The Anglican Church of St. Edward the Confessor Lugano, Switzerland
What is Taize?
Taize is a small town in Burgundy, in Eastern France, and there, in the 1940’s, a man named Brother Roger, founded an ecumenical Christian monastic fraternity of brothers who make a lifelong commitment to a life of simplicity, of sharing and of celibacy, seeking to live in the spirit of the beatitudes: Joy, simplicity and mercy. It is now
Taize is a small town in Burgundy, in Eastern France, and there, in the 1940’s, a man named Brother Roger, founded an ecumenical Christian monastic fraternity of brothers who make a lifelong commitment to a life of simplicity, of sharing and of celibacy, seeking to live in the spirit of the beatitudes: Joy, simplicity and mercy. It is now composed of more than one hundred brothers, from Catholic and Protestanttraditions, who originate from about thirty countries across the world.
Since it’s founding in the 1940’s, the Taize community has been well-known for it’s style of worship, its distinctive meditative music, which is characterized by the repetitive singing of simple harmonized tunes, interspersed with Scripture readings, prayers and periods of silence.
And this last part, Silence, is another characteristic of Taizé worship….its generous use of silence. Silence is a very important dimension of worship. The use of silence in Taizé raises an important question: how can we incorporate a more ample time of silence in worship rather than filling every moment with words or music?
Taizé has also become one of the world's most important sites of Christian pilgrimage, with a focus on youth. Over 100,000 young people from around the world make pilgrimages to Taizé each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work. Through the community's ecumenical outlook, they are encouraged to live in the spirit of kindness, simplicity and reconciliation.