Taizé - Praying in Music, Word and Silence

Suzy Bale describes an evening with an inspirational Frenchman

On 23rd April, St. Michael’s Church, Dafen, Llanelli was beautifully decorated and full for an evening of prayer where we were able to welcome and meet Brother Jean-Patrick from the Taizé Community in France.

The evening began with a time of prayer in the style of the Taizé Community, in Burgundy, France – an ecumenical Community of Brothers who for decades have been welcoming many thousands of pilgrims and visitors. The prayer is made up of songs or chants from Taizé, simple verses from scripture, from the Psalms repeated over and over, readings from the Bible, then a period of silence.

There was a very special moment when Frère Jean-Patrick and I met Bernard, who lives near Llanelli, but who was born only a mile from Taizé, prayed with the brothers as a child and, as a young man, helped build of the Church of the Resurrection.

After the prayer, we were welcomed for refreshments in the hall and watched a video about life and prayer in Taizé. Brother Jean-Patrick told us more about the life of the Community and answered questions about the Community, prayer, making a pilgrimage to Taizé.

What struck people most was the beauty of the music and the space that this and the silence made that helped us all and invited us into prayer.

Brother Jean-Patrick comes originally from Chennai (Madras) in S.E. India. The evening was again a reunion as he and I had been volunteers in Taizé together over thirty years ago. We were so grateful that Brother Jean-Patrick found time on his two-week travels from the north of Scotland to the south of England to come for his first visit to Wales.

Many people were really grateful for this evening together and we are looking for people and a place that might be interested in gathering more regularly to hold a Taizé Prayer. If you would like to meet to pray again, or if you would like to join us, then please do contact the ministry team in Bro Lliedi or Bro Glannau Tywyn.