Living on a prayer - The Taizé Prayer Experience
For those who are not familiar with Taizé, it is an ecumenical Christian monastic order in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. Founded in 1940 by Frère Roger (Brother Roger), it is a community that is made up of more than a hundred men from many nations representing Protestant and Catholic branches of Christianity, uniting the majority of religions by focusing on prayer and meditation. The community has never wanted to create a“movement” or organization centered on itself, but instead focusing to send the young back from the youth meetings to their local Church, to their parish, group or community, to undertake, with many others, a “pilgrimage of trust on earth.”
There is also a unique method of praying with the Taizé experience, using simple and short phrases and chants, intended to be repeated again and again in aid of meditation and prayer.
The Taizé Prayer event in the Novaliches Diocese was attended by lots of people, majority of it were youth, as what Rizal had said, “The hope of this nation”. Truly they are, for I haven’t seen enthusiasm like this, although it might be because I don’t even know what to expect and they already know what would happen onwards. The program started with the enthronement of the Taizé cross to the altar, chanting Veni, Sancte, Espiritu, reminding me of Gregorian chants the way they were sung, melody and rhythm to the ears. It was followed by short opening chants, one of them in Tagalog, but the most enticing feature was the way the lyrics are created in simple words and repeated again and again, which helps people participate actively since they would not even be troubled by memorizing every line.
It was then followed by a short message from the parish priest, and then by two Taizé Brothers from their community in France who were visiting the Philippines, perhaps as part of their pilgrimage. There were also another set of speakers giving testimonials, two active youth leaders of the Diocese who were sent to Taizé and have experienced the life inside the community. And then there was gospel reading in Catholic way, attesting to Taizé’s intent of cooperation with the church, for they were not here to create a new religion, but to help us get closer to ours and to Christ. One of the important parts followed, a period of long silence for each and everyone’s reflection and prayer, and then the intercessory prayers, again borrowing from Catholic manner, accompanied by the choir singing the short phrases of response. The last most important part is where you are allowed to get closer to the Taizé cross and meditate and pray, kneeling down on the cross that was laid on the floor at the foot of the altar in the middle of the aisle. For those who opted to stay on their place of seating, prayer is also done, even with the choir singing short but meaningful phrases in Latin, English and even Tagalog. Plenty of lighted candles from the altar and lining up at the aisle served as the only light of the event, adding the solemn atmosphere that is excellently required in praying. It kind of reminded me again of our class retreat during my High School years in Don Bosco, one of the few moments that I had the opportunity to talk with the Lord without feeling any distraction from the surroundings.
It was unexpected. I have never had numerous goose bumps, not even when I watched horror films in cinema and from DVDs had I remembered experiencing this. It was some event that I got to get close to Him again, even for a short time. An informal invitation about a meaningful event led to an experience I will always remember. Even if I was invited probably because my friend couldn't get rid of me (was it?), I guess it was worth staying and delaying my trip back home even if I felt almost dead tired. My body is telling me that I am supposed to rest as soon as possible, but I felt like there was a certain awareness that constantly tells me to stay and observe, somehow giving me an idea that it was worth the wait.
