A little Taizé, France felt in Westfield, N.J. (Video)

Some may have heard about the Taizé community for the first time during the synod in Rome this fall. It was the ecumenical Taizé Community after all that organized the prayer vigil held in St. Peter’s Square on the eve of the synod on Sept. 30. The service was attended by 1,800 people, including Pope Francis, members of the synod, Christian leaders from 12 different churches, and 4,700 young people from 51 countries. 

This past Sunday, Oct. 29, Holy Trinity Church brought the Taizé community to the faithful in Westfield with Brother Emile (last names are not used in Taizé community) holding a candlelit prayer service for peace. 

The Taizé Community, named after its location in Taizé, Burgundy, France, was founded in 1940 by Brother Roger (Schütz), a Reformed Protestant who offered asylum to all in a war-torn Europe. Brother Rodger was a devout “communionist,” said Brother Emile. He felt that Christianity suffered from divisions and therefore searched for “the visible unity of Christians.”  

According to the Taizé website: “By its very existence, the community is a parable of community that wants its life to be a sign of reconciliation between divided Christians and between separated peoples.” 

Prayer, silence, music, and ecumenism are at the heart of the Taizé experience. Its call for peace is: “Peace Within Us, Peace Around Us.” 

Father Anthony Randazzo, pastor of Holy Trinity Church, met Father Emile in Israel last year. He was immediately drawn into the “spirit of meditation and inner silence” that the Taizé chants guide, he said. 

A growing community 

Father Rodger said after the Second Vatican Council in 1965 that if they did not have concrete reconciliation, the wave of communion would collapse; that they would go back to their denominations and lose what was started in the council, Brother Emile said. 

In the 1970s, the young people discovered and were welcomed at Taizé. It was shortly after, in 1975, that Brother Emile joined the community.  

Brother Roger enjoyed a close relationship with Pope John Paul II, who called the community “a little springtime.” Brother Rodger is also credited with being the driving force behind World Youth Day and the Taizé brothers continue to attend World Youth Day. 

Brother Emile is one of about 100 brothers currently in the Taizé Community where Catholics and Protestants coming from around 30 nations live in community and prayer together.  

Over 80,000 young people from around the world make pilgrimages to Taizé each year for prayer Bible study, sharing, and communal work. But the brothers also go out into the world to share the Taizé prayer in houses of worship throughout the world, Brother Emile said. 

A group of students who had made a pilgrimage to Taizé last summer made the trek from Princeton University to attend the service at Holy Trinty Church with Brother Emile and to experience the simple, meditative form of worship once again. 

Sister Donna Ciangio, O.P., Archdiocese of Newark Chancellor, said she first discovered Taizé prayer as a young sister in the 1970s when she attended a service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Sister Donna, who attended the service, said the simple chant songs such as “O Lord hear my prayer” and “Jesus, Remember Me,” draw one into prayer, while the candlelight surrounding the cross draws participants to focus on Christ, calling us to dwell deeply in His presence. 

She said the prayerful silence and short readings offer a different contemplative sense of prayer.  

SUBSCRIBE TO JERSEY CATHOLIC NEWSLETTER

“The quiet prayer speaks to younger people. The dark, quiet, candlelight is mystical and draws you in to being with the Lord,” Sister Donna said about the ancient form of prayer used at Taizé services.  

Brother Emile said that Taizé is not a movement. It is meant for the faithful to visit, experience, and bring it back to their communities to create more community in prayer. 

Referring to The Beatitudes read earlier in the service, Father Emile told the faithful that in a world where so many look for instant gratification and happiness, we should heed Jesus’ words when he says “blessed,” he refers to people on a path to simple fulfillment. And that is what we should seek, he said.