Lent – NealEnJoy

Taizé Four 4/9/25 “Let All Who Are Thirsty”

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Neal Saye

Tonight was our church’s (Asbury Memorial, Savannah) fourth and final Taize service before the beginning of this Sunday’s Passover and Holy Week.

“Taizé is a meditative prayer service that incorporates simple repetitive song and chant, scripture readings, and periods of group silence in a setting of peace and soft light that fosters communion with God.” St. Mary’s of the Hill

After Pope John Paul Il visited the ecumenical, monastic Taizé community in France in 1986, he said:“One passes through Taize as one passes close to a spring of water. The traveler stops, quenches his thirst, and continues on his way. The brothers of the community do not want to keep you. They want, in prayer and silence, to enable you to drink the living water promised by Christ, to know his joy, to discern his presence, to respond to his call, then to set out again to witness to his love and to serve your brothers and sisters in your parishes, your schools, your universities, and in all your places of work.”

So come into this place of peace & let its silence heal your spirit; Come into this place of memory & let its history warm your soul; Come into this place of prophecy & power & let its vision change your heart. (From the service bulletin.)

Tonight‘s chant:

Let all who are thirsty come. Let all who wish receive the water of life freely. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Although you can’t quite tell it, this is a fountain filled with little stones.

REMEMBERING OUR BAPTISM. You are invited to “Remember your baptism” by coming to the altar and receiving a stone from the flowing water of life. We encourage you to keep the stone with you throughout the seasons of Lent, Easter, and Eastertide. (From the service bulletin.)

May a Bit of Evening Peace be yours tonight.

Holiday Joy

Taizé Three 4/2/25 “There Is a Balm”

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Neal Saye

Tonight was our church’s (Asbury Memorial, Savannah) third Taize service of the 2025 Lenton season.

Taize is a meditative worship service known for simple, repetitive chants, scripture readings, and times of silence, originating from the Taizé community in France.

Peacefully beautiful as usual, with the theme this evening of “There is a balm in Gilead.”

Whatever our faith (or lack thereof), we all probably need a balm from time to time, a gentle soothing.

The tranquil chorus we sang several times throughout the thirty minute service:

“There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole; There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.”

May we all experience a Bit of Balm this lovely Springtime Season.

Holiday Joy, Peace

Taize Four: “Living Water”

Posted on March 20, 2024March 20, 2024 by Neal Saye

Tonight was the fourth and final Taize service at our church, Asbury Memorial, in Savannah. Next on the Christian liturgical calendar is this weekend’s Palm Sunday.

(Here’s a link to my first post about Taize, with a bit of explanation about what it’s all about: https://nealenjoy.com/2024/02/28/taize/)

Tonight’s final service was again splendidly simple and peace filled.

The emphasis was upon Living Water.

From the order of service:

“After Pope John Paul Il visited the ecumenical, monastic Taizé community in France in 1986, he said:

One passes through Taizé as one passes close to a spring of water. The traveler stops, quenches his thirst, and continues on his way. The brothers of the community do not want to keep you.

They want, in prayer and silence, to enable you to drink the living water promised by Christ, to know his joy, to discern his presence, to respond to his call, then to set out again to witness to his love and to serve your brothers and sisters in your parishes, your schools, your universities, and in all your places of work.

So come into this place of peace & let its silence heal your spirit;

Come into this place of memory & let its history warm your soul;

Come into this place of prophecy & power & let its vision change your heart.”

CHANT: Let all who are thirsty come. Let all who wish receive the water of life freely. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

May the peace that passeth understanding, the peace of God, which the world can neither give nor take away, be among us, and abide in our hearts. Amen.

Beauty, Holiday Joy

Taize

Posted on February 28, 2024February 28, 2024 by Neal Saye

I love this current liturgical season of Lent on the Christian calendar. For me, it’s a time to calm down, quiet down, and reflect before the exuberant excitement of Easter.

For the four Wednesdays before Palm Sunday, the church that Robert and I attend, Asbury Memorial here in Savannah, holds brief and beautifully simple Taize services.

“The Taizé prayer service is from an interfaith community founded in Taizé, France in 1940. A Taizé service provides a meditative style of song and prayer known for its simplicity and focus on Christ. Today the Taizé community comprises those of Catholic and Protestant backgrounds from regions around the globe. At a Taizé service we pray as we sing, as we reflect on the Scripture reading, as we sit in silence, and as we offer our prayers to Christ.” jaxcathedral.org

Whatever your belief, or lack of, may Peace be your Portion at this time of year.

Here is a neat article with more info about Taize, if you are in the slightest bit interested …

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/a-look-at-the-taize-community/?amp

Holiday Joy

Ashy

Posted on February 14, 2024February 14, 2024 by Neal Saye

So today Robert and I invited ex-wife Donna to join us for our church’s noon day Ash Wednesday service, which was beautifully somber and peaceful, marking the beginning of the forty days of Lent in the Christian liturgical calendar.