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The beginnings Everything began in 1940 when, at the age of twenty-five, Brother Roger left Switzerland, the country where he was born, to go and live in France, where his mother came from. For years he had been an invalid, suffering from tuberculosis. During that long illness, the call had taken shape in him to create a community where simplicity and kind-heartedness would be lived out as essential Gospel realities. When the Second World War started, he had the conviction that he should begin at once to offer assistance to people in difficult straits, just as his grandmother had done during the First World War. The small village of Taizé, where he settled, was close to the demarcation line that divided France in half, and so was well situated to be a place of welcome for refugees fleeing the war. Friends from Lyon were happy to give the address of Taizé to people seeking refuge. Thanks to a modest loan, Brother Roger was able to buy a house in Taizé that had been uninhabited for years, with the outlying buildings. He asked one of his sisters, Genevieve, to come and help him offer hospitality. Among the refugees they sheltered were Jews. Material resources were limited. There was no running water, so for drinking water they had to go to the village well. Food was simple, in particular soups made from corn flour bought cheaply at the nearby mill. In order not to put any pressure on those he was sheltering, Brother Roger prayed alone; he often went into the woods near the house to sing. So that none of the refugees, in particular those who were Jews or agnostics, would feel ill-at-ease, Genevieve explained to each of them that it was better for those who wished to pray to do so alone in their rooms. Brother Roger’s parents, knowing that their son and daughter were at risk, asked a friend of the family, a retired French officer, to keep an eye on them. He did so conscientiously. In the autumn of 1942, he warned them that they had been found out and that everyone should leave at once. Brother Roger was able to return in 1944, and then he was not alone. In the meantime a few brothers had joined him, and they had begun a life together that continued in Taizé. A "parable of community" In 1945, a young man from the region created an association to take charge of young boys orphaned by the war. When he suggested to the brothers that they welcome some of them in Taizé, Brother Roger asked his sister Genevieve to come back and take care of them. She became their mother. On Sundays, the brothers also welcomed German prisoners-of-war interned in a nearby camp. Gradually other young men arrived and joined the original group, and on Easter Day 1949, the first brothers committed themselves for their whole life to celibacy, to material and spiritual sharing and to a great simplicity of life. Today, the Taizé Community is made up of over a hundred brothers, Catholics and from various Protestant backgrounds, coming from more than twenty-five nations. By its very existence, the community is thus a concrete sign of reconciliation between divided Christians and separated peoples. The brothers live by their own work. They do not accept gifts or donations for themselves, not even their own personal inheritances, which are given by the community to the poor. Already in the 1950s, brothers went to live in disadvantaged places to be with people who were suffering from poverty or divisions. Today, small groups of brothers are present in Asia, Africa and South America. As far as possible they share the living conditions of those who surround them, striving to be a presence of love among the very poor, street children, prisoners, the dying, and those who are wounded in their depths by broken relationships, by being abandoned. Church leaders also come to Taizé. The community has welcomed Pope John Paul II, three Archbishops of Canterbury, Orthodox metropolitans, the fourteen Lutheran bishops of Sweden, and countless pastors from all over the world. Over the years, the number of visitors to Taizé has continued to grow. At the end of the 1950s, young adults between the ages of 17 and 30 began to arrive in ever-greater numbers. In 1966 the Sisters of Saint Andrew, an international Catholic community founded seven centuries ago, came to live in the next village and began to take on some of the tasks involved in welcoming people. Much later, a small group of Polish Ursuline sisters came to help with the welcome of the young. From 1962 on, brothers and young people sent by Taizé came and went continually to the countries of Eastern Europe, always very discreetly, to be close to those who were trapped within their borders. Now that walls have fallen and travel is easier between East and West, contacts with Orthodox Christians, always important, have increased significantly. Intercontinental meetings of young adults Every week from early spring to late autumn, young adults from different continents arrive on the hill of Taizé. They are searching for meaning in their lives, in communion with many others. By going to the wellsprings of trust in God, they set out on an inner pilgrimage that encourages them to build relationships of trust among human beings. Some weeks in the summer months, more than 5000 young people from 75 different countries thus take part in a common adventure. And this adventure continues when they return home. It is expressed in their concern to deepen an inner life and by their readiness to take on responsibilities in order to make the world a better place to live in. In Taizé, the visitors are welcomed by a community of brothers who have committed themselves to follow Christ by a yes for life. The two communities of sisters present on the hill also take part in the welcome. During the meetings, three times each day all those present gather for prayer, worshipping God together in singing and silence. Each day, brothers of the community give Bible introductions that are followed by times of reflection and discussion, participants also help with practical tasks. One can also spend the week in silence as a way of letting the Gospel illuminate one’s life in greater depth. In the afternoon, groups devoted to specific topics allow people to make the connection between the wellsprings of the faith and the pluralistic reality of contemporary society: "Is forgiveness possible?" "The challenge of globalisation," "How can we respond to God’s call?" "What kind of Europe do we want?"… There are also topics related to art and music. A week in Taizé is a way of realising the intimate relationship between an experience of communion with God in prayer and personal reflection on the one hand, and an experience of communion and solidarity among peoples on the other. By meeting other young people from throughout the world in a climate of openness and listening, participants discover that roads to unity can be opened up amidst the diversity of cultures and Christian traditions. This provides a solid basis to be creators of trust and peace in a world wounded by divisions, violence and isolation. In undertaking a "pilgrimage of trust on earth," Taizé does not organise a movement around the community. Each person is invited, after his or her stay, to live out in their own situation what they have understood, with greater awareness of the inner life within them as well as of their bonds with many others who are involved in a similar search for what really matters. |
