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<a href="https://www.taize.fr/en_article1854.html"
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target="_blank" >
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Bible readings for each day - Taizé
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</a>
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</li>
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</ol>
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