Taize Worship
St. Matthew's holds a Taize Candlelight Service on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7:30 p.m. Taize services are simple, ecumenical, quiet and contemplative. The services include a reading from scripture, simple sung chants, candlelight and spaces for silence and prayer. Our Taize services also include stations for prayer and meditation stations, as well as violin or guitar music from some of our talented musicians.
Taize prayer provides an avenue for reducing stress and pursuing a deeper faith at an emotional level. It's also a great place to start if you feel drawn to worship, but are wary of organized religion.
More about Taize worship (From the Taize Community website, www.taize.fr/en)
Taize, in the South of Burgundy, France, is the home of an international, ecumenical community, founded there in 1940 by Brother Roger. The brothers are committed for their whole life to material and spiritual sharing, to celibacy, and to a great simplicity of life. Today the community is made up of over a hundred brothers, Catholics and from various Protestant backgrounds, from more than twenty-five nations. At the heart of daily life in Taize are the three times of prayer together. The brothers live by their own work. They do not accept gifts or donations for themselves. Some of the brothers are living in small groups – “fraternities” - among the very poor.
Since the late 1950s, many thousands of young adults from many countries have found their way to Taize to take part in weekly meetings of prayer and reflection. In addition, Taize brothers make visits and lead meetings large and small in Africa, North and South America, Asia, and in Europe, as a part of a “pilgrimage of trust on earth.”
Three times a day, everything on the hill of Taizé stops: the work, the Bible studies, the discussions. The bells call everyone to church for prayer. Hundreds or even thousands of mainly young people from all over the world pray and sing together with the brothers of the community. Scripture is read in several languages. In the middle of each common prayer, there is a long period of silence, a unique moment for meeting with God.
