My first introduction to the music of Taizé came in 2006. I was reading a book by the late Robert Webber and came across a brief mention of a monastic community that recorded chants in various languages. I looked up Taizé on iTunes, sampled some songs, and then bought a CD. (I now own several.)

The Taizé chants are splendid. They are beautifully written, well-performed, and the instrumentation adds an ethereal dimension to the sound. Most of the lyrics are verses from Scripture. The chants are sung in many different languages (including Latin), and yet their brevity and repetition help listeners learn to sing along without too much difficulty.

Taizé is a Protestant monastic community in France that welcomes all denominations. The monastery’s purpose is to be a place of reconciliation and peace between Christians of all different stripes. Thousands of young people go to Taizé every year, from all over the world – including Africa, Asia and Europe. 

A Community Called Taizé: A Story of Prayer, Worship and Reconciliation (IVP, 2008) by Jason Brian Santos documents the history of the Taizé community. The first night that Santos arrived at Taizé was the fateful night in August 2005 when Brother Roger, the 90-year-old founder of the monastery was stabbed to death during evening prayers by a deranged Romanian woman. Santos witnessed the incident from just a few feet away. 

The book opens with this story, partly because of its drama, but mainly because the community’s reaction to Brother Roger’s death illuminates the emphasis on reconciliation for which this monastery is known. The rest of the book tells the story of the community’s beginning and development. Santos also helps readers know what to expect should they decide to go. 

At times, I felt like the book was a biography. At other times, it seemed to be a travel guide. But in the end, the book succeeds at both levels.

Taizé is an ecumenical monastery. Because of the emphasis on reconciliation between humans, the gospel’s horizontal dimension (peace between people) is emphasized, almost to the exclusion of the gospel teaching about our reconciliation to God.

Some readers will undoubtedly find this ecumenism troubling. Furthermore, Protestants generally view the entire monastic enterprise as unnecessary, irrelevant, and sometimes dangerous. And often for good reasons!

At the same time, those of us in the Protestant tradition need to admit our need for some of the spiritual disciplines that the monastic tradition offers.

Why do so many Christians go on spiritual retreats? We have deacon retreats, youth retreats, and pastors’ conferences – places where Christians seek to “get away” and “get alone” with God. It seems clear that even as we eschew monasticism, we find monastic-influenced retreats to be spiritually fruitful.

Why is there such a hunger among Christians today for authentic Christian community? Perhaps the church has become so market-driven that we are attracted to the simplicity of prayer and Scripture reading, of Word and Sacrament, of fellowship and exhortation.

Why are we seeking out times of silence and solitude during the hectic pace of Western life? Perhaps the noise of our busy lifestyles has kept us from hearing the voice of God through the spending of unhindered time in his Word.

I believe there are aspects of the monastic tradition to which we should be cautiously open. We can learn from a community like Taizé, even if we may differ from some of the theology and the extent of the ecumenism advocated there. I am most grateful for the heavenly music created by these praying Christians. You ought to listen to some of the chants. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Check out some of the Mp3s here: Taizé