Sing with us! Pray with us!

Saying Our Prayers

On Wednesday, with the start of Lent, the Taize community in Aschaffenburg began welcoming the community to evening prayer in the church of Saint Agatha.

Though we dutifully planned the prayer service and shared the work of setting up the chapel, we weren't really sure what would happen at 7:45.  Would anyone come?  Would we start laughing in the middle of one of our songs, as we had done during the previous week when we prayed in our apartment?

Thankfully, people came (8 people, to be exact, which Amandine guessed in our bet over dinner), and we didn't laugh!   After several days of praying three times a day with only five voices to carry the tune of the Taize songs, few sounds could have been sweeter than that of eight extra voices lifting our prayers to God.

Since Wednesday, we have continued to wonder whether people will join us, and we will probably be wondering the same thing when we organize our last evening prayer service at the end of March.  We are happy that Thursday and Friday brought more voices to fill our choir, but there will probably be some evenings when we pray alone, and that will be okay.  Consistency and presence is an important part of our ministry here.  Our group will not be in Aschaffenburg long enough to make a significant difference in the community through volunteer work, but we can continue to welcome people to our prayer and to let them know that, whether they can join us or not, a small corner of their town is filled with light and song every evening, from now through March 22.

Speaking of volunteer work....On Thursday, we made our first visit to the "social cafe" in Aschaffenburg that provides low-cost meals to people in need.  Johanna and I helped serve pastries and wash dishes, while Amandine and Lena helped cook.  Franziska, on the other hand, was nowhere near food as she was whisked away to helped sort clothes a the secondhand shop run by the same charity that runs the cafe.

In case this week didn't include enough firsts already, today we made our first visit to the refugee home in Aschaffenburg.  The "home" is really a cluster of buildings that were once used by the U.S. Armed Forces.  Apparently, nearly all the property surrounding that cluster of buildings also used to belong to the U.S.  Admittedly, it was quite strange to look across the street at the Burger King and think that that part of town used to be filled with people from my country while some of the people who live there now have fled from countries that my country has tried to help (or is it "help"?).

This morning, our time at the refugee home was not about work, but about learning (next week, we will start our work).  One of the social workers talked to us about refugees to Germany and the process of attaining refugee status. For the most part, it sounds like an expensive, arduous process that drags on for months and, sometimes, years.  At the end of the wait, some people are sent home after being picked up by the police at--get this--five in the morning.  I know some people are early-risers, but deporting before dawn just doesn't seem necessary.

On a happier note, one of the women who lives in the refugee home made us feel truly welcome by preparing coffee for us, and she expressed an interest in joining us for prayer next time we come around.  Today, our midday prayer in a spare room only brought one person (an employee) who stayed for five minutes, but we were happy the she could take even a little time out of her day to share in our singing.

Indeed, this journey is really not about numbers,..even if our choir does sound better with more people.  :)

Helau!

It's teatime here in Aschaffenburg, and I am eating bread (a Berliner, to be specific) for the third time today.  Our little community has only lived together for three days, but we already have an idea of what "per usual" means for us.

When it comes to teatime, this means that I take my tea with milk and sugar while Amandine drinks green tea and Lena drinks rooibos; Franziska switches things up a bit each time.  :)  When it comes to prayer, "per usual" means that Lena plays the guitar while singing alto, Amandine and I take the high road with the soprano parts, and, again, Franziska switches things up each time depending on what she knows best.

Castle in Aschaffenburg

When it comes to other aspects of life, "per usual" is still taking shape.  But I can say this about my community members: Lena, with her painting, singing, drawing, and guitar-playing, reminds us to be creative and spontaneous; Amandine roots us in a quiet strength and stability, always remembering to pray for God's guidance and support during our time here (and--fun fact--she also played on a professional basketball team in Belgium!); Franziska, who did a lot of planning and groundwork for our community, serves as our leader-friend.  Without her connections to the Aschaffenburg community and her ability to help everyone understand each other in our respective languages, we might be a little lost!  Tomorrow, we meet Johanna, the fifth member of our community. We can't wait!

At mass today, I did my darndest to understand something--anything!--in German, but "Du ist mein Herr" was the only complete sentence I gleaned from all that was said.  If we lived in medieval times and I was a serf, this could be very useful.  As it stands, it might be more practical to know "Where is the bathroom?" than "You are my Lord."  Oh well.  One has to start somewhere.

"Du ist mein Herr" might be the sentence of the day, but "Helau!!!" wins for today's salutation.  Clowns, astronauts, birds, giant babies, skeletons--all of these and more yelled "Helau!  Helau!  Helau!" from the floats rolling through the streets in Aschaffenburg's Carneval parade.  Small children clamored for candy thrown into the crowds, and while this small adult did a bit of that herself, she was more excited about the free cup of beer she got from the festival committee's float.  Everyone deserves a little fun before Lent.  Don't you agree?

Helau!  Helau!  Helau!

Lest you think we've forgotten our prayerful intentions for this time together, take note of the fact that evening prayer open to the community begins on Ash Wednesday evening in the chapel of the Church of St. Agatha.  If you happened to passing through there this morning, you might have heard us practicing our songs (and, we have say, the acoustics were fantastic).  Join us every evening at 7:45.  Just try not to think about how far you might have to travel to get here,  :)

We Exist, Officially

It's official!  The Taize community in Aschaffenburg, Germany, exists, and we are even on the map.

Amandine (Belgium), Franziska (Germany), Johanna (Germany), Lena (Germany) and I will share five weeks of prayer, volunteer work, and relaxation, with an apartment owned by the archdiocesan youth ministry as our home base.  But why? 

Well, it's kind of hard to explain because, in reality, and we have no goal in mind, and no metric to gauge the "success" of our time together.  We will not return home any richer, any more recognized or respected, or with a certificate of achievement in hand. Nonetheless, though I haven't taken a poll, I think all of us believe that there is something transformative about people coming together not only to pray, but to compromise, lend a helping hand, and provide mutual support. These are the kinds of things that healthy families also do, but in our small community, there are no blood ties to bind us together.  

In addition, the frequency of our communal prayer (morning, afternoon, and evening) makes us very much a religious community, and yet we have no prioress, we take no vows, and we will not continue living together past the end of March.  In other words, we are rather unique, at least when it comes to community living.  :)

Still, we are not alone.  Indeed, other young adults who have spent time in Taize have also committed themselves to forming similar communities and other churches outside of Germany have committed to hosting these communities.  And so, I guess it's fair to say that we are actually a part of something a bigger than our group of five.  

Today was a stereotypical first day: we got to know each other; we went grocery shopping; we toured the town; I learned that the cupboard door is wider than what I'm used to home and that it will hit me in the head if I'm not careful.  If the cupboard door doesn't knock me out, I should have more news to report soon!