The Rhythm Divine

Three times a day the French hill-top village of Taize in Burgundy comes to a standstill. The church bells call everyone to stop what they are doing and come to prayer. And thousands of young people from around the world, pilgrims to Taize, do just that because prayer and worship at the Taize community is a unique experience. It involves the white-robed brothers of the community and the pilgrims coming together to sing short songs over and over again in a service that also includes a long period of silence for contemplation.

Director of Music, Br Jean Marie, was in Australia recently conducting a series of Taize services and Geoff Wood went along with his microphone to join the hundreds of worshippers eager to sing out their faith.

Special Audio Downloads

Download an extended interview with Br Jean-Marie from the Taize community in France. The duration is 14.47.

Transcript

Founded in 1940 by Brother Roger, Taize began as a Protestant attempt to draw in some of the Catholic monastic traditions, including plainchant and meditation. It is now a community of more than 100 brothers, Catholic and Protestant, from more than twenty-five countries and is renowned as a place of pilgrimage for the sick at heart and those thirsting for an inner life. Central to the popularity of Taize is the music, melodic songs of great simplicity that convey an emotional and spiritual depth.

Images

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Further Information

The Taize Community
Today, the Taizé Community is made up of over a hundred brothers, Catholics and from various Protestant backgrounds, coming from around thirty nations.

Where is Taize?
Taizé is situated off the A6 motorway, between Chalon-sur-Saône and Mâcon, soth-west of Paris.

Taize Prayer and Song
There are pages here on meditative singing and learning the songs in the way they are intended to be sung. There is an outline for a typical "prayer with songs from Taizé", pages on the value of silence; how to arrange the place where the prayer will take place; the use of icons in worship; sound clips, and much more.

An Interview with the Prior of Taize, Br Alois
The Prior of Taize, Br Alois, was interviewed by Rachael Kohn for The Spirit of Things in September 2008. You can find a transcript of the interview by following this link.

Music

CD title: The Songs of Taize
Track title: Venite exultemus/ Bless the Lord
Artist: The Community of Taize
Composer: Taize & Jacques Berthier
CD details: Taize Cd 625
URL: http://www.taize.fr/en

CD title: Christe Lux Mundi
Track title: I am sure I shall see the goodness of the Lord
Artist: The Community of Taize
CD details: Taize T 568

Producer

Geoff Wood