In Taizé, for the first time, a Christmas crib that is lit up at night has been set up outside the church, on the road that goes through the village and the welcome area. It is a sign of the Season of Advent, into which Christians have just entered. The liturgy also underlines this time of waiting, with special sung introductions.
Since traditionally the meetings are quieter in November and December, some of the young people who are staying in Taizé for a longer time are able to take part in prayers and meetings in different countries of Europe: Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland. In France too, many invitations have come in: from Cluses to Puy-en-Velay, from Bourges to Grenoble, and from the Allier to the Juras.
To mark the 70 years of Taizé and the 5th anniversary of Brother Roger’s death, a short extract from unpublished video interviews with Brother Roger goes on line each month of 2010. For November: “The beauty of a call”
Like each month since January, on 12 December Christian communities around the world will pray in communion with the people of Haiti in their time of trial. A possible prayer outline is available on the Taizé web site.
The meeting in Santiago,
Chile, will take place from 8 to 12 December 2010.
“This last week, the
number of people registering for the meeting has increased like “smog”!
Innumerable meetings, gatherings, celebrations and appointments result in the
young people thinking only about what will happen… tomorrow! Next week seems so
far away.
This is why the decision was made to leave open the period during which people
can register; and registrations are increasing, both from Santiago and from
the neighbouring regions and countries.
In a few days’ time, the Europeans
will start arriving for the “pre-meeting program”; they will spend a week in a
family and in a Christian community in another region of Chile….
The
parishes have already prepared their welcome centres, although some more host
families will be necessary. In between exams and meetings for the young people,
it is not easy to finalise the details of the big welcome on 8 December and the
following days….”
Suzanne, from the preparation team, writes, “The weekend of 14 November
was very busy at the Gooilandsingel. The preparation teams of all the host
churches were invited to come over to visit us at our office in Rotterdam….
For two days, a steady stream of people entered our building. They had an
hour to talk to “their” volunteer, and then an hour to arrange the rest of the
preparations. The sisters’ desk was the first stop, to make sure all contact
details were complete and to talk about “2m2”: (2 free square meters is enough
to welcome a visitor!) After that, in the women’s eating room, the people got a
request from the second volunteer: do you know any doctors, drivers and empty
(furnished) houses? Drivers for last-minute transport jobs during the meeting.
Doctors for safety. And empty furnished houses for the brothers and volunteers
from Taizé.…” Meeting in
Rotterdam: 28 December 2010 to 01 January 2011.
Photos
Press release
Welcoming the young people in families
More than 500 young adults
in Belarus are preparing to take part in the European meeting in Rotterdam.
Since the autumn, they have been meeting in parishes of different denominations
in order to get things under way. One of the brothers was able to take part in
several of these meetings during a visit to Belarus in November.
“Last year,
I was able to visit several cities in the East of the country; this year I went
to the West: Maladechno, Pinsk, Minsk, Baranovitchi…. The songs of Taizé in the
Belarusian language ring out everywhere during the prayers in the churches. In
Baranovitchi, an afternoon meeting with Bible introduction and sharing was
organised in the parish centre. Like elsewhere, the meetings were very joyful
and showed how people are looking forward to coming together soon with young
people from throughout Europe in Rotterdam.…”
“At the end of October two of the brothers visited Bulgaria. It was the first visit for 4 years and it really did feel like we were being welcomed as long lost friends. We were very much expected – only an hour after arriving in Sofia we were already being interviewed by two TV news reporters! We met friends of the community that we’ve known for many years and also many people that were hearing of the community for the first time. In the 1990s a lot of Bulgarians came to Taizé and to the European meetings but for the last few years there have not been many visitors and so we felt it was important to visit them, to renew that personal contact, those relationships that are at the root of communion….”
Pauline, one of those who prepared the meeting, writes, “Saturday 20 November 2010, Brother Alois joined Bishop Michel Dubost of Evry-Corbeille-Essonne to welcome young adults from the diocese and from the entire Paris region for an afternoon of theme workshops and an evening of prayer and song at the Cathedral of Evry. Three other brothers also took part in the meeting. The meeting was prepared together with the youth ministry of the diocese. It brought together several hundred people and was centred on the theme: “No one is a stranger in the eyes of Christ. Let him invite you….” Testimonies from Dominican sisters, a young woman doing voluntary work in a developing country, an Islamic-Christian couple, leaders of a reception centre for the mentally disabled, as well as visits to the cathedral and to the mosque, were proposed to the young people through various workshops. Intercultural and inter-religious dialogue were among the subjects addressed during a question and answer session with Brother Alois and Bishop Dubost….”
In October 2010, a brother of the community spent some weeks in the United
States. Two weekends of prayer and sharing brought together young and
not-so-young people in Brooklyn and Baltimore. In Massachusetts, he made a
series of visits to different universities to meet with students. Then he went
west, for prayers and meetings in South Dakota.
South Dakota is an
intermediate state between the Midwest and the West of the United States. In the
eastern part, the great plains provide fertile ground for agriculture and
livestock. When you cross the Missouri, the great river which cuts the state
into two, the landscape changes abruptly and you feel like you are in a Western;
it’s drier and wilder. There are found the famous Badlands, clay ravines and
gullies created by centuries of erosion, almost a moonscape. And there too you
find most of the Native Americans, particularly the Lakota….
Last year, a
group of young South Dakotans came to Taizé, among whom were two young native
Americans. The brother was thus able to return the visit, making contact with
the Lakota and discovering their situation.
God who loves us, when an ordeal seems burdensome, you carry it with us, and you enable us to hope beyond every hope.