Tag Archive for 'silence'

Prayer of Abandonment Charles de Foucauld

Published on August 12, 2010 in liturgy. 8 Comments Tags: , , , .

foucauld_iconeFather,
I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures -
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

This wonderful Prayer of Abandonment is written by Charles de Foucauld. I have long had a fascination for him and his followers, including visiting his hermitages in the Sahara.

I am now trying to clarify details of this prayer in Blessed Charles’s life’s timeline.

One has it that Br Charles wrote this prayer while on retreat in Nazareth (November 1897)
Another has it that the Prayer of Abandonment is actually Br Charles’s reflection of Jesus’ prayer to his Father, written while he was a Cistercian in Akbès in Syria.
Does anyone have which one of these is correct, plus reference (especially web link)? Or maybe there’s even a different version of its history?

I also remember there was at least one individual who attempted to join Br Charles in his lifestyle, but left, having found it too austere. Can anyone tell me the name of this person (or persons) and any details? Thanks.

For readers here for whom Br Charles is new, here is a good summary from my e-friend Fr Michael:

Charles de Foucauld was born in Strasbourg on September 15, 1858. He grew up in an aristocratic family. He served as a French army officer in Algeria but left the army in 1882 and went as an explorer to Morocco.

In 1890 he joined the Trappist order, but left in 1897 to follow an as yet undefined religious vocation. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1901. Thereafter he left for the Sahara, living at first in Beni Abbès and later at Tamanrasset among the Tuaregs of the Hoggar. He wanted to be among those who were, “the furthest removed, the most abandoned.” He wanted all who drew close to him to find in him a brother, “a universal brother.” In a great respect for the culture and faith of those among whom he lived, his desire was to “shout the Gospel with his life”. “I would like to be sufficiently good that people would say, “If such is the servant, what must the Master be like?”

He wanted to establish a new religious order and wrote several rules for this religious life. This new order, the Little Brothers of Jesus, however, would not become a reality until after his death.

Charles de Foucauld was shot to death by rebels December 1, 1916. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on November 13, 2005 and is considered a martyr of the Roman Catholic Church.

Some sources: The Spiritual Autobiography of Charles De Foucauld and Charles De Foucauld: Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters Series)

icon: Br Charles and Jesus by a Little Sister of Jesus

silence

Published on July 12, 2010 in liturgy. 19 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I regularly, sadly, find myself in situations where people appear to think that liturgy is essentially singing and reciting lovely poetry to one another. My trying to shift towards some balance by stressing action, gesture, environment, structure, etc. in those contexts is usually met with bemused confusion.

Let’s think about silence in liturgy.

Claude Debussy said, “Music is the silence between the notes.”

Where is there silence in your service? Canada’s Book of alternative Services has optional silence before the presider proclaims the collect, and after the sermon. Silence is required prior to the confession, after the Lord’s Prayer, and prior to the Prayer after Communion. The BCP (TEC) adds a required silence after breaking the bread. New Zealand’s Prayer Book has these, and suggests silence after each reading and the Gospel, and periods of silence in the Prayers of the People.

Because people have such a tendency to clutter the liturgy, my regular instruction is to tell new worship leaders that “may use” means “leave it out”. In the case of silence I would tend towards the opposite – “may” means “should”. On the other hand I have experienced worship leaders who clutter the service with little silences, not increasing the depth of worship, but giving the impression that the leader is lost and trying to remember what to do next. Some good, solid, longer silences at appropriate places can deeply enhance worship. Taizé has a silence of about seven minutes in every service. Don’t tell me children and young people cannot cope with silence. I am well aware of highly active children who, in the right context and atmosphere (a monastery, Taizé) can participate in very long silence. It is more about taking worship seriously, about modelling and expectation, than about adult prejudices that children cannot participate in silence.

In my book Celebrating Eucharist I write

Worship is not just words and actions and symbols, it is also silence. In silence we call to mind our sins. Silence may precede the Collect and follow each reading. A time of silent reflection appropriately follows the Sermon. Periods of silence may be kept in the Prayers of the People. The holy table may be prepared in silence, or silence may precede or follow the Great Thanksgiving. The bread is broken in silence. After communion there may be silence. Communities may need to be taught to use silence, and silences may have to be introduced gradually, and lengthened week by week. A worship leader unaccustomed to silence may need to time the silences as at first they will appear much longer than they actually are.

How do you use silence in your life? In your community worship? What works? What doesn’t? Suggestions…??

Holy Saturday

Published on April 3, 2010 in liturgy. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Note: Today is NOT “Easter Saturday”. Easter Saturday is next Saturday, April 10 2010. Easter Monday is April 5 (not last Monday), Easter Tuesday is April 6, etc.

verso24

Christ descended to the dead

A reading from an ancient homily for Holy Saturday

What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.

Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam’s son.

The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: ‘My Lord be with you all.’ And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise.

‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.

‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden.

‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image.

‘See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one.

`I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you.

‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God.

“The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages.

Almighty, ever-living God, whose Only-begotten Son descended to the realm of the dead, and rose from there to glory, grant that your faithful people, who were buried with him in baptism, may, by his resurrection, obtain eternal life.

Reflection on Great and Holy Saturday

by the Rt. Rev. Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann

Great and Holy Saturday is the day on which Christ reposed in the tomb. The Church calls this day the Blessed Sabbath.

The great Moses mystically foreshadowed this day when he said:
God blessed the seventh day.
This is the blessed Sabbath.
This is the day of rest,
on which the only-begotten Son of God rested from all His works . . . .
(Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday)

By using this title the Church links Holy Saturday with the creative act of God. In the initial account of creation as found in the Book of Genesis, God made man in His own image and likeness. To be truly himself, man was to live in constant communion with the source and dynamic power of that image: God. Man fell from God. Now Christ, the Son of God through whom all things were created, has come to restore man to communion with God. He thereby completes creation. All things are again as they should be. His mission is consummated. On the Blessed Sabbath He rests from all His works.

THE TRANSITION
Holy Saturday is a neglected day in parish life. Few people attend the Services. Popular piety usually reduces Holy Week to one day — Holy Friday. This day is quickly replaced by another — Easter Sunday. Christ is dead and then suddenly alive. Great sorrow is suddenly replaced by great joy. In such a scheme Holy Saturday is lost.

In the understanding of the Church, sorrow is not replaced by joy; it is transformed into joy. This distinction indicates that it is precisely within death the Christ continues to effect triumph.

TRAMPLING DOWN DEATH BY DEATH
We sing that Christ is “. . . trampling down death by death” in the troparion of Easter. This phrase gives great meaning to Holy Saturday. Christ’s repose in the tomb is an “active” repose. He comes in search of His fallen friend, Adam, who represents all men. Not finding him on earth, He descends to the realm of death, known as Hades in the Old Testament. There He finds him and brings him life once again. This is the victory: the dead are given life. The tomb is no longer a forsaken, lifeless place. By His death Christ tramples down death.

THE ICON OF THE DESCENT INTO HADES
The traditional icon used by the Church on the feast of Easter is an icon of Holy Saturday: the descent of Christ into Hades. It is a painting of theology, for no one has ever seen this event. It depicts Christ, radiant in hues of white and blue, standing on the shattered gates of Hades. With arms outstretched He is joining hands with Adam and all the other Old Testament righteous whom He has found there. He leads them from the kingdom of death. By His death He tramples death.

Today Hades cries out groaning:
“I should not have accepted the Man born of Mary.
“He came and destroyed my power.
“He shattered the gates of brass.
“As God, He raised the souls I had held captive.”
Glory to Thy cross and resurrection, O Lord!
(Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday)

THE VESPERAL LITURGY
The Vespers of Holy Saturday inaugurates the Paschal celebration, for the liturgical cycle of the day always begins in the evening. In the past, this service constituted the first part of the great Paschal vigil during which the catechumens were baptized in the “baptisterion” and led in procession back into the church for participation in their first Divine Liturgy, the Paschal Eucharist. Later, with the number of catechumens increasing, the first baptismal part of the Paschal celebration was disconnected from the liturgy of the Paschal night and formed our pre-paschal service: Vespers and the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great which follows it. It still keeps all the marks of the early celebration of Pascha as baptismal feast and that of Baptism as Paschal sacrament (death and resurrection with Jesus Christ — Romans 6).

On “Lord I call” the Sunday Resurrectional stichira of tone 1 are sung, followed by the special stichiras of Holy Saturday, which stress the death of Christ as descent into Hades, the region of death, for its destruction. But the pivotal point of the service occurs after the Entrance, when fifteen lessons from the Old Testament are read, all centered on the promise of the Resurrection, all glorifying the ultimate Victory of God, prophesied in the victorious Song of Moses after the crossing of the Red Sea (”Let us sing to the Lord for gloriously has He been glorified”), the salvation of Jonah, and that of the three youths in the furnace.

Then the epistle is read, the same epistle that is still read at Baptism (Romans 6:3-11), in which Christ’s death and resurrection become the source of the death in us of the “old man,” the resurrection of the new, whose life is in the Risen Lord. During the special verses sung after the epistle, “Arise O God and judge the earth,” the dark Lenten vestments are put aside and the clergy vest in the bright white ones, so that when the celebrant appears with the Gospel the light of Resurrection is truly made visible to us, the “Rejoice” with which the Risen Christ greeted the women at the grave is experienced as being directed to us.

The Liturgy of St. Basil continues in this white and joyful light, revealing the Tomb of Christ as the Life-giving Tomb, introducing us into the ultimate reality of Christ’s Resurrection, communicating His life to us, the children of fallen Adam.

One can and must say that of all services of the Church that are inspiring, meaningful, revealing, this one — the Vespers and Liturgy of St. Basil the Great on the Great and Holy Saturday — is truly the liturgical climax of the Church. If one opens one’s heart and mind to it and accepts its meaning and its light, the very truth of Orthodoxy is given by it, the taste and the joy of that new life which shown forth from the grave.

Saturday in the Second Week of Lent

Published on March 6, 2010 in liturgy. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Read – reflect – respond (in prayer, silence, possibly a comment)

Lectio Divina – sacred reading

Virtual Chapel with daily updates

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

15:1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus].

2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 So he told them this parable:

11 [...]“There was a man who had two sons.

12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them.

13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.

14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.

15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.

16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.

17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!

18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;

19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’

20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.

21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe–the best one–and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;

24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

25 “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.

26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.

27 He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’

28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.

29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.

30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’

31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

Grant, most merciful Lord,
to your faithful people pardon and peace,
that they may be cleansed from all their sins,
and serve you with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Friday in the Second Week of Lent

Published on March 5, 2010 in liturgy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Read – reflect – respond (in prayer, silence, possibly a comment)

Lectio Divina – sacred reading

Virtual Chapel with daily updates

Matthew 21:33-43

33 [Jesus said] “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.

34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce.

35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way.

37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’

39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.

Grant, O Lord,
that as your Son Jesus Christ prayed for His enemies on the cross,
so we may have grace to forgive those who wrongfully or scornfully use us,
that we ourselves may be able to receive your forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Thursday in the Second Week of Lent

Published on March 4, 2010 in liturgy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Read – reflect – respond (in prayer, silence, possibly a comment)

Lectio Divina – sacred reading

Virtual Chapel with daily updates

Luke 16:19-31

19 [Jesus said] “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,

21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.

22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.

23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.

24 He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’

25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.

26 Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’

27 He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house–

28 for I have five brothers–that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’

29 Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’

30 He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

31 He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

O Lord, strong and mighty, Lord of Hosts and King of glory:
Cleanse our hearts from sin, keep our hand pure, and turn our minds from what is passing away;
so that at the last we may stand in your holy place and receive your blessing;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Tuesday in the First Week of Lent

Published on February 23, 2010 in liturgy. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Read – reflect – respond (in prayer, silence, possibly a comment)

Lectio Divina – sacred reading

Matthew 6:7-15

7 [Jesus said] “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.

8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

15 but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Grant to your people, Lord, grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh ad the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only True God; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr of Smyrna, 156

O God, the maker of heaven and earth, who gave to your venerable servant, the holy and gentle Polycarp, boldness to confess Jesus Christ as King and Saviour, and steadfastness to die for his faith: Give us grace, following his example, to share the cup of Christ and rise to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Thomas Merton

Published on December 10, 2009 in liturgy. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , .

6a00e008d75255883401116866de00970c-piThomas Merton died 41 years ago today. Some years back I moved a motion at our diocesan synod, the cogs of which have been slowly working – (ACANZP’s) General Synod is anticipated to have its second vote on this in 2010 and then, after a year “lying on the table” (for anyone to make a submission that this should not proceed) he will be added to the formal calendar of this church. Appropriately; he has strong connections to New Zealand. The Episcopal Church this year added Merton to their calendar at their General Convention. In their Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints they describe him:

Thomas Merton [1915-Dec. 10, 1968] Trappist author and poet. Merton’s Catholic  conversion is the subject of his best-selling The Seven Storey Mountain. He became a  contemplative monk at Gethsemane Abbey in Kentucky, yet remained engaged with social justice and world affairs through reading and vast correspondence.

Gracious God,
you called your monk Thomas Merton to proclaim your justice out of silence,
and moved him in his contemplative writings to perceive and value Christ at work in the faiths of others:
Keep us, like him, steadfast in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ;
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The sound of silence

Published on December 1, 2009 in liturgy and spirituality. 9 Comments Tags: , .

John Cage (1912–1992) composed Four minutes, thirty-three seconds (or “Four, thirty-three”) in 1952. The score states the performer(s) do not play an instrument through three movements (thirty seconds, two minutes and twenty-three seconds, one minute and forty seconds).

For the premiere David Tudor sat at a piano and closed the keyboard lid. Some time later he opened it marking the end of the first movement. This was repeated for the second and third movements. John Cage said, “They missed the point. There’s no such thing as silence. What they thought was silence, because they didn’t know how to listen, was full of accidental sounds. You could hear the wind stirring outside during the first movement. During the second, raindrops began patterning the roof, and during the third the people themselves made all kinds of interesting sounds as they talked or walked out.”

This reminds me of my experience of watching  Into Great Silence:

It is a unique experience to sit in a quiet, full cinema, where we are used to at least some background music, and for the first thirty to forty minutes there is no music, no human voice. Every sound is heightened – the sound of the snow falling on the screen, a cough in the cinema.

Silence is an essential part of worship – individual silence, corporate silence. [Those who have been to Taize or have been part of that style of worship know how silence is integral there]. How do you use silence individually? As a community?

Br Roger photo

Published on August 21, 2009 in liturgy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

br-roger

Having described my visits to Taize, I dug out my own photo of Br. Roger from 1983 (above). For me it speaks volumes of who he was (for me and for others) – and how I encountered him.

Brother Roger of Taizé

Published on August 16, 2009 in liturgy and spirituality. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

458px-mk_frere_rogerBrother Roger was born in Provence in Switzerland in 1915 the ninth and youngest child of a Protestant minister’s family. He studied theology at Strasbourg and Lausanne. In 1940 he left Switzerland for his mother’s native France.

In 1940, he biked from Geneva to Taizé, a small village in Burgundy near Cluny. Taizé was at that time in unoccupied France, just beyond the line of demarcation to the zone occupied by German troops. For two years Brother Roger hid Jewish refugees before being forced to leave Taizé. In 1944, he returned to Taizé to found a monastery – a community of men vowing to live in poverty, chastity, and obedience. There was already something extraordinary in this venture – protestants don’t normally form monasteries.

After the war Brother Roger was joined by others, and on Easter Day 1949 the community was formally established. Brother Roger was deeply committed to the task of reconciliation – of having people of different viewpoints listen to one another respectfully and pray and work together without necessarily coming to agree with each other.

I have been fascinated by Brother Roger since I was a teenager. In the 1960s, to the surprise of this community of monks, young people started to camp around the monastery. These young people joined the monks at prayer but the complex monastic services the community had famously developed were too complicated for them.

Typical for the community – they abandoned the services they had worked years on to develop and which were internationally famous and developed a new, very simple style of service which could be easily picked up by young people with a lot of repetition, the use of many languages, and different parts and singing in rounds.

Brother Roger was a classically trained musician and understood the power of music as part of spirituality. It was Br Roger who introduced the meditative and reflective chants that are so strongly associated with the Taizé style of worship and that have had such an impact on contemporary spirituality.

About 150,000 young people visit Taize each year – normally staying for a week. Praying three times a day in the church which can hold thousands of people and spending the rest of the day in discussion and just enjoying being together.

I first went there in 1983 and stayed for two weeks – one in discussion and one week in silence. Each evening after the evening service Br Roger would have a huge crowd of young people around him – it always seemed impossible to get to him. One evening there was some translation happening, and I could see that the group of people closest to him could not speak French – this was my chance to go and speak to him. When he discovered I was from New Zealand he invited me to join the monks each day for their meal in the actual monastery. This was a great honor and special insight into the life of the 100 or so monks living quite separately from the young people. This community of monks is made up of Roman Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, and Eastern Orthodox – forming a parable of reconciliation.

The monks receive nothing from the young people – all they live from they grow themselves, produce, or make things to sell. They do not accept gifts. They do not accept an inheritance. The do not take out any insurance. Although Brother Roger was awarded the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 1988 he shied away from the limelight. Once a year he would go and live and work with the poorest of the poor in some country and then write a letter which would become the basis for reflection for the young people. Other than that he was not one for preaching.

His primary idea was not to form a movement but that those who have visited Taizé should return to their own community and there seek to live out the insights and deeper spiritual awareness they have gained from their visit to the community.

In 2005 on study leave I was privileged again to spend a week in Taize and to meet up with the now-aging Brother Roger again. A month after that 2005 time there, during the evening service at Taizé on 16 August 2005, he was attacked and stabbed to death by a mentally disturbed woman.

As a protestant Br Roger received communion from the last two popes and a Roman Catholic Cardinal took his funeral Mass.

Br Roger and his community have been centrally influential in my life. Justice and prayer as being two sides of the same coin. The attitude of being non-judgemental, of listening to people where they are at, of realising that God is in people’s lives even if they express this differently to the way I do. Of respecting people – and not having the need to have everyone agree with me – or of trying to convert people to my particular way of expressing things.

In 2006 I moved a motion at our Diocesan Synod which has passed our General Synod and our church’s diocesan synods and Hui Amorangi to add to our church’s calendar:
16 August Brother Roger of Taizé, Prophet of unity, Encourager of youth, 2005

New prayers I wrote

Published on February 28, 2009 in liturgy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Anglican Missions asked me to write new prayers for three particular topics they named. These have just been published in their Partners in Prayer 2009 prayer diary.  Here they are reproduced:

Vestry (or any other meeting)

Let us pray (in silence) for this (vestry) meeting.

Silent prayer

God of wisdom,
you send your Spirit to guide us into all the truth;
may we (who meet here) have listening ears and humble hearts,
that we may together find the mind of Christ,
and walk in the way of your will;
through Jesus Christ your Word
[who is alive with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever].
Amen.

Mission

Let us pray (in silence) for our church in mission.

Silent prayer

God our Creator,
in Christ you are reconciling the world to yourself
and you entrust to us this message of reconciliation;
may we make known the good news of your love
and so live the message we proclaim
that others may also grow into your reign of love
through Christ who was lifted on the cross
and is now alive with you
and the Holy Spirit
one God for ever and ever.
Amen.

Church

Let us pray (in silence) for Christ’s church.

Silent prayer

Ever faithful God,
you call us into your church
to continue Christ’s reconciling work
and reveal you to all;
may the fire of your Spirit transform us,
the gentleness of your Spirit encourage us,
and the gifts of your Spirit enable us
to worship you
and to serve you in others;
through Jesus, the Christ, our Lord
[who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever].
Amen.

Let us pray (in silence) for Christ’s church.

Silent prayer

Holy and life-giving God,
Jesus prayed that his friends may all be one
and grow into union with you;
forgive our discord and divisions,
renew our celebration of the diversity you make,
and grant us the courage to strive for the unity that is your will;
through our Saviour Jesus Christ
[who is alive with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever].
Amen,

collect – four parts

Published on October 21, 2008 in liturgy. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

The collect (opening prayer) has four parts [not the parts I suspect you are thinking of - see * at the bottom of this post]. The collect I believe is a key to liturgy. Not as we so regularly experience it – a few seconds of just another little prayer near the start of a service, even read together from a printed pew-sheet for the day (reducing it to merely one part).

The word “collect” in Latin is collecta – gathering together. A collect gathers a litany (list of petitions) together into a final, single prayer. Or a collect gathers silent prayer together into a single prayer. This is what the collect is in the Entrance Rite – the Gathering of the Community. As it gathers the silent prayers of everyone it functions to gather the individuals into a praying community.

The bidding: The presider invites the community to prayer – “Let us pray”. Or in a more extended way, something like: “Let us pray in silence that God will make us one in mind and heart”.

The silence: This is the heart of the collect. This deep silent praying of the community is what the collect is collecting. No silent prayer and it is not a collect, there is nothing to collect. Without this silence the “collect” is reduced to merely another little prayer cluttering the vestibule at the start of our service.

The collect:* After sufficient silent prayer the presider proclaims the collect, gathering the prayers of the community, and articulating the prayer of the church – the body of Christ. As Christ’s body the collect is addressed in Christ’s name, on Christ’s behalf, to God the Source of all Being, in the power and unity of the Holy Spirit.

Amen: The community makes the collect its own by a strong “Amen” – “so be it”.

*The collect prayer itself can have up to five parts in its composition. There is more about that in the Gathering of the Community in Celebrating Eucharist. Some further history of the collect is included here.

The collect when well understood and aptly used can powerfully gather the community, deepen our prayerfulness, and profoundly express much at the heart of Christian spirituality.