Communauté de Taizé › Tunes

The Taizé Community is a community ecumenical based in Taize in France. Founded in 1940 by Brother Roger, it brings together a hundred brothers from around the world and have chosen to live together a life of prayer and celibacy in simplicity. The unity of Christian denominations and care for young adults are among the commitments of the Community since its inception.

The Taizé Community was founded in Taizé in 1940 by Brother Roger Schutz, with the goal of "building a life together in which the gospel of reconciliation would be a concretely lived reality" .

During the war he helps people in difficulty and hosts German refugees. In 1942 , the Gestapo threatened to arrest brother Roger, who fled to Switzerland until the end of the war. After liberation, he returned to where the Taizé brothers join different churches.

The ecumenical monastic community and lives by his labor and his newspaper writing. It hosts thousands of young people each year who come to pray and meditate. Brother Roger said of himself: "I found my Christian identity by reconciling within myself the faith of my origins with the mystery of evangelical Catholic faith" .

Over the years develops the Taizé Community. Companions join brother Roger: community consists currently [when?] brothers coming from around thirty nations and various Christian origins (70 to Taize and some thirty others in other small communities). The community accepts for itself in no gift. The brothers earn their living by their work: they make pottery, jewelery (Taizé Cross pendant), stained glass they sell in a shop located in the community. Their personal inheritances are offered to the poor. By rule, they are committed for life, and have taken a vow of obedience to the prior of the community.

The Taizé songs are sung by the worshiping community, with times and translations in various languages. The celebrations include long moments of silence for meditation , .

Thousands of young people everywhere and all sorts of religious denominations visit Taizé several decades. Taizé offers them hospitality and they can integrate with focus groups, Bible study and prayer together.

The Church of Reconciliation was built in 1962 at the initiative of a German organization wishing to make a symbolic gesture of Franco-German reconciliation.

In 2005 , the death of Brother Roger, Brother Alois, Brother Roger designated his lifetime (according to the rule of the community), succeeded him as prior.

In the late sixties and especially after the movements of May 1968 , many young people come to Taizé. At Easter, from 1970, until they are 40 000 to gather around the community. One begins to enlarge the church at Taizé by capitals. The French are there many especially during the Thanksgiving holiday, the rest of the year the brothers are young people around the world.

Everyone is invited to participate in the Youth Council , in the "dynamics of provisional" [ref. required] . This council was not established, but relayed to churches for religious structures open to these new aspirations

Life in Taizé is punctuated by prayers. The form of these prayers is particularly suited to young . The brothers and the young people are sitting on the carpet in the Church of Reconciliation. This modular building has sliding walls to accommodate the number of participants. Songs of Taizé, a passage from the gospel , a time of silence, meditations , prayers are linked for 40 to 50 minutes.

Biblical introductions are prepared by brothers and follow a path over a full week. This may be a tour of a gospel full taking various passages, or on a specific theme of the Bible. The brother has an explanation of the text by making it as accessible as possible to young people. Given the international population, the brothers usually speak English and organize translations for those less familiar language. After an explanation from 30 to 60 minutes, the brother of organizing small groups (between 5 and 15 people) for young people to share and exchange their understanding of the text and how they live it everyday. Groups are organized for young people of different nationalities, languages ​​or religious denomination meet. The exchanges are in English but often solutions are always found to allow all to participate.

Hubs are trading time on a specific theme: about society , matter of faith or meeting a crop . They are often presented by people who are experts in the field.

The work is distributed according to the needs of the week with the arrival of young people. These are work groups that allow once again bring together youth from different countries. But it is also essential for the functioning of the reception of all young people. Dishwasher, garbage, organization of the meal, cleaning ... are spots of interest as well as sharing time.

Depending on the number of young people present, participants are housed in barracks for 6 and 12 persons, or in tents. Meals are delivered by volunteers to young people arranged in rows to allow for rapid distribution.

Advise the brothers to stay from Sunday to next Sunday, which can live a full week to meet God and others. Therefore, Sunday is a special day that is completely oriented welcoming newcomers, especially in the summer months where you have to accommodate between 1,000 and 4,000 youth in the day.

Long before the fall of the Berlin Wall , the Taizé brothers went quietly in the countries of Eastern Europe meet young people, where the primary contact with Taizé Eastern Europe [ref. required] .

Since 1978 , Taizé organized for New Year meetings of five days in a European city as the Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth. Tens of thousands of young people attend and are hosted in the homes or community centers. The pilgrimage is structured on the life of Taizé.

The community also hosts yearly international meetings on a smaller scale. These are meetings that particularly affect young people of the continent where the meeting. They are often organized in countries experiencing economic difficulties or political. Such gatherings are a time to support local churches. The presence of young people from other continents, even in small numbers, therefore, shows the support of young people worldwide.

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