Taizé Retreat
June 21–June 27, 2026
Father Brent, Pastor Marissa, and Madeleine Preston take a pilgrimage to Taizé, France
Taizé Retreat
June 21–June 27, 2026
Father Brent, Pastor Marissa, and Madeleine Preston take a pilgrimage to Taizé, France
Reflections after Taizé
Written by Madeline Preston on Monday, July 6
After leaving Taizé, I spent a few days traveling on my own. The solitude gave me a chance to clear my mind and look back on the week. As I traveled, I found that my mind was filled with many of the songs we had spent the last week singing. Every hour or so, a different song would pop into my head, all of them short sayings or sentences from Scripture that we’d sing over and over:
“Rejoice heaven and earth, Jesus Christ is risen indeed!”
“Praise our God and savior, for God’s love endures forever, hallelujah!”
“My soul magnifies the Lord!”
Some of the songs that kept returning to me were in other languages, and while I remembered neither the words nor the exact translations, I still hummed them as I walked around and thought about their meaning.
There is a reason that singing is at the center of Taizé’s rhythm of life. Music is a powerful tool in binding us to God and one another. These songs gave me words to pray when I couldn’t find my own and helped me connect with people whose languages I didn’t speak. They helped me commit truths about God’s love and glory to memory.
These songs and their effect on me reminded me of the Psalms of Ascent, a collection of short songs that ancient Israelites traditionally sung during pilgrimages to Jerualem. They sang to pass the time, prepare their hearts, and teach their children. These ancient songs are still preserved in our psalter. I wonder if the ancient pilgrims also got these songs stuck in their heads after they returned.
I’m grateful to be part of a church community that values music so highly. From the sweet voices of the children’s choir on Christmas Eve to the glorious worship service featuring Schubert that we heard last spring, our church excels at harnessing the power of music for worship, fellowship, and evangelism. I look forward to singing with you all again soon.
Peace,
Madeleine Preston
Written by Pastor Marissa on Wednesday, July 8
Taizé was a gift of grace. Of all the remarkable things about this unique community, what will stay with me were the people. It is a thoroughly international place, with multiple languages being spoken at all times. During our morning Bible studies with Brother Jean Marie under a large tent, sitting on benches and fanning ourselves, I loved hearing murmurs of conversation. After every few English sentences there would be a pause and translation would spring up all around in German, Spanish, Dutch, French, and Finnish. Then there would be replies and crosstalk in every language as questions or comments made their way back into the discussion. There was something Biblical about it, all these people from many nations sitting to listen to and discuss scripture together. I have never had such a strong visual and auditory experience of the church universal than sitting under that tent.
In particular though I connected with the church in all its diversity through quickly growing to love my small group members. We were nine people from seven countries, communicating in English as best we could, and of all different ages and denominations. Yet when we were put together under a tree every day and prompted to speak from our hearts and lives about the Gospel of John, something remarkable happened. We told each other about our prayers, our struggles, our faith, and our questions. We encouraged one another and prayed for one another. We sang together even when we didn’t really know the words. We came from very different Christian backgrounds, yet when we talked about Jesus at the Wedding at Cana or speaking with Nicodemus by night, it was clear that we all knew the same Jesus. We used different words and focused on different things, and sometimes that was difficult, but we all shared the same faith and love. Our quickness to recognize each other as Christian siblings, even if we had little else in common, brought encouragement and grace beyond what I could have ever expected. It was a reminder and remarkable example of the beauty of simply talking about our faith, not so much what we believe but what we experience, long for, and are grateful for in our prayers and our lives. It is my hope to continue the conversation here with you, my local siblings in Christ, with whom I also share the same faith and love.
Peace,
Pastor Marissa
Written by Father Brent on Thursday, July 9
In the two weeks following our time in Taizé, France, I have thought about rest and movement. In the worship services they had these small wooden kneelers as an option. They might have been a foot wide and six to eight inches tall. You would kneel on the floor and then place the kneeler under your backside. From the top of your feet to your knees were on the floor positioning your feet and backside in alignment with each other. Even with 30 plus years of practicing yoga, the painful strain in my knees and ankles spoke to me of the stress stored up. It was a gradual discomfort that would limit how long I could remain kneeling in this way. Eventually I would end up removing it and sitting cross-legged.
This is a metaphor for the Taizé experience. The music for the singing came from a small book. There was no bulletin. Part of the practice was either singing when a page number came up on the monitor screens or listening. It all was a different posture of worship for me. The dominant voices came from the entire body of people singing as one. When the service began to end the brothers would remove their kneelers and slowly begin to walk out. It was a sea of white robes, or albs, as we call them. People would continue to sing as more songs were offered, then gradually choose when the time was right for them to leave the worship service.
The text used on the third day in the Bible Study came from John 1:35–46. Jesus was beginning to recruit his first disciples. I recommend reading the full text, but I was specifically drawn to verses 36–39: When two of his disciples “watched Jesus they exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’”
John’s simple vocabulary spoke of my experience.
- Look: we begin with observing what others are doing.
- Heard: to listen even in a language of words foreign to me.
- Followed: to make a decision to take action and move into the experience. Jesus recruitment started as a movement and growing in our faith means continuing to have movement.
- Saw: tells us that Jesus sees all of our movement, especially when we take risks of trying new things.
- Said: is to ask the question asked even though He already knows the answer. It is still asked so we own our answer.
We are called to look for God’s movement in the world and the possible chance we may join in. The chance to show up, sit, sing, and be present. I pray you may pause at least once this summer and think of these simple words: look, listen, follow, see, and speak. Try this process. We live in a world that only promotes the last word. Skipping the other steps and just speaking quickly does not allow God’s movement to be noticed, appreciated, or followed in new ways in our lives.
I am grateful for these simple lessons learned throughout the experience.
In Peace,
Fr. Brent
Reflections from Taizé
Written by Pastor Marissa on Monday, June 22
Hello from the Taizé Community in rural France! Father Brent, Madeleine, and I arrived after smooth travels and are settling into the rhythm of this unique community.
Sunday was a travel day from Paris and gave us the opportunity to participate in two beautiful and very different worship experiences. We started the day by going to mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. It was every bit as beautiful as you might expect with flawless liturgy and music in a gorgeous atmosphere. Even though worship was a Roman Catholic service conducted in a mixture of Latin and French we were able to follow along. The shape of the liturgy was not very different from Eucharist at Grace and Holy Trinity!
After leaving Notre Dame we made our way by train and then bus to the monastery and constantly changing community of Taizé. Here we joined hundreds of other pilgrims, mostly in their twenties, and several dozen monks for evening prayer. The large worship space is bare except for a little bit of stained glass, several large icons, and many candles. Nearly everyone sits on the floor for the entirety of the service, with the only motion being turning to face the gospel reading. The liturgy here is much sparer, combining simple repetitive singing with scripture readings, psalms, and extended periods of silence. The entire community gathers three times a day for morning, noon, and evening prayer, with singing being the primary building block of worship. Everyone receives little blue booklets of several hundred short songs in a large variety of languages. In a single service we sing songs and hear readings in a mixture of French, German, Latin, Spanish, and English.
As “older” adults we are the exception to the visitors here since this space is designed for people under the age of 35. They come from all over the world, year after year, to form small Bible Study groups, volunteer in the kitchen and do housekeeping, and go to daily prayer. It’s remarkable to see hundreds of young people, some barely out of high school, gathering in silence for simple communal worship. Here is a place where the distractions and pace of modern life simply disappear. The only sounds are soft voices in varying languages and birdsong. It has been a remarkable change to encounter this slowness and simplicity. My own spirit is sinking more deeply into prayer and reflection, nourished by the beautiful songs, friendly faces, and sunshine.
For the rest of the week we will be spending our time, other than daily prayer and meals, with small groups for Bible Study and conversation. My group consists of eight people and manages to represent not only the United States (Chicago) but also Austria, Russia, Germany, South Korea, and England. I am eager to get to know my fellow pilgrims better as we gather this evening for conversation about the first chapter of John’s Gospel. I’m thinking of you all at our own dear community of Grace and Holy Trinity and keeping you in prayer. I look forward to sharing more of this fascinating and faith-forming experience when we return.
Peace,
Pastor Marissa
Written by Madeline Preston on Wednesday, June 24
Bonjour! I am writing this on our third full day at Taizé. Each day has followed a similar rhythm of prayer, meals, Bible studies, workshops, and work. Something that immediately struck me was how many countries are represented. Walking around the grounds, it’s common to hear groups speaking in English, French, German, Swedish, Spanish, and Dutch. I’m sure many, many more languages are spoken here.
People’s reasons for being here vary as widely as their national origins. Some, like us, are in full time ministry. Others are just beginning to explore what a relationship with God might look like.
For the first day or so, most people stuck pretty close to their friends, or at least to people who spoke their native language. I was no exception to this and often found myself scanning the room for my own travel companions during meals and prayers.
Thankfully, the program is designed to break down all these barriers. We are randomly assigned to small groups (which are also our teams for daily chores), and there are three to five people to a dorm room, giving us plenty of opportunities to make friends.
It has been beautiful to see the ways that relationships have been forged across cultures, even through imperfect communication. We share stories and reflections during small groups and laugh together while doing the dishes. We do our best to sing in each others’ languages during the sung prayer service. Everyone here has a different story and background, and yet we are bound together by this shared experience at Taizé and more importantly, by the love of God.
This was powerfully on display when we shared the Eucharist, as the particular and the communal aspects of life with God came together. The body and blood of Christ meets each person in their individual lives, stories, and struggles. But it also brings us together and reminds us that we, despite our differences, are one in Christ.
Peace,
Madeleine Preston
Written by Father Brent on Wednesday, June 24
When I spoke to Monica she informed me that Europe was making international news with the heatwave. I asked if they mentioned a melting Melton over here and she said no. Oh well. The heat being 25 degrees higher than normal meant many have stayed away from Taizé. There are 500 folks here this week when it could be 5,000 attending.
I am glad to be here. The heat helps one to slow down. The pace of the day is prayer, breakfast, Bible study as a group and then in smaller group reflections. Then prayer, eat and self chosen reflections up until bedtime. I have been blessed connecting in this unique community with the citizens of the world. My roommate is from Sweden and took a 30-hour bus ride here.
My Bible study group (pictured to the right) has some of his traveling companions, a few Germans, and a woman from Connecticut. Our Richmond crew is part of the 35-plus-year-old crowd. We meet and eat separately from the younger folks. Several churches brought their Confirmation Students as part of their formation. Thankfully everyone worships together.
Worship is intoxicating singing sprinkled with a few readings and a couple of seven minutes of silence intervals. No sermons and we sit the entire time. When you walk in to worship an usher holds up a “Silence” sign. With the worship stage set in silence, singing it all lends itself to the voice of God’s Spirit in this sacred place. The spirit creates a force of peace to unpack what one carries here in their heart. At least this has been my experience. I have found new tools to pray through life stresses and celebrate my joys. It is amazing to observe young people sitting still too without any screens.
In addition to my conversations with the citizens of the world, I have met a couple of times with Brother Jean Marie in Spiritual Direction. This bonus gift has allowed me to deeply sit in reflection about my family and our church community. I have also attended daily a fourth service of Holy Eucharist held at 7:15 a.m. in the Crypt (pictured to the left). The crucifix has Jesus clothed in purple and with its peaceful eyes holds you captivated in the perfect acoustics of this church under the church.
I am thankful for the opportunity to be here and look forward to returning home more centered following this pilgrimage. Thank you to the Vestry and for your prayers. I look forward to exploring how this experience might enhance our shared life together. See you soon in church. Blessings!
In Peace,
Fr. Brent
Photos from Taizé
