By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer

TAIZÉ, France—An atheist from Norway with long orange hair and alabaster skin came for the fifth time to experience “peace of mind” and the beauty of the prayer services. Four Franciscans traveled by compact car from the heel of Italy to experience other Christian faith traditions. A tall, thin Russian who wore black and smoked cigarettes came on a spiritual search after leaving the Russian Orthodox Church. Dutch from the first home in Holland for people with disabilities came to experience community, and dozens of Polish army members in camouflage stopped while on pilgrimage to Lourdes.

They passed near the historic town of Cluny, France, where lie the belfry, granary and other ruins of a Benedictine monastery founded in 910, which was one of the most powerful spiritual and intellectual forces in Christendom in the Middle Ages. Centuries later it declined in influence due to difficult economic conditions, temporal power, excessive expansion and falling under French royal control.

Their destination was another monastery down the road rich in spiritual influence—busy planting seeds of faith, clanging bells boldly three times a day, drawing people from around the world to worship, and working to expand the boundaries of Christendom across nations and denominations.

Coming from countries as diverse as Kenya and South Korea, youth and young adults descend upon an ecumenical Christian monastery in the village of Taizé for fellowship, to sing the songs in dozens of languages and hear the soothing sounds of silence.

Entering the monastic rhythm of prayer, and clad with backpacks, water bottles and tennis shoes, 10 Atlanta pilgrims from Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist and Episcopal churches and the United Church of Christ joined the monks and approximately 300 other international sojourners May 13 for a week of prayer, silence, reflection and fellowship. The Taizé community has had a significant increase in American pilgrims, mainly from Southern states, just since March.

Yolande Choo-Ying, a parishioner at St. Catherine of Siena Church, Kennesaw, liked the accepting, international environment.

“We took part in liturgy with people from different countries all coming together, sharing,” she said, “and everybody was very hospitable, just being brothers and sisters in Christ.”

She was also grateful for the opportunity for daily Mass, celebrated in the morning, before the first of the three daily ecumenical prayer services where all pilgrims gather.

“We all believe in the same God and that’s why we should strive to be together, love one another. And I see it like a tree with different branches and we’re all rooted in Christ,” she said. “I think that’s what the pope wants it to eventually come to.”

In the summer, 3,000 to 5,000 people visit Taizé weekly from over 35 countries, while in spring and fall, 500 to 1,000 people come. On average, 10 percent are over the age of 30. About 50 long-term volunteers also work there and participate in community life.

The pilgrimage from Atlanta was led by Cindee Case, archdiocesan director of young adult ministry, and Elizabeth Roles, a Methodist and the coordinator of refugee ministries at All Saints Episcopal Church, Atlanta.

After a weekend spent in and around Paris, including visits to the labyrinth at the 13th century Chartes Cathedral, to Notre Dame Cathedral and the Cluny museum, the group headed south by train and bus to Taizé, viewing the green pastures and stone farmhouses blanketing the Burgundy countryside.

Marked by a colorful welcome sign in six languages, the retreat center sits at the top of a road which winds through a hillside village of stone houses accented with lavender iris. L’Eglise Román, a dark, one-room 12th century Romanesque church with wooden benches in the village, is next to the brothers’ living and work quarters, which are separated by a stone wall and off limits to pilgrims.

English is the dominant language of pilgrims at Taizé while the brothers speak French. Yet French is just one of many flavors in the feast of world cultures for the community, which both embraces and transcends its French identity.

Taizé has welcomed increasing numbers of pilgrims since 1957 for week-long retreats or weekends focusing on the inner life and human solidarity, helping people prepare to be “creators of peace and trust” at home. Brother Roger, now 86, left Switzerland for France and purchased a house in 1940, founding Taizé as an attempt to foster reconciliation among Christians. Hiding refugees originally, he was inspired by his Protestant grandmother who hid refugees during World War I and sought reconciliation among Christians. The first brothers joined the community in 1944. The first Catholic, a Belgian doctor, entered in 1969.

The quintessential multicultural ministry now has about 100 brothers from 25 countries, about half of whom are Catholic, who commit themselves to joy, simplicity and merciful love in community. There are three Catholic priests, but most are laymen, some having earned degrees or worked, before entering the four-year formation process, and several speaking five or six languages.

In addition to the three daily prayer services, pilgrims, who sleep in bunk beds in wood-paneled cabins, participate in morning Bible introductions taught by the monks. Those over 30 meet and live in a separate area on the grounds from those ages 17 to 29. This particular week found pilgrims focusing on the Old Testament story of Joseph. Pilgrims also perform simple tasks, welcoming visitors, cleaning the church or preparing meals.

The mornings also include international small group discussions. At one, a Catholic from India, Widlow Joseph, talked about how parents there still take part in matchmaking for their children’s marriages. He spoke of his search to find himself and of discrimination against the Christian minority, which is about three percent in India.

While some might think Taizé a recording company, as many of its songs, such as “Adoramus Te Domine” are in hymnals across America, few monks have formal music training, but developed skills at the monastery. Pope John Paul II visited it in 1986 where he praised it as a “spring of water” in which travelers may rest and quench their thirst to continue their journeys.

As pilgrims drank from that spring in May, rain periodically poured from hovering clouds, sending visitors running for raincoats and umbrellas. But threatening clouds didn’t stop them from retreating through a wooded area to a grassy clearing or taking long walks to the nearest restaurant and a 17th century chateau two villages away.

Brother Emile, a Catholic monk from Canada there for 23 years, spoke of how brothers strive to live a “parable of reconciliation” by learning from and celebrating their cultural and religious differences. They strive to realize Brother Roger’s vision of creating a reconciled Christian community to serve as a “leaven of reconciliation for humanity” which may resonate as making peace with oneself, God or others, Brother Emile said. He used the example of the liturgical diversity within Catholicism between Roman and Eastern rites.

“We cannot only respect the difference in this community or in this church, but we can welcome some of these gifts. You see lots of Protestants who’ve never heard of icons before and they’ll develop a great liking for icons and leave here with some icons. I guess you could say it’s true to a degree that people discover a sense of the Eucharist that they hadn’t in their tradition before. When you think of the Catholic Church what has happened in the last 40 years with the Bible—before if you had a Bible you were a Protestant—now Catholics have Bibles,” he said. “There’s room for diversity in the (Christian) church, there’s a need for diversity, but there’s also a great need for unity. The two can go together.”

For the Rev. Patti Snyder, a Presbyterian minister who came to learn about holding Taizé services, the trip was transforming. Like other pilgrims from Atlanta, she loved discussing faith with those from other countries, and particularly enjoyed discovering commonality with the Italian Franciscans there, as well as having private time for reflection. And it renewed her appreciation for the connection between prayer and social justice.

“In some ways I feel I went to church for the first time, this sense of my being part of a world church. I’m very Presbyterian and like my tradition, but it’s so easy to let our particular traditions blind us to the gifts of the rest of the church. Each of us has our own blind spots. Being in an ecumenical and worldwide community, there’s so much to be learned from each other,” she said. “Spiritually it was just wonderful for me.”

Moving last year to Rochester, N.Y., and struggling with relocating and a new ministry, Snyder found Taizé revitalizing.

“I was feeling my life was not very hopeful. I really felt my experience there gave me a renewed sense of joy and a renewed sense of God’s Spirit. It was part of having that time away, part of the community that we were in, and part of the way that community is church and what they do to foster openness to God’s Spirit.”

While the Bible introductions were simple after her seminary study, particularly with the pauses to translate into French and German, “part of the beauty of Taizé is it cuts through all of our doctrinal and intellectual ideas about God” and lets one hear God, she said.

Franciscan Father Antonio De Benedictis, an Italian who came after having read books about and heard songs from Taizé, noted similarities with his religious order.

“It’s a simple life. It is very Franciscan, this way of life. We feel at home here,” he said of Taizé. “Jesus Christ is more important than any other thing. The differences are richness, not causes of fighting, opposition. We should learn, and all the churches and all the Christians should learn, to live in peace, respecting each one, its own identity.”

He added if Christians are joined by Jesus Christ, they can give a greater witness to the world.

Italian was just one language spoken within the retreat center’s Church of Reconciliation, where all the pilgrims could be heard at the daily services praising el Señor, le Seigneur, the Lord. Music at Taizé is one- or two-line chants, in many languages, repeated several times. The prayer services also include a psalm and Bible reading, intercessions and 10 minutes of silence, an eternity compared to the 40-second dose of solitude in traditional services. The church also remains open for personal prayer.

While some weeks the pilgrims play instruments, this week a monk, hidden from view, created the sounds of a guitar, harp and organ on a keyboard.

Worshippers, many shedding their shoes, sat on the floor or on wooden stools, separated by small planters from the monks’ section, all facing the altar area aglow with a wavy wall of hollow square bricks filled with flickering candles. An orange-toned wooden crucifix with a black Jesus drew people to worship, as did smaller icons of Jesus and Mary, an influence from the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Songs, mostly from Scripture, were originally sung by the monks in French, but eventually were shortened and sung in other languages beginning around 1987 to make them easier to sing in community or one’s heart. Most were composed by the late musician Jacques Bertier and Brother Robert, also deceased. Taizé gives many people, Brother Emile said, a greater desire to pray, which opens them to a greater hunger for Scripture.

“The repetitive chant helps people to have moments of concentration, where they really focus and pray, not only with their minds to the text intellectually, but let what they’re singing sink down to the core of their being,” he said.

Sister of St. Andrew Anne Peyremorte, whose Catholic order has welcomed pilgrims since 1966, said Taizé chants inspire joyful prayer.

“You can’t sing 10 times ‘Laudate Dominum’ without changing something in your heart. The music will work in you,” said Sister Peyremorte, who directs practices and has a cheerful, songbird spirit. “We say ‘singing is praying twice.’ If you sing and believe what you sing, you can continue in prayer and sing 10 more and go back with joy.”

Hunched over and speaking with a throaty voice, Brother Roger radiated gentleness as he fumbled with his text and took long pauses when reading liturgies, leaving services holding the hands of visiting children. Songs included “Bendigo al Señor,” with the music flowing through the room as people went in and out of participation. Some sang louder in the comfort of their native tongue and the inquisitive discussed things afterward like whether a song was in Spanish or Catalan.

Deep into Friday evening the crucifix was placed on the floor and many came forward to place their foreheads, and their burdens, on it and pray, a tradition initiated at Taizé by Russian Christians.

Snyder was particularly moved by the veneration, as Protestants focus visually and theologically on the empty cross, representing the Lord’s resurrection and the promise of new life in Christ today.

While that focus is sound theology “we often neglect to relate visually or theologically to the image of the crucifix—Christ on the cross at a particular time in history and continuing, even now, to bear our sins and burdens for us,” she said. “In this omission I think we sometimes miss a powerful way to communicate the amazing gift of Christ to those in pain. We tend to jump rather quickly to resurrection—like skipping from Palm Sunday to Easter.”

She’s also begun singing in private prayer, which gives “a sense that the prayer of that community is continuing and bearing all of us along as well.”

At the Saturday vigil service, focusing on the resurrection, worshippers lit candles and heard the frail founder talk about the Holy Spirit.

God loves “us so much that even though we do not see clearly and may even be in darkness you send your Holy Spirit upon us,” he said. “Even though God is not visible he is present through the Spirit that liberates inner energies in us until the very end of our life.”

Referring to the teachings of St. Augustine, Brother Roger said that persons in prayer shouldn’t talk too much but open themselves to the Lord and let their hearts speak, and that the faithful must keep desiring God in order to keep praying. As the saint lived through an epidemic where many friends died, he pleaded to God that he not be overcome by despair.

“In these words we have what we need to come out of despair. We remember Jesus Christ is the inner-life and we ask him not to let our inner darkness take hold of us and pull us down to despair. This way we can keep going forward.”

Brother David addressed the challenges of maintaining a prayerful spirit after returning home, encouraging pilgrims to pray to discern God’s call, and reminding them Christ promises the happiness of the beatitudes.

“Christ gives us the Holy Spirit and Christ also gives us his peace. If (a call) comes from God, ask ourselves if it leads us to build peace . . . Christ’s peace is peace of a child of God, which leads us to try to recognize in others a brother or a sister, to live in love, in communion with one another. And when there is a choice that leads us to love, God is present.”

Paul McKibben, a choir member at All Saints Episcopal Church, was touched by the monk’s guidance and by the liturgies.

“It didn’t matter if it went flat or wasn’t perfect. It was very beautiful. I loved it when most of the people left and there were a few people left singing and that was a unique kind of experience across cultural and language barriers, just singing,” he said.

A computer software designer, his company has recently had layoffs and he now feels better able to deal with uncertainty and “the chaos that is my job.”

“It was really a good opportunity to put everything in perspective, to put work in perspective with the rest of my life and realize the situation is really not that bad.”

The prayer services were eye-opening for the group’s co-leader, Roles, who made her first Taizé trip in 1998.

In Taizé, “prayer is your template that you’re fitting other things into, but in everyday life work is your template and prayer is secondary . . . (I think) ‘if I have time maybe I’ll do it’ instead of it being a central thing. I’m working on it being more than that. It’s hard, it’s a challenge,” she said. Coming to the retreat center made her feel “like (a) veil was lifted and I was seeing life in a new way,” she said.

“That process of being with people, the simplicity of life, you start to reassess what’s important, what feeds and nurtures you, who you are called to be,” Roles said. “It sort of revived me to what I think my true vocation is, (which) is prayer, and made me think, how do I live it out in my life.”

In small group discussions, she had to think of the simplest ways to explain complex ideas to pilgrims from other countries, which helped her to discern truth, Roles added, and she had to listen well to understand others. She is considering establishing a Taizé prayer service at All Saints Episcopal Church.

Ecumenism “is not only about denominational or institutional church unity,” she said. “It’s about spiritual unity, finding that one voice together, singing and being silent together before God.”

The brothers have had a “huge impact” on her work with refugees and different religions as she has sought ways to share her faith by living with and being present to them. “It’s wonderful to go experience the wisdom of the Taizé brothers and witness the life of reconciliation they’re living out between denominations and nations,” she said.

While most are active Christians, others like Norwegian Kristen Gaarde, on her fifth sojourn, are separated from the church. For Gaarde, a Middle East historian who recently lived in Jerusalem, it’s time for recreation. She is open to Christianity and feels Taizé is “much holier than Jerusalem” where denominations fight about the holy sites they guard and to her eyes it is too commercial.

“The prayer service is really beautiful . . . It’s like people enjoy art and this is the same way,” said Gaarde, 26. “Right now I don’t believe in God. Sometimes I do pray. The day after, I think it’s really ridiculous, but all together the prayer service is more like trying to find peace, peace of mind.”

While it has a web site and newsletter in 20 languages, the monastery is clearly not commercial, not accepting donations or family inheritances in order to stay independent and to communicate Gospel simplicity. Brother Emile believes this humble hospitality shows the heart of the church, as Christ was born in a manger.

“They’re experiencing during a week here that the church is a place of communion where people are respected, where difference is welcomed, where difference can be celebrated, not feared, and this unity comes from an inner life, a life of hope, a life of prayer. So then they start to realize that that’s what it’s all about, that the church is a mystery of communion—that it’s a unity that doesn’t remove diversity.”

Eastern Europeans have been coming in increasing numbers over the past decade after the fall of communism, with about five buses of Romanians coming every summer. Brother Emile noted that Eastern Europeans tend to hold grudges, feeding hatred for wounds a century old, but he believes Taizé helps the young realize their responsibility to foster reconciliation. The annual European Taizé gathering, which will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from Dec. 28 to Jan. 1, 2002, is expected to gather 70,000 to 80,000 youth and young adults.

“One of the challenges I think is how to heal those memories and how not to transmit to other generations the prejudice,” he said. “When fear diminishes, then you can begin to open up to others, enjoy their gifts. A lot of what Taizé is about is a climate of trust where you can open up and don’t feel threatened by others.”

Brother John, a Catholic monk of 26 years from Philadelphia, called the Eastern European transformation a sort of national identity crisis as people struggle with materialism. He believes it is important for Eastern Europeans to meet Western Europeans to rid themselves of overly positive or negative stereotypes.

One Croatian long-term volunteer, Matko Ujuary-Cseh, first visited Taizé in 1989 with his church, then repressed by communism, found a personal faith there and earned a degree in theology. From a Catholic republic, he’s enjoyed meeting other Christians.

“Living here in this community where we are so different—it opens my mind and heart toward others who are very different,” he said. “Before I came to Taizé, I didn’t realize there are Christians that are not Catholic. I didn’t know there are such nice people practicing their faith . . . but I realize we can’t celebrate the Eucharist together and I feel sad about that.”

At Taizé he is learning to love his enemies, those in Serbia, where hatred remains from a 10-year war between the two former republics of Yugoslavia.

“We can meet people from the other side, Yugoslavia and Serbia, because for the last years they’ve been coming from Yugoslavia more and more. This is the only place I have courage to approach them and speak to them because even though we are so different we have something in common, our faith. This can be the cornerstone, the beginning of reconciliation one day.”

Prayer has become essential and helped him decide to study psychology to become a marriage counselor for the church in Croatia, although counseling is stigmatized there. “Prayer is a mirror to see myself in God’s eyes, to compare my life with God’s will for my life.”

Choo-Ying did plenty of praying as she chose a week of silence at Taizé, which sharpened her vision and hearing. She enjoyed retreating to a waterfall area and reflecting on Scriptures heard at daily Mass. During a silent week “you can appreciate more. You look at the clouds and the color of the blue sky. You appreciate God’s work.”

Yet she was interested in learning more about the daily lives of the monks and their behind-the-scenes work, as they had a surprisingly low-key presence. The American monks said that with so many visitors, they need private space, and work areas are off limits.

Brother John noted that the community never sought to draw such crowds, but now feels a responsibility to serve them, by spreading the Gospel, particularly since many churches in Europe have empty pews.

“We try to share what’s most important for us,” he said. “We’re not trying to put on a show for them. The prayer is our prayer that we try to make accessible. We do it for us, not for them. When we talk about the Bible, it’s because it’s interesting for us.”

For the brothers, prayer and service are “two sides of the same coin. You need to be filled in order to give.”

A place for discernment, he noted, some people who come are confirmed in what they’ve been thinking about doing, while others realize a need for change. The hope is for “it (to) be an important step in one’s faith journey.”

Brother John, who entered the order after going as a summer pilgrim, teaches Bible studies, which led him to write six religious books. He also travels twice yearly to the United States, speaking on Taizé. Monks work on different teams, such as liturgy preparation, or projects like pottery and jewelry making. Brother Roger still leads the community, he said, and has picked a successor.

Brother Emile is inspired by how Brother Roger, even at 86, always strives to answer God’s call. He recalled how in 1971 the community realized it was expecting more visitors than it could accommodate and decided to tear down a stained glass wall to make space.

“One thing I’m very struck by in Brother Roger, is a man who always tries to listen to what God is asking of us today and the desire to answer that calling immediately.”

Case, who lost her voice for most of the retreat, noted the value of walking in the “absolutely beautiful” countryside.

“It’s hard to (experience a retreat) sometimes when you work in the church,” she said. “It was really good for me, the prayer time, reflection and growing in your own faith. I hope that it will make me a better minister.”

Taizé prayer services are offered weekly at one of four Atlanta churches (Emory Presbyterian Church, Decatur; Epiphany Episcopal Church, Decatur; Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta; St. Paul United Methodist Church, Atlanta), but Case hopes a Catholic church may be added to the places where this ecumenical prayer experience is available. She said that Pope John Paul II has invited Taizé participation in the biyearly World Youth Day since 1993 and many Taizé songs are used in the liturgies.

She also hopes to offer a Taizé pilgrimage every other year through the archdiocesan young adult ministry office, during alternate years when World Youth Day is not scheduled. While initially disappointed more Catholics didn’t sign up for the first trip in May, Case found that the ecumenical group built unexpected bridges and she will consider making future trips ecumenical.

She believes that Catholics can be challenged and appreciate their own faith tradition by seeing different faith perspectives on teachings like the Eucharist. It is also enlightening to hear the struggles of others, ranging from seminarians to free spirits, from other countries like France, where 80 percent are Catholic, but only a small percentage attend church, Case said.

“People from other (Protestant) churches say, ‘Oh, I think we have Communion once a month.’ As Catholics we can go every day. I think we take it for granted. For Catholics it’s a good opportunity to be challenged to think about what we believe,” she said.

“I absolutely loved it being ecumenical because there are times to figure out what things you have in common with other churches rather than differences . . . Also I liked it being international . . . Even people you don’t think have much money struggle with consumerism.”

Case also noted a growing Catholic trend, particularly among young adults, to get caught up in external signs and symbols of reverence such as kneeling during prayers and church politics, but Taizé helps one focus on core Gospel living.

“Taizé is much more about ‘we believe in Christ. He was born and lived as a man, died and rose for our sins,’” she said. “With Taizé it is more about taking time to pray, to listen to Scripture, taking time for silence and taking time in community.”

Back in Atlanta, she has tried to take more time for silence—difficult in this noisy world—at home, in the car, and during prayer, and keeps one Taizé song particularly close at heart.

“In the Lord I’ll be ever thankful, in the Lord I will rejoice. Look to God, do not be afraid. Lift up your voices, the Lord is near, lift up your voices, the Lord is near.”