Jesus, the risen one, when we stay in your presence, we understand that the Gospel calls us to give our life. And you say to us: You who are searching, you will find; I have already encountered you.  

Prayer of Brother Alois, current leader of the Taizé community

In Cumnor, for a few years now, several of us have been meeting on the first Sunday evening of each month. During the lockdown, this has been impossible, so, in the meantime, our Taizé ‘regulars’ have been able to follow, online, a Taizé style reflection, with the key elements of Taizé services (a Bible reading, psalm, songs and silence). 

To find out more about the community at Taizé, click this link:  https://www.taize.fr/en_rubrique8.html

In the service below, songs are embedded as links. When you click the song links, you may start with an advertisement. After a few seconds, you can click SKIP ADS. The advert will disappear, and the song clip will begin.

Cumnor Taizé Service September  6th 2020

Song 1 – Let all who are thirsty come

Song 2 -La tenebre n’est point tenebre :

(Our darkness is never darkness in your sight: the deepest night is clear as daylight)

Psalm 126

When the Lord delivered us from bondage,
it seemed like a dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
on our lips there were songs.

The heathens themselves said: “What marvels
the Lord worked for them!”
What marvels the Lord worked for us!
Indeed we were glad.

Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage
as streams in dry land.
Those who are sowing in tears
will sing when they reap.

They go out, they go out, full of tears,
carrying seed for the sowing;
they come back, they come back, full of song,
carrying their sheaves.

Song 3- Behutte mich Gott:  

(Keep me, O God, or I trust in you. You show me the path of life)

Song 4- Bless the Lord, sung by Voirrey Carr

Bible reading 1 

Moses said to the people: The Lord our God is the only God. Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Bible reading 2 

14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

John 3:14-18 

Silence

Three times a day, everything on the hill of Taizé stops: the work, the Bible studies, the discussions. The bells call everyone to church for prayer. Hundreds or even thousands of mainly young people from all over the world pray and sing together with the brothers of the community. Scripture is read in several languages. In the middle of each common prayer, there is a long period of silence, a unique moment for meeting with God.

During a period of silence, you may like to watch this short video clip, filmed in Taizé….

or contemplate this icon from a Coptic Monastery in Egypt in the 6th Century AD.

Christ and Abba Mena, Egypt, 6th Century AD

Icons

Icons contribute to the beauty of worship. They are like windows open on the realities of the Kingdom of God, making them present in our prayer on earth. Although icons are images, they are not simply illustrations or decorations. They are symbols of the incarnation, a presence which offers to the eyes the spiritual message that the Word addresses to the ears. According to the eighth-century theologian Saint John Damascene, icons are based on the coming of Christ to earth. 

Taizé website

Song 5 -Aber du Weiss der weg 

(God, gather and turn my thoughts to you. With you there is light, you do not forget me…)

Prayers for this week, from Taizé…

  • For those who are far from home, immigrants, exiles, victims of oppression, Lord, we pray.
  • For those who are going through trials, who need help and compassion, Lord, we pray.
  • For all of us gathered here, that we may remain attentive to those entrusted to us, Lord, we pray.
  • That we may be delivered from all anxiety, Lord, we pray.
  • That we may learn to share more fairly the resources of our planet among all, Lord, we pray.
  • That a sense of wonder at the beauty of creation may remain alive in us, Lord, we pray.
  • That we may find light and courage in the mystery of communion that is the Church, Lord, we pray.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, 
your will be done, 
on earth as in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins 
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, 
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.  
Amen

Song 6- The Kingdom of God

The Celtic Blessing

Stay well, keep safe and be blessed in the light and love of our Lord…