Is there such a place on earth where representatives of all Christian denominations would meet with each other for the most peaceful and good purposes? Imagine such a peaceful place really exists. And it is called the Taizé community. This is in France, namely in Burgundy. The Taizé community brings together representatives of the most diverse Christian denominations.
UNITED IN THE SPIRIT
The laws by which the brothers in the Taizé community live can, rather, be called a real religion. The same universal unifying religion, in which there is no division into "right" and "wrong" believers. And the activity of the community is "ecumenical", that is, universal.
Taizé is indeed today the center of Christian pilgrimage, the center of the ecumenical life of Europe. People from more than 25 countries of the world, united by adherence to the Christian tradition and common spiritual and moral values, come to Taizé to work here, relax and pray.
Every year after Christmas, a grandiose event takes place - a winter ecumenical meeting of the Taizé community in one of the largest cities in Europe, where tens of thousands of young Christians gather for five days. One of the recent meetings held in Lisbon was attended by about 40 thousand young people!
SECRET SHELTER
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The founder of the Taizé community is Brother Roger. In the world - Roger Schutz of the Protestant religion. He was only 25 years old when he moved from his native Switzerland to France. A terrible disease - pulmonary tuberculosis - kept him bedridden for several years. During this painful illness, Roger changed his mind about many things, and in him the decision gradually matured to found such a community where it was possible to live in simplicity and kindness, "and where the benevolence of the heart would really exist, and where the basis of everything would be love."
The founding of the community in 1940 coincided with the outbreak of World War II. At that time, the northern part of France was under the direct control of the German occupiers, while the southern part was under the jurisdiction of the Vichy government. Roger stopped in the Burgundian village of Taizé, near which the demarcation line passed. He bought a seedy house here and several buildings.
The village of Taizé belonged to the "Vichy" part of France, so the French fled here, seeking refuge from the invaders. In the house of Roger Schütz, they found a secret shelter: Protestants, Catholics, atheists, and Jews. Roger did not refuse anyone. And even at that terrible time, he did not forget about God and never missed prayers, but in order not to embarrass Catholics and Jews, he always prayed alone, leaving people.
In 1942, the invaders discovered the secret of the refuge. Having received a warning from a French officer, a friend of his parents, Roger managed to leave Taizé along with the fugitives. Roger Schütz returned to Taizé only in 1944, and no longer as an ordinary worldly person, but as a shepherd, surrounded by several brothers. It was from this year that a Christian community began to function here, created on the model of ancient monastic monasteries.
At the end of the war, the brothers began to oversee the orphanage for children who have lost their parents. Their pious activities inspired other Christians to do a similar feat, and in 1949 the new brothers of the community took vows. In 1966, the Catholic community of the sisters of St. Andrew settled in the neighborhood. The sisters began to help the community members in receiving pilgrims and working in the shelter. Later, the resettled Ursuline nuns from Poland joined their activities.
Today the community has about a hundred brothers of thirty nationalities. Among them are Protestants of various denominations and Catholics. Some of the brothers live in disadvantaged countries in Asia, Africa and South America. This “outreach” activity has existed since the 1950s, when brothers began to travel to areas affected by conflict, natural disasters or poverty to help the population. They settle in the poorest neighborhoods, wanting to share the living conditions of their inhabitants, to become the personification and presence of love for the most disadvantaged.
FORCE OF GRAVITY
What is the attraction of the Taizé community for the most diverse Christians? Perhaps it is in the active preaching of love. Brother Roger stated: “Community life can be a sign that God is love - and only love. God can only love."
He himself wrote the Charter of Taizé, which laid out the foundations of life in the community. The brothers take a vow of celibacy and non-acquisitiveness, they have no common property - everything is common. It is forbidden to accept donations here - you can only earn by your own labor. If one of the brothers inherits any property, it goes to the community, which then distributes it to the poor.
In Taizé, there is a special regulation for the administration of services, which is not similar to either Catholic or Protestant worship. In some way it is most similar to … Orthodox worship.
Once, when visiting Russia, Brother Roger was struck by the fasting services of Holy Week in Orthodox churches. And in the center of the prayer hall in Taizé a "calvary" was installed, services are conducted without electric light - only by candlelight.
Many are struck by the brothers' desire to decorate church buildings with Russian onion domes, which are crowned with Orthodox six-pointed crosses. Chapels with Orthodox icons and under Orthodox crosses have been built throughout the community. As if it was in Taizé that the realization of the fallacy of Protestantism's refusal of icons and the veneration of saints occurred.
Divine services are held every night in the main temple of Taizé. Representatives of other confessions may not take part in it. As a rule, Catholics celebrate a separate Mass. And the Orthodox most often conduct their services in a chapel consecrated by an Orthodox priest, and an ancient small temple in the village of Taizé is adapted for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. In Taizé there are vestments, service books and missives from Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia.
PROGRESS IN THE SPIRITUAL AREA
In 1978, Brother Roger was awarded the Templeton Prize. This award recognizes "progress in research or discovery in spiritual realities."
The official church treats such a controversial community favorably. A variety of religious leaders regularly visit Taizé. Pope John Paul II, three archbishops of Canterbury, a number of Lutheran bishops, many priests and pastors from all over the world, as well as Orthodox priests have already visited it.
Our Patriarch Alexy II in 2004 addressed the community members with welcoming words: “Each meeting of the Taizé community between Western and Eastern Christmas becomes a unique moment when young Christians of Europe and representatives of other continents unite in a spiritual impulse to experience the invaluable gift of meeting each other. friend … In our era, when it is so easy for a person to lose his inner support in life, to succumb to the temptation to be like everyone else, to abandon a high Christian vocation to please the spirit of the times - it is more important than ever to share your hope with a person standing next to him, to warm his soul with a word of love and faith … May the Lord Himself strengthen you and accompany you on this amazing pilgrimage!"
FIRST MARTYR
While addressing all mankind with sermons of active love, the Taizé community, nevertheless, was unable to resist the universal evil. Brother Roger himself was the victim.
On August 16, 2005, he was killed during a divine service attended by nearly 2,500 pilgrims from different countries. During prayer, an unknown woman approached Roger and stabbed the 90-year-old man three times with a knife in the throat. Brother Roger died of terrible wounds on the spot. The believers surrounded the bloody murderer and handed him over to the police. The murderer was a 36-year-old woman, a Romanian citizen.
What caused the murder is still a mystery. But, most likely, the matter still lies in religious contradictions. So, brother Roger, doing good deeds all his life, at the end of his life, unwittingly, became the first martyr in the name of the faith of the ecumenical religion of Taizé.
The Taizé community brings together representatives of various Christian denominations
After the death of the founder, the community was led by the Catholic brother Alois. He was appointed his successor by Brother Roger himself back in 1998. In his youth, Brother Alois repeatedly came to Taizé, spent several months there as a volunteer, and in 1974 decided to stay in the community forever and put on brotherly prayer clothes.
Brother Alois is a worthy successor. He continues the ecumenical work of Brother Roger. As soon as he took office, he met with Pope Benedict XVI, Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, attended a meeting of the World Council of Churches, met with the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
He preaches the same fundamental principle of the Taizé community as Brother Roger: “God is love. God loves everyone without exception."