My little springtime

“Ah, Taizé, that little springtime,” remarked Pope John XXIII about the ecumenical monastic community nestled on a hill in Burgundy, France. Being there definitely was a springtime experience for me. I have recently been thinking about my time there a lot. For, I moved to Taize’ in France on December 5, 1994 – 30 years ago! 

I first met the brothers escorting Mary Washington College students to their first large meeting ever held in the US at Dayton University. Several thousand young adults from across the US gathered across denominational lines. As part of “the Pilgrimage of Trust,” we stayed with local families where conversations would continue. 

I had no idea how my heart would open when I first volunteered to go as a chaperone and participant. My experience changed the way I looked at life and the Church – how I understood myself as well. People sharing their faith, positive interactions with people who were previously “other” to me, and a more intimate prayer life energized me. 

I read much about the Ecumenical Community of Taizé and from Br. Roger, the founder, after that. I continued to pray with chants at home and with friends. I went to a few smaller regional meetings. It slowly became a part of me. I’d even catch myself singing their chants (ultimately prayers) as I drove to emergency calls or in quiet moments of my day. Like the prophet, Nehemiah, my prayer life and work life merged. I found myself praying all the time. As I found more peace, I became more patient and discerning when working with others or arresting people. I discovered peace even when amidst the thick of things. Even my sergeant noticed the change. He said during my review, “I don’t know what you are doing, but keep it up.” I think it was more what God was doing in my life, but his observations affirmed for me that I was in a better place and heading in the right direction. Whatever my future, God was with me.

All the while, I began to wonder if I was being called to become a brother. When younger, I had investigated becoming a priest while Roman Catholic. Yet like many young adults, with unaddressed trauma, grief and sin from the past, I had wondered far. I finally became open to radically trusting God after a crisis. Thanks to seeds planted in my past, faith-filled friends, and intentional spiritual, mental, and emotional work, I found my way back home. The Dayton meeting came when the time was right and catapulted me forward toward a new, radical trust in God. Now, I also understood the Church was more than my denomination. I came to believe my past errors need not hold me back. I was and remain forgiven and free. I became determined to address the issue of serving in the Church once and for all wherever God might lead me. For God had been faithful to me, and again, I trusted the Spirit would set me on the right path. 

During this time of growth, I had come to know Br. John. Br. John is one of the community’s American brothers, and he is often asked to go abroad. He had introduced me to a Croatian immigrant in Alexandria who hoped to have a meeting in the DC region where I then lived. Certainly, I would help! It proved such a special event. Only about 100 attended, but the impact was similar to my time in Dayton. As I spoke with Br. John during a break, I tentatively told him of my vocational search over the years – on and off. My friend Tony and I would be visiting Taizé in France for the first time, and I wondered – although I can’t sing well or speak French – maybe there was still an answer for me there? 

Brother John did not laugh at me as I feared. I was not rejected, but instead taken seriously in my search. Although I had not been before to the community, Br. John said that as I was in a different place than many in my search (I had done a lot of work regarding my repentance, healing, and discernment) perhaps I should spend a week in silence. I still would go to the three daily prayers. I would have moments of conversation. Yet mostly, I would spend time in silence or speaking with my future contact brother, Br. Francois, who would serve as a kind of spiritual director. (He was an early brother, and much later, I learned he was also a Lutheran pastor.) 

Of course, most of my time was indeed spent meditating on scripture, praying, or going for walks. Yet, I was invited to eat with Br. Roger and the brothers once during this first visit as well. A brother who did not know me introduced himself and said, “You are in a week of silence aren’t you?” I said yes, but asked how he knew. He said that people experiencing a week of silence often had a glow about them. (Although I did not understand it at the time, I would later see that glow on other faces.) My growing trust and peace showed.

As my week closed, I told Br. Francois that I thought perhaps I should come for a longer time for more discernment. This would necessitate my resigning from the police department. My eyes and heart had opened wider, so I understood it was time to take a leap of faith. I felt pulled there. He said after a short time of discussion, “We cannot know yet what the answer will be, but we have similar hearts. You must come.” And so, long story very short, I resigned from the police department and came. I began my service as a long term volunteer, “a permanent” in Taize’ parlance, primarily working among the campsites and with meeting preparations. 

Upon arrival, I continued to meet with Br. Francois, and there were many, many more important friendships and memories made during my time there including at the Paris European Meeting with over 100,000 young adults! 

Yet after about seven months, it became clear that I was not to stay, but I never doubted that I had been called there. I came to that little hill, and I saw Christ more clearly than ever before. I just now knew he was calling me to something else. Back to the valley for me! This led me to other people, and thus more new understandings of God’s love, but that’s for another time to share. 

I have not been back to what I still consider my spiritual home, but my wife, Kristine, and I did make it to a European Meeting in Barcelona. (It was the last time I saw Br. Francois. He died a few years ago.) I also was able to welcome Br. John and Br. Emile for a meeting at my church in the Richmond area in 2019. I hope our paths will cross again, but as I have written to my many dear fellow volunteers now across the globe, it’s ok if I don’t meet them again. I still sense the deep, living communion which we share any time I hear Taize’ chants, see a photo, or think of them. The Spirit works this way among the Church, a communion of saints. That communion spoken about in the creeds of the Church is tangible.

Yes, we are together still. It’s hard to explain, but it is true. I trust – thanks be to God – that it will be so forever.

Reflection expanded upon from a Facebook post shared on the 30th anniversary of my arrival to the Ecumenical Community of Taize’.

© 2025 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.