Three times each day, everyone gathers in the Church of Reconciliation for prayer. Each week in the summer, the intercontinental meetings bring together 3,000 to 5,000 visitors, and between 500 and 1,000 each week in the spring and autumn. Since the late 1950s Taizé has been welcoming young adults in ever-growing numbers. The community desires to be a “parable of communion,” a place where people seek to be reconciled every day. By its very existence, Taizé is a sign of reconciliation among divided Christians and among separated peoples.
Today the community of Taizé has brothers from twenty-five countries that represent every continent. While the first brothers were Protestant, Catholic brothers eventually joined the community as well. As the years passed, the brothers increased in number. In 1949, the first group of brothers made lifetime monastic commitments to celibacy, community life, and great simplicity of lifestyle. When he was able to return to Taizé in 1944, Brother Roger brought with him a group of men who were committed to his idea of creating a community of reconciliation. Brother Roger was in Switzerland at the time. In November 1942, the Nazi Gestapo came to the house. He spent his days in prayer, living alone until he began to hide political refugees, especially Jews, between 19. A seminary graduate from a Reformed tradition, he carried with him the idea of forming a community of reconciliation-first, to reconcile Christians, and then, through the reconciliation of Christians, to overcome conflicts within the human family.īrother Roger found a house in the isolated village of Taizé, a short distance from the line of demarcation that divided France in two at that time. In 1940, at the age of twenty-five, Brother Roger, the founder of the Taizé Community, left his native Switzerland and moved to France, where war was raging. The opening of this article is taken from the Leader’s Edition of Sing! A New Creation (available from Faith Alive Christian Resources 1-80 Others contributed to the notes on the three Taizé songs, which are also taken from that edition.
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