Loading ...
And won’t he be welcome in a place like Ithaca! Here we welcome all faiths and belief communities, especially those faiths and belief communities whose sole raison d’etre is the welcoming of all faiths and belief communities. Fr. Robert Smith of the Cornell Catholic Community has been eloquent in praise of Taize. During my first year here, though he never joined us in praying the Rosary, Fr. Bob led a “Taize prayer” meeting one night a week at the same time as we met to pray the Rosary. It never occurred to me until now to ask why it died out, but it did; it didn’t last beyond that year.
When I was studying at Oxford, and even before I was received into the Church, I met a Polish girl who was also keen on the Taize scene. She also appeared, such as my knowledge was then, to be a devout, sincere Catholic. I remember one day that she praised the works of one Fr. Jacques Dupuis, S.J. It sounded suspicious, and lo and behold, when I googled his name, among the first results was a link to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to a document noting Fr. Dupuis’ doctrinal deviations - if the CDF ever gets as far as that, you know it must be bad!
These are the kind of folks who go in for Taize. I further illustrate with the following. Fr. Bob made at least one disciple here, a David Herman. He writes in this week’s bulletin from the Cornell Catholic Community:
The beauty of Taizé is that it is a place of real doubt, real searching, and real sincerity, and most of the people who go there are down-to-earth and… dare I say it… normal, like you or me. There isn’t a sense of ulterior motives or proselytizing that I think we sometimes detect and mistrust from religion, especially in America. Even if you don’t view yourself as extremely religious (and even if you do), but you like the idea of meeting people from all over the world and are open to talking about religious-themed questions, I recommend that you go — you won’t regret it. The act in itself will be like planting a tiny mustard seed — you will be amazed at what it grows into. [Yes, into rank heresy and apostasy.]
This October, Brother John from Taizé will be coming to Cornell to speak to the Christian communities and to lead a Taizé style prayer. I hope many of you get the opportunity to hear him speak and to learn more about a place that has helped me to deepen my own faith, as well as to create many invaluable friendships.
In Christ,
David Herman, Class of 2007
The emphases are mine. What his notion of faith is, I’m not sure, but he has missed the Catholic notion by a wide mark. Oh well, nothing unusual, just some news from Cornell, if you happen to be interested.
With all due respect … I have no idea what you are talking about here. Please, quite sincerely, some background for those of us who don’t know about this Taize business.
Curly N. Moe - if you haven’t heard of Taize, all I can say is that you’ve been more fortunate in your Catholic formation than most of us! The Catholic chaplains at my old university were enthusiastic Taize-ites, and apart from arranging week-long trips to the HQ in France they also made sure that chaplaincy excursions ended with Taize-style services, complete with chanting and vapid prayers that sounded like they had been thought up by members of Call To Action.
Iosehphe - I’ve heard of many young Poles going to Taize, they seem to make up the lifeblood of the place. And while I certainly think it’s sad that these young people, coming from a Catholic country where most priests are at least tolerably orthodox, are going there and being exposed to that nonsense, I nevertheless think it unfair to cast doubts on the sincerity of their Catholicism. (Forgive me if I’ve misread you, but that’s what you seem to be doing in your paragraph on your Polish friend.) Traditionalists can oppose that kind of worship without opposing the worshippers. A heterodox Jesuit is one thing, a sincere but mislead Polish youth is another. I even know a Polish student who is a great fan of - gasp - liturgical dance. She is nevertheless one of the most fervent and good-living Catholics I know.
Went to a few Taize style evening things a few lents ago. Had no idea what it was, but found it mildly rewarding. I don’t quite understand the animosity Brian…
I know almost nothing about Taize, and have no first-hand experience, but the Doctor and I were a little surprised to see that a Baptist church near our home is now offering Taize sessions. Didn’t sound to me like something I’d expect Southern Baptists to get into.
Many thousands of people of all denominations pray in this style of prayer that can unite Christians in our commonalities, all over the world.
I read recently that Mother Teresa’s nuns organized a service using Taize songs upon the anniversary of her death.
Like most things in life, I wouldn’t accept the spectrum of liturgical and reading interests of one person as reflective of an institution. (Who of us could be saved in that case?).
I think that if anyone were to dig deeper, they would find that the community and the brothers are very respectful and have no agenda other than to encourage Christians to live their faith and to pray.
With respect to Catholics, some might be intrigued to know that Scott Hahn likes a book written by one of the brothers about marian spirituality. Additionally, some Catholics (as well as Protestant) have benefited in their attempts to grow in holiness by books written by Brother John of Taize, available at Daughters of St. Paul bookstores, Paulist press, Alba house, GIA, as well as amazon.
Christians devoted to praying the rosary might find solace in Taize chants in Latin, possibly, such as Magnificat.
As it so often is when we search after our faith, trying to follow after it loyally and with sincerity, openness, I have found that looking into the nuts and bolts of the encouragement of the Taize community has been a surprisingly joyous opportunity.
If you are near Cornell, notwithstanding the unfortunate conflict of scheduling the prayer on the same night as rosary, I would encourage you to attend the talks. Whereas I wouldn’t necessarily encourage a Catholic to attend call to action meetings. I am confident that you will not walk away from a talk with seething resentment towards the church but rather a strengthened hope in the goodness of the church, a more profound appreciation of the life of Our Saviour at work in it.
best regards