“To come before Him, with words or without, is to know where our hearts can find rest.”
Br Roger of Taizé
What is Taizé?
Taizé (pronounced teh-ZAY) is the name of a village in Central France where a community of around 100 brothers from different Christian Churches and about 30 different countries live a monastic life.
Founded in 1940 by Brother Roger, the community tries to live a sign of reconciliation and unity between divided Christians and between separated peoples. Since the 1960s, young people have been coming to share in the Community. In summer, they often welcome up to 5,000 young people each week.
The brothers of the community live solely by their own work. Through common prayer, singing, silence and personal meditation, a stay in Taizé can help rediscover the presence of God in our lives and find once more an inner peace, a reason for living or new impetus.
Meditative singing…
Singing is one of the most essential elements of worship. Short songs, repeated again and again, give it a meditative character. Using just a few words they express a basic reality of faith, quickly grasped by the mind. As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually penetrates the whole being.
Meditative singing thus becomes a way of listening to God. It allows everyone to take part in a time of prayer together and to remain together in attentive waiting on God, without having to fix the length of time too exactly.
To open the gates of trust in God, nothing can replace the beauty of human voices united in song. This beauty can give us a glimpse of “heaven’s joy on earth,” as Eastern Christians put it. And an inner life begins to blossom within.
An ecumenical community gathers occasionally at Saint Paul’s to share in a time of worship using the prayer style and songs of the Taizé community.
- Contact the Parish Office