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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Has anyone been to Taize?
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recklessrat
Shipmate
# 17243
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Posted
Afternoon all,
I just wondered if anyone has been to Taize (sorry, don't know how to include accents)?
I love going to Taize services and would really like to go and stay there for a week with my other half. I am under 30 so I think I can go any time of year...
If you have been, I have some questions for you:
How did you find it?
What time of year did you go, and was it a good time to go? (I would be looking at a quiet time of year, so would not be looking at school holidays etc).
How does the Eucharist service work considering the community is made up of Catholic and Protestant brothers?
Did you spend all or part of your time there in silence and if so, how was that?
Did you stay in a tent/dormitory and how was that?
How much, roughly, would you say it cost you overall, including travel?
Any hints or tips?
Thanks very much for any advice ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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stay simple, remain whole
Posts: 80 | From: The Shires | Registered: Jul 2012
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
I've been to Taizé (accents are really easy if you have a Brazilian keyboard ![[Biased]](wink.gif) ) some 10 years ago. I really loved the services, the Bible study groups not so much.
We went in the week of Ascension Day, which means that on Thursday there were really a lot of people. The rest of the week was quieter.
The Eucharist part of the service had a Catholic 'feel' to it (at least to this Protestant) because the Brothers administer it to you. I also think it was only the bread, but I'm not sure about that.
I went there with a group of friends. We didn't spend all of our time in silence, but we did try to maintain a solemn atmosphere.
We brought our own tents, that was great.
I really don't remember how much it cost me. Not much. We shared the petrol costs from Holland to France between us.
A tip: when they roster you for the volunteer tasks, ask for kitchen duty.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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la vie en rouge
Parisienne
# 10688
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Posted
I love Taizé. I've been seven or eight times, at different times of year (usually the summer, but also February, May and September).
Practicalities: if you want to go when it's not too busy, I would suggest the spring or early autumn (also very nice for enjoying the beautiful countryside). Personally I prefer camping to being in the dormitory because it gives you more privacy, but if you're not going in the summer be aware that it's in the open countryside so it gets pretty cold at night, so if you're camping you need a very warm sleeping bag and/or blankets or you can end up feeling a bit miserable. Rouge's top tip for camping: be warned, the whole site is on a hill and I have seen some *very* impressive thunderstorms there, including one legendary one that went on for about 6 hours straight (meaning that's just the thunder and lightning - the rain was more like 24 hours). It is really, really worth the effort of finding a flat(tish) bit of field to put your tent on if you want to avoid getting flooded. I'm not trying to scare you with this BTW, I followed my own advice and my Girl Guide experience kept me dry. Didn't put me off camping again.
If you're under 30, you can visit any time, if over 30 it's restricted to certain times of year (all the details are on the website). It's not expensive to visit, especially for the younger group (€50 for the week or something, more like €100 if you're older. Camping is a bit cheaper than the dormitory.) The meals are, ahem, basic but ok for a week. The meal queue for under 30s is a bit of a massacre in the very busy weeks, if you want peace and quiet I recommend the room set aside for people who want to eat their dinner in silence (they play some nice classical music in the background).
Spiritualities: I think the feel of being at Taizé itself is quite different to going to Taizé meetings elsewhere. Personally Taizé-style meetings in other places do nothing for me, but the community itself is one of my favourite places on the planet. I think one of the main differences is the amount of silence in the prayers. You may or may not enjoy this. Personally I love it but if you're not used to it it's definitely a novel experience.
The brothers distribute communion in the morning to whoever gets in the queue, no questions asked. I think it's probably Catholic officially, but I figure that if they're happy to give it to me, I'm happy to take it. Normally you dip the wafer in the cup (I think LeRoc probably only got bread because they stopped the wine during the swine flu epidemic. It was back last time I was there.) The nature of the place being what it is, they know that a lot of their visitors are protestants and it doesn't seem to bother them.
The afternoon study groups vary a lot depending on who's in them. I've been in some frustrating ones and some awesome ones. If you speak another language apart from English, I think it's worth it as a way of meeting more varied people. Personally I like to spend quite a bit of time alone Thinking About Stuff™ but it's really up to you how much you do this and depends a lot on your personality.
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Rent my holiday home in the South of France
Posts: 3696 | Registered: Nov 2005
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
quote:
la vie en rouge: I think LeRoc probably only got bread because they stopped the wine during the swine flu epidemic. It was back last time I was there.
Come to think of it, that's quite possible. I never understood what wine had to do with swines anyway.
Not only is the food is quite basic, but also the portions are relatively small. I understand that this is part of the 'Spartanic' atmosphere they try to convey there, but I'm a tall guy who easily gets hypotension if I don't eat enough. So I admit I cheated by bringing some cereal bars.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Aravis
Shipmate
# 13824
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Posted
I went with a friend for Holy Week about 20 years ago (we were in our mid 20s). It wasn't the best week to go - very overcrowded and disorganised and the community basically couldn't really cope. Hopefully this has now changed. They used not to have restrictions on accommodating people who hadn't booked but just turned up with their own tents, as far as I could work out.
Negatives first. It was very crowded. Food definitely basic and (not surprisingly) in short supply. On Easter Day we had a 2 hour queue for a cheese roll and an orange. Working showers were rare. There was a certain amount of international irritation concerning noise - as a very rough generalisation, the southern European Catholics used to annoy the others by talking loudly in the middle of the night, while the northern European Protestants used to annoy the others by chatting during the meditative parts of worship. Personally I had serious concerns about safety on the site; there was a huge storm on Easter morning, and about a third of the worshippers were in a sort of tent extension tacked onto the main building, which collapsed halfway through under the weight of the rainwater. Everyone was holding a lighted candle at the time. Fortunately the rain extinguished them, otherwise there might have been a pretty nasty incident; even if there were fire evacuation procedures in place, you'd have had to shout instructions in at least 6 languages to ensure most people understood.
On the positive side: other people have told me that other weeks are very much quieter and better run. The worship was inspiring (by the way, there are both Catholic and Protestant queues for the Eucharist, though I think a number of people probably got the wrong one). The discussion groups were really memorable as everyone had to put into very precise and simple words what they wanted to say, as it had to be translated across (half of our group communicated in Spanish and the other half in English, with a Spanish girl and me translating in French across the middle).
Sorry about the negative points; I'm sure your experience will be better than mine!
Posts: 689 | From: S Wales | Registered: Jun 2008
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recklessrat
Shipmate
# 17243
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Posted
Thank you all so much for your replies
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stay simple, remain whole
Posts: 80 | From: The Shires | Registered: Jul 2012
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scuffleball
Shipmate
# 16480
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Posted
For me I also love Taizé. Indeed I have volunteered there albeit briefly.
I don't know what job you do, but try to go during school term time if you possibly can. In fact September or late June is the best because at least then there will be neither too few nor too many people. Avoid All Saints, whatever you do.
The Eucharist -
The Eucharist generally follows the Roman Catholic form. When the elements are distributed they are theoretically distributed separately (frčre Hector is an RC priest; frčre Pierre-Yves was a protestant minister before becoming a brother and hence responsible for consecrating the elements for protestants.) but in practice everyone seems to receive from the same place.
Jobs - ask for Cadole (manual work) in the morning. Generally you spend your time getting to know people unless there is an emergency in which case suddenly you'll have to move some boxes around. Also you get "tea" and "cookies". The morning team tends to be slightly better motivated than the afternoon team. Cleaning large pots in Taizé = not fun. Also even if you're good at singing the choir is a bit boring and you don't get to know anyone through it. Just go to the song practice. Other good jobs - Economat (storing goods, delivery), rubbish collection (they tend to give this one to younger people but it's generally okay, not too strenuous). Field Welcome/Night Welcome requires a certain sort of person, to put it mildly, and it's not me - they tend to like Anglophones for this one, because it involves communication. So don't do this if communication isn't your forté.
The first time in Taizé I brought a tent from home; the second I was living in one of the volunteer houses because I was a volunteer. Also it's really cheap to stay in Taizé, usually about eighty euro a week - you'll usually pay more in transport than accommodation.
"They used not to have restrictions on accommodating people who hadn't booked but just turned up with their own tents, as far as I could work out."
I strongly suspect they won't say no to anyone under 30, even nowadays, although they do take crowd management very seriously, and some times they ask people to leave if they do something inappropriate.
"I think LeRoc probably only got bread because they stopped the wine during the swine flu epidemic."
It depends which queue you go to - a lot only have communion in one kind, or pre-intincted. The communion cups in Taizé are not the sort you can reasonably drink from - it's always intincted. Interestingly Taizé seem to prefer white communion wine for some reason.
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SPK: I also plan to create ... a Calvinist Ordinariate
ken: I thought it was called Taize?
Posts: 272 | Registered: Jun 2011
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