Discovering Taize, August 20, 1940

Human beings only create by drawing on their poverty.  I am well placed to assert that today:  it is exactly thirty years ago that I discovered Taize.

Br. Roger of Taize, from his Journal August 20, 1970

Br. Roger of Taize - Rest in Peace

When I was young, at a time when Europe was torn apart by so many conflicts, I kept on asking myself: Why all these confrontations?  Why do so many people, even Christians, condemn one another out of hand?  And I wondered:  is there, on this earth, a way of reaching complete understanding of others?  Then came a day - I can still remember the date, and I could describe the place:  the subdued light of a late summer evening, darkness settling over the countryside -- a day when I made a decision.  I said to myself, if this way does exist, begin with yourself and resolve to understand every person fully.  That day, I was certain the vow I had made was for life.  It involved nothing less than returning again and again, my whole life long, to this irrevocable decision:  seek to understand all, rather than to be understood.

Br. Roger of Taize 1915-2005

On August 16, during a prayer service at Taize,

Brother Roger is fatally wounded by a mentally unbalanced assailant.

  He dies at the age of ninety.

Patriarch Athenagoras

This day, Patriarch Athenagoras enters the life of eternity.  With him we lose a man of the same prophetic vein as John XXIII.  He had no lack of trials in his final years...  Nevertheless, he was always optimistic.  "In the evening, when I retire to my room," he told me once, "I close the door on all my cares, and I say:  Tomorrow!"

Br. Roger of Taize, written July 7, 1972

Fasting or Feasting

One day St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross met for a meal.  Grapes were brought in.  "I'm not going to eat any," said John of the Cross.  "Too many people have none."  Teresa answered, "I, on the contrary, am going to eat them, to praise God for these grapes."  Their conversation mirrors one of the tensions of the contemporary Church.

Br. Roger of Taize

Lent

Lent:  forty days granted us in which we marvel at a love too great for words.

 Br. Roger of Taize