Taizé gave Andi McGoran new spiritual insights
"Madame, when you come to France, you must go to Taizé!"
"Why?" I asked. "I don't even know where Taizé is!"
"Just go, and you will know why."
This conversation with one of Andi McGoran's former French students at Mead High School, Brenna Robinson, daughter of former Whitworth University President Bill Robinson, occurred in 1998.
Andi, who grew up in the Napa Valley area of California, and is involved with St. Peter's and Sacred Heart parishes in Spokane, was granted a one-year sabbatical by the Mead School District to study French at the Centre International d'Études Francaises in Angers. Her husband, who also was granted a sabbatical from teaching chemistry at Eastern Washington University, joined her.
Brenna was by then a Whitworth student who had just returned from study abroad that included a stay in the French community.
"Being a dutiful teacher following the advice of a student, I booked reservations to stay a week in the Ecumenical Community of Taizé in eastern France near Switzerland," Andi said.
She and her husband, Ernie, had met at the University of California Berkeley, where he studied chemistry, and she studied English. She earned teaching credentials at Berkeley, while he did post-doctoral work at Michigan State. In 1966, they moved to Spokane for him to teach at Eastern Washington University. She began teaching in the West Valley School District.
Andi took time off from teaching after their sons were born. They were 8 and 11 when the family spent two years on a sabbatical in Lausanne, Switzerland. The family was immersed in French. On returning, she did substitute teaching and eventually taught French at Mead, where Brenna was one of her students.
"Brenna was right. It was a life-changing experience," she began. "Those who come to Taizé, spend four hours a day in prayer."
In the summer when more than 10,000 youth flock to Taizé and sleep in dorms or tents each week, accommodations for those over the age of 30 are limited, so Andi booked reservations for September.
With so many young people leaving their churches today, Andi wondered what was the attraction that brought so many to Taizé. She learned that young people were hungry for what they found there.
"They find the Love of Christ. They find a unique, personal relationship with a God who loves them," she said.
A day at Taizé follows a set schedule. It begins with an optional 7 a.m. Catholic Mass in a small chapel next to the larger church. At 8 a.m., all the community, including the 80 Brothers of Taizé dressed in their white albs, gather for a one-hour service with Scripture Readings and the traditional Taizé chants "that beautifully penetrate your soul," said Andi, listing several favorites: "Ubi Caritas," "Veni Sancte Spiritus," "Nada Te Turbe," "Jésu le Christ" and "Jesus, Remember Me."
Once someone hears them, they hum the tunes and the songs keep running around in their brains.
The songs are sung in French, English, Spanish, German and Latin because the young people who do come, come from all parts of the world.
There is a small fee charged—more for those who come from the U.S. or wealthy countries, less for others. Everyone is assigned a work task.
"Ours was serving lunch," Andi said.
After the first hour of prayer, they serve breakfast at 9 a.m. in huge tents with wooden floors. It is a spartan but adequate meal, prepared by the Catholic nuns in the nearby village. All Taizé meals are prepared by these nuns every day of the year.
Why? Because people come to Taizé every day, every week, every month.
After breakfast, there is an hour or two of Scripture study at 10 a.m. with one of the Taizé brothers in the language of a group of guests. The scripture passage for Andi's group was John 17:21, "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."
"This verse is the heart and soul of what Taizé represents. The community seeks to bring together all who believe in Christ as Lord and Savior of us all. Scripture classes are offered in 52 languages so that all who come will understand," she explained.
At noon, everyone returns to church for another hour of prayer and song followed by lunch at 1 p.m.
"While we did our work detail, it was amazing how we could communicate with people without speaking their language. We smiled a lot. We used the few words we learned to say, 'Hi,' 'How are you?' 'Nice to see you.' Our eyes spoke 'soul talk.' Our hearts sang."
Afternoons from 1 to 4 p.m. are reserved for quiet contemplation, rest, silence, walks and free time. At 4 p.m., tea is served from huge vats with simple cookies. In this social time, guests try their language skills with new-found friends.
There were 3,000 people there during the McGorans' stay in 1998. They met people from Great Britain and the Ukraine. With other English speakers, they communicated openly, but with their Ukrainian friends, it was a language of the heart, a smile, a tap of the shoulder, a hug and a gift.
"I still cherish the painted wooden Ukrainian egg they gave us," she said.
At 5 p.m., it was time for a simple dinner, which like the other meals was served with plastic trays, bowls, plates, cups and a huge metal spoon.
At 7 p.m., everyone returned to church—this time for two hours.
"At 9 p.m., we trudged to our room—which had two cots, a wash basin and a desk—in the local village of Aumône, a 15-minute walk in the dark. We should have brought flashlights," Andi laughed.
Every week, Taizé celebrates Easter. Every Friday is Good Friday, celebrating Jesus' passion and death on the cross. Every Saturday night, everyone dons headsets and sits in a certain area where the homily is simultaneously translated into 52 languages. Guests listen to the language they choose.
At the end of the Saturday service, a large crucifix is placed on the floor. Young people gather around it to pray, often staying past midnight. Many take this opportunity to place their foreheads upon the cross and offer their lives to Christ. Every Sunday is a celebration of the joy of Resurrection.
Every year before his death in 2005, Brother Roger, the Swiss Protestant who founded Taizé in 1940 in Burgundy, France, met with the Pope in Rome to discuss spiritual needs of the young people of the world. Brother Roger's first successor was Brother Alois, an ordained Catholic priest. In 2023, his second successor, Brother Matthew, an Anglican began as prior. Every year between Christmas and Jan. 1, Taizé hosts an International Day of Prayer somewhere in the world. That event typically draws 150,000 young people from many Christian denominations.
"The Brothers are self-sustaining, depending upon the sale of their music and their pottery, which is all produced in the community," Andi explained. "They live an existence based upon the Love of Christ as known in the Gospel. Being there, I could not help but be enfolded in the sense of the sacred."
Andi was so touched that she now brings the "Taizé Experience" to Spokane.
From 5 to 6 p.m., on the last Sundays of the months between September and May, participants gather at Immaculate Heart Retreat Center, 6910 S. Ben Burr Rd.—except in November, December, March and May, when they meet on the Sunday near the holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Memorial Day.
This Taizé Hour of Prayer is one hour of quiet song, worship and Scripture readings. There is a time for voicing special intentions and for individual prayer around the cross.
Musicians for the services include Marlene Schuster, piano; Paul Schuster, guitar; Christine McDaniels, Gloria Riedlinger and Patty Lopez, sopranos; Georgia Spencer and Alaina Zemke, altos; Trouong-Son Nguyen, tenor; Jeanne Finger, flute; Suzanne Bassett-Rogers, viola, and Catharine Scherer, harp. They welcome other musicians.
Andi invited anyone interested to come and experience the impact of Taizé.
"It just may be life changing," she said, noting that Brenna is now pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Kalispell, Mont.
For information, call 509-995-0987.
Gonzaga University also offers a Taizé service Thursdays on Zoom.
