The Taizé services at St. Thomas' Parish are based on the ecumenical prayer services of the monastic community in Taizé, France, from which the monastic order takes its name. Founded in 1940, the initial aim of the community and their services was to heal divisions between Christians, with the resulting reconciliation leading to the promotion of peace elsewhere in the world.

A Taizé service is based on chanting. A simple tune sung in unison or harmony is combined with a short scriptural phrase and repeated for an extended period of time. This chanting allows the participant to shed the concerns of the world and enter into a spiritual place where a calm certainty of God's presence infuses the participant.

Although the founders of Taizé did not place the service in the context of a Eucharistic Service, St. Thomas' and other Episcopal parishes often adapt the Taizé service to incorporate a shared experience around our common table, living into the original reasons for the founding of the Taizé community: reconciliation and peace. At other times, our Taizé services are lay-led prayer services without Holy Communion.

Even the music and prayers of the Taizé service are set within the context of Contemplative Silence.

"Silence is God's first language," wrote the 16th-century mystic John of the Cross. And silence is the normal context in which contemplative prayer takes place. But there is silence and then there is silence. There is an outer silence, an outer stopping of the words and busy-ness, but there is also a much more challenging interior silence, where the inner talking stops as well. (Excerpted from "Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening" by Cynthia Bourgeault).

Contemplative Silence is as simple as it is challenging.  For example, following the gospel reading each week we sit together in prayerful silence for 5 minutes. 

Some persons choose a method, Lectio Divina, during contemplative silence. Lectio Divina uses a time of meditation on a short passage of Scripture or other holy writing and listening for God speaking to us through the words of the text. Lectio Divina flows naturally into Centering Prayer, in which the mind and body are quieted in order for one's spirit to rest in the presence of the Holy One.

But no experience is necessary! The only requirements are a desire and a willingness to quiet one's mind and rest in the presence of God.  

Learn more about the Taizé community.