| A Journey of Sorts - ...To a Taizé Prayer Service |
Saturday, October 20th, the St Paul Pioneer Press ran an article on a ‘Prayer Pilgrimage’ that was taking place in several Twin City locations. It was called the Taizé Pilgrimage and two Brothers from the famed ecumenical community were in town to lead the services. Curiosity and memories of things past made me want to go and see for myself, what I had only heard and read about over the years.
- C. MacDonald
 “Singing is one of the most important forms of prayer. A few words sung over and over again reinforce the meditative quality of the prayer. They express a basic reality of faith that can quickly be grasped by the intellect, and that gradually penetrates the heart and the whole being. These simple chants also provide a way of praying when one is alone, during the day or at night, or even in the silence of one‘s heart while one is working.”
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My granddaughter has always referred to St. Joan of Arc as the singing place. “Grandma, are you going the singing place?” Most people, when they speak of St. Joan of Arc, say something about the music. Those of us who come to this place each week know that the songs sung can come from many sources. Sometimes they are hymns we grew up with, and often they are the grand old hymns our Protestant neighbors sang. They come from the old slave quarters of the south, the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s, yes, even at times from the Broadway stage. I discovered the other night in a dimly lit room, that some of the songs are the beautiful chants of the Brothers of Taizé.
Years ago when I was in graduate school of sorts, I was told the story of Taizé. In those years of idealism, the Brothers of Taizé sounded like the better world of tomorrow. As the story goes, right after World War II a young Swiss man came to the village of Taizé in the Burgundy Region of France with the dream of starting an ecumenical religious community for Christians of all faiths. It was to be a simple prayer community offering hospitality, refuge and reconciliation. At first this small group of monks worked with the orphans of the war and the starving Jewish refugees, but at the same time they started to develop an unique prayer service. That uniqueness has captured the attention of many. As word spread about these ecumenical monks, people from all over Europe came to pray with the Brothers of Taizé. Today tens of thousands of young people come to this ecumenical community nestled in the hills of eastern France. While this community attracts people of all ages, it has become the place that young adults from all over the world flock to in search of meaning and spirituality for their lives. It is said that there are those who go to Lourdes in hopes of experiencing a miracle, and there are those who go to Taizé to learn how to pray.
 Many languages are spoken and sung at Taizé, yet there is an unmistakable sense of community. As we gather, we’ll sing in English, Latin and Spanish. We, too are more diverse than we might think. We, too have a deep need to experience a taste of what the brothers of Taizé call themselves, “a parable of community.”
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I was late for the announced 7:30 service at the University of St. Thomas. When I entered the gym, one side of bleachers were filled with about 300 people. The gym floor was also partially filled with about 100 more people sitting on the floor. Across the room there was a wall of soft colored vigil lights flickering and in the center, the hand painted cross of Taizé framed by two larger candles. In front sat two men in white robes. While my eyes were being feasted with the simple beauty of the site, the ears were hearing a wonderful repetitive song, sung softly by a cantor of sorts over and over .....”Look to God and do not be afraid” .....”Look to God and do not be afraid”. The words were picked up by the gathering of people and the effect was stunning.
Deeply moving experiences do not always translate well to words. Because I was late, I secured a seat off to the side where I could watch both the people and the ritual. The gym’s transformation was dramatic. A room more comfortable with the sounds of the pounding basketball and tennis shoe, a crowd roar and whistles, was now a serene sea of bowed heads. I noticed so many were of college age but there were a peppering of graybeards. This really was a prayer service for the ears and the spirit. The contemporary chants became hypnotic and when they ceased, one heard the voices of young men rise up to say the Our Father in not one but three languages, first in English, then Spanish and French. In a world worn down by the complex, these chants and voices of prayer seemed truly healing.
| “In order to let a song sing out from your soul, first the MIND needs to let go of it’s preoccupations. Then, if the chant is new, you need to learn the words and the tune - both occupations of the mind. Only then can a chant sink down into your HEART where it might mix with feelings and, giving voice to your joys and sorrows, fears and delights. Some religious music stops here, i.e. singing with deep feeling. But there is more. Once you have “sung the song by heart’, their chant sings further down into your SOUL.”
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