Taizé Wecomes World Youth Day Pilgrims

(photo: Register Files)

Here in Krakow, where World Youth Day is in full swing, I have talked to dozens of pilgrims from around the world. Although many of them were in elementary school when St. John Paul II died, they credit the late Polish Pope with rejuvenating their faith.

After all, it was John Paul who encouraged youth, “The most beautiful and stirring adventure that can happen to you is the personal meeting with Jesus, who is the only one who gives real meaning to our lives.”

This is especially true of pilgrims from such highly secularized countries as France and Australia; they say that, inspired by John Paul and World Youth Day, they are creating vibrant Catholic communities in their parishes and movements.

In addition to John Paul II, there have been other figures in recent history who have worked tirelessly to renew the Church in the West. Among them is Brother Roger (1915-2005), who started the Taizé community in the French village of that name. This is an ecumenical monastic community that seeks to renew the Church. It focuses on song, silence, work and prayer. Taizé borrows from both Eastern and Western traditions; it uses Byzantine-style icons and music influenced by the Western liturgy.

Each year, 100,000 young people visit Taizé, and tens of thousands attend the European Young Adults Meetings during New Year’s and, since 2006, the International Young Adults Meeting.

Here at Krakow’s WYD, the spirit of Taizé has made a strong appearance. St. Stephen’s Church held Taizé prayers Tuesday through Friday, three to five times a day.

During the first prayer, 1,500 pilgrims prayed in silence and tranquility; this is an impressive number, given that St. Stephen’s is a fairly small church that only holds several hundred faithful.

The pilgrims drawn to the Taizé prayers came from all over the world. There were numerous Poles, French and Italians; quite a few Asians arrived as well.

The church was serenely beautiful; icons were hung around it. The lights were dimmed, and most of the lighting came from subdued candles. The haunting, chant-like song of the pilgrims truly calmed the soul.

In these noisy, fast-moving times, so many young people are drawn to this serene, austere slice of traditional monasticism.

Said Marcin, a pilgrim from Poznan, Poland: “What the Taizé brothers are doing is they create the conditions for an encounter with Christ in prayer. World Youth Day is great, but it’s loud, and this provides a silent refuge.”