Many years ago when son Isaac was in his early twenties he lived for the better part of a year in the ecumenical Christian community in France called Taize. The community welcomes tens of thousands of young people every year and Taize-style worship is now celebrated around the world and wee have several Taize choruses in the Voices United worship resource. Isaac was there when the founder, Brother Roger (namesake for one of their sons) was still the prior, although frail and in his 90's. Brother Alois was his presumed successor, a role he took on when Brother Roger was murdered by a deranged visitor to Taize.
I visited Isaac during his time there, two weeks in February, with one of those weeks in the House of Silence. I was not supposed to speak or communicate with others during this week of contemplation, and I was reasonably successful doing so.I was allowed to leave for daily worship and for walks -- kilometres and kilometres through the countryside.
I was also permitted several meetings with a spiritual director who happened to be Brother Alois. I appreciated his gentle yet direct spirit even though I had no idea of what would unfold in the community.
I noticed that Brother Alois met with Pope Francis recently in an audience which was originally scheduled in March but postponed by the pandemic. According to the Taize website:
During this half-hour meeting, Brother Alois was able to share with the Holy Father recent news from Taizé, in particular the latest stages of the pilgrimage of trust on earth and the recent resumption of welcoming young people to Taizé after the period of lockdown. He also told him how much the encyclical Laudato Si’ stimulates the research of the community, and he spoke about the work on safeguarding and the welcoming of refugees in Taizé.
Brother Alois added: "I am particularly touched by the warm and fraternal welcome of Pope Francis. In Taizé, we feel very close to his ministry and I wanted to tell him how much we pray for him.”
Reading about this brought back a wave of fond memories about being at Taize, including seeing Isaac daily for a couple of weeks when we had been apart for months. I couldn't speak with him for those days but I could wave as we went for worship. It was also an important reminder to pray for the remarkable ministry to young people that the community has offered for so many years. 
House of Silence
2 comments:
That had to be very frustrating, not being able to talk to Isaac when you could see him every day for 2 weeks ! I would not have survived that experience !
The first week we were able to talk and go for walks almost daily even though he had a full week schedule. The week in the silence house was different, but we had time together at the end as well.
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