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Brother Alois, Brother Roger’s successor, wrote the following text as an introduction to the book Choose to Love (Presses de Taizé, 2006), published by the Taizé Community as an expression of its gratitude for the given life of its founder. Brother Roger’s departure leaves a great emptiness. We were deeply shaken by his tragic death. But at the same time, in the Community we lived through the period that followed with a profound thankfulness for all that he left us. These pages are an expression of this. This thankfulness was shared by a whole multitude of people across the world, and this upheld us. It was as though we were being carried by God. And, in this trial, our little community experienced the unity that the first Christians had known: being of one heart and one soul. For Brother Roger, the search for reconciliation among Christians was not a topic for reflection: it was something evident to be done. For him, what was important above all was to live out the Gospel and communicate it to others. And the Gospel can be lived out only together. To be separated has no sense. When he was very young, he had already had the intuition that a life in community could be a symbol of reconciliation, a life that becomes a sign. So he thought of gathering a group of people who would seek above all to be reconciled. This is the primary vocation of Taizé, to be what he called a “parable of community”, a small but visible sign of reconciliation. But the monastic life had disappeared from the Churches of the Reformation, and he came from a Protestant family. It was thus that without repudiating his background, he created a community that put down roots in the undivided Church from before Protestantism, and which by its very existence was indissolubly connected to the Catholic and Orthodox tradition. Once the foundations had been laid, by the beginning of the 1970s, and there were also Catholic brothers in the Community, he still continued creating the Community, right up to his last breath. About his own personal path, he said: “Influenced by the testimony of my grandmother’s life, and when I was still quite young, in her footsteps I found my identity as a Christian in reconciling in myself the faith of my origins with the mystery of the Catholic faith, without breaking communion with anyone.” The heritage he left is enormous. And above all, this heritage is alive. Brother Roger certainly left us his writings; but for him, these writings had to be adapted constantly to new situations. Even the Rule of the Community, which will remain the basic text for our common life, was rewritten several times. It was as though he wanted to teach us not to be attached to the letter or to structures, but to surrender ourselves to the breath of the Holy Spirit. Through his Spirit, God is present to every human being. Brother Roger had a place in his heart for all human beings, of every nation, and in particular for young people and children. He had a passion for communion. He often repeated the following words: “Christ did not come to earth to create a new religion, but to offer to every human being a communion in God.” This unique communion, which is the Church, is there for everyone, without exception. One of his constant concerns was to make this communion accessible to young people, and to lift the obstacles from their path. He was keenly aware that one of the greatest obstacles was seeing God as a severe judge who instils fear. An intuition grew progressively clearer within him, and he did everything he could in order to transmit it by his own life: God can do nothing other than to love. The Orthodox theologian Olivier Clément reminded us recently that this insistence by Brother Roger on God’s love marked the end of a period in which, in the various Christian denominations, God was feared as someone who punishes. In his youth, Brother Roger had known Christians who felt that the Gospel imposed harsh burdens on believers; and because of this attitude, there was a period when faith was difficult for him and doubts arose. Throughout his life, it remained a real struggle for him to trust in God. And in this struggle lies the origin of his openness to the young generations and his desire to listen to them. He himself said that he wished to “seek to understand everything in another person”. Many young people had the image of him as a man who was always ready to listen to them every evening after the prayer in the church, for hours if necessary. And when he became too frail and tired to listen to everyone, he still continued to stay in the church in the evenings, giving a simple blessing to those who came to him by placing his hand on their foreheads. Right up to the end, and with exceptional energy and courage, he led us on the way of openness to others. No distress, physical or spiritual, was so fearful that he turned away from it. On the contrary, he ran towards it. And more than once, he became so wrapped up in a concrete situation of suffering that he seemed to have forgotten about other things that were equally important. In this he was like the shepherd in the parable of Jesus, who forgets ninety-nine sheep in order to take care of one who is getting lost. Speaking with his sister Geneviève, who died two years after he did, one was struck by her likeness to her brother in avoiding every harsh word, every categorical judgement. This comes from further back in the family, from an exceptional mother. Of course such a trait of character has its reverse side. But what counts is that Brother Roger knew how to create with this gift. And we, his brothers, have seen that it led him at times to the very limits of what a human being can bear. It has been said of him that he had a universal heart. With a goodness that remains astonishing. Goodness of heart is not an empty word, but a force that is able to transform the world, because through it, God is at work. In the face of evil, goodness of heart is a vulnerable reality, but Brother Roger’s life given for others is a pledge that God’s peace will have the last word for everyone on our earth. He was constantly searching how to give concrete form to heartfelt compassion, especially towards the poor. He liked to quote Saint Augustine: “Love, and say it with your life.” This sometimes led him to surprising steps. On one occasion, he came back from a stay in Calcutta with a baby in his arms, a little girl that Mother Teresa had entrusted to him, in the hope that going to Europe would save her life – which turned out to be true. He also welcomed to the village of Taizé and helped to settle there two widows from Vietnam, with their large families of children, whom he had met while visiting a refugee camp in Thailand. The need to be concrete: this characteristic of his was also seen in his gift for arranging a room or a house. He did not like to construct buildings. When this was absolutely necessary, they had to be quite simple, very low, and if possible built with re-used material. But he loved transforming places. Using very little, he tried to create beauty. At a certain point a new church had to be built at Taizé, but he resisted the project for a long time, and afterwards he was continually adapting and changing the arrangements. I noticed this even in the impoverished neighbourhood of Mathare Valley in Kenya, where we stayed for a few weeks before some of the brothers came to live there for many years. In that poor shack in the midst of squalor, he found a way of adding some beauty, using almost nothing. As he used to say, we would like to do everything to make life beautiful for those around us. Brother Roger often referred to the Beatitudes, and he sometimes said about himself: Je suis un pauvre, “I am a poor man.” He called us, the brothers, not to be spiritual masters but people who listen. He referred to his ministry as prior as being a “poor servant of communion within the community”. He did not hide his vulnerability. Now, our little community feels impelled to continue along the way he opened up. It is a way of trust. For him the word “trust” was not a facile expression. It contains an appeal: to welcome very simply the love that God bears towards everyone, to root our lives in that love, and to take the risks that that implies. To lose that intuition would lead us to impose burdens on those who come seeking the living water. Faith in this love is a wholly simple reality, so simple that everyone can receive it. And this faith can move mountains. Then, even if the world is often torn apart by violence and conflict, the way we look on it can be filled with hope. Brother Alois Books by Brother Roger (French titles and those of the corresponding English editions) 1958, Vivre l’Aujourd’hui de Dieu / Living Today for God 1965, Dynamique du provisoire / The Power of the Provisional 1968 Violence des pacifiques / Violent for Peace 1971, Ta fête soit sans fin / Festival Without End 1973, Lutte et contemplation / Struggle and Contemplation 1976, Vivre l’inespéré / A Life We Never Dared Hope For 1979, Etonnement d’un amour / The Wonder of a Love 1980, Les Sources de Taizé / The Sources of Taizé 1982, Fleurissent tes déserts / And Your Deserts Shall Flower 1985, Passion d’une attente / A Heart that Trusts 1988, Son amour est un feu / His Love is a Fire 1995, En tout la paix du cœur / Peace of Heart in all Things 2001, Dieu ne peut qu’aimer / God is Love Alone 2005, Pressens-tu un bonheur / Glimmers of Happines Books written together with Mother Teresa 1986, Le Chemin de Croix / Meditations on the Way of the Cross 1989, Marie, Mère des Réconciliations / Mary, Mother Of Reconciliations 1992, La prière, fraîcheur d’une source / Prayer: Seeking the Heart of God Each year, Brother Roger wrote a “letter” that was taken up by the young people and meditated on throughout the following year, either at home or during one of the meetings at Taizé. This letter was frequently written by Taizé’s founder in a place marked by poverty, where he was staying for a time: Kolkata, Chile, Haiti, Ethiopia, the Philippines, South Africa… Brother Roger received the following awards 09 04 1974: The Templeton Prize, London 13 10 1974: Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, Frankfurt 21 09 1988: UNESCO Prize for Peace Education, Paris 04 05 1989: Charlemagne Prize, Aix-la-Chapelle 20 11 1992: Robert Schuman Prize, Strasbourg 24 04 1997: Notre Dame Award for International Humanitarian Service, Notre Dame University, Indiana, USA 22 10 2003: Dignitas Humana Award, Saint John’s School of Theology*Seminary, Collegeville, Minnesota, USA
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– 16. kolovoza 2005. Odlazak brata Rogea ostavio je veliku prazninu. Bili smo duboko potreseni njegovom tragičnom smrću. No, istovremeno smo u Zajednici proživjeli period koji je slijedio s dubokom zahvalnošću na svemu što nam je ostavio. Ove su stranice izraz te zahvalnosti. Nju smo podijelili s čitavim mnoštvom ljudi širom svijeta i to nam je dalo podršku. Bilo je to kao da nas je ponio Bog. I u toj je kušnji naša mala zajednica iskusila jedinstvo kakvo su poznavali prvi kršćani: biti jedno srce i jedna duša. Za brata Rogera, potraga za pomirenjem među kršćanima nije bila tema za razmatranje: bilo je to nešto očigledno što treba učiniti. Za njega je iznad svega bilo važno živjeti Evanđelje i prenositi ga drugima, a Evanđelje se može živjeti samo u zajedništvu. Biti izdvojen nema smisla. Dok je bio vrlo mlad, već je imao predosjećaj da bi život u zajednici mogao biti simbol pomirenja, život koji postaje znakom. Tako je razmišljao o okupljanju skupine ljudi koji bi iznad svega tragali za pomirenjem. To je primarni poziv Taizéa, biti ono što je on nazivao «prispodobom zajedništva», mali, ali vidljiv znak pomirenja. No, redovnički je život nestao iz reformiranih Crkava, a on je došao iz protestanske obitelji. Tako je, ne odričući se svog porijekla, stvorio zajednicu čiji su korijeni bili u nepodijeljenoj Crkvi iz vremena prije nastanka protestantizma, a čije je samo postojanje bilo neraskidivo povezano s katoličkom i pravoslavnom tradicijom. Kada su temelji položeni, do početka 1970-ih godina, i već je bilo i katoličke braće u Zajednici, i dalje je nastavio stvarati Zajednicu, do svoga posljednjeg daha. O svome osobnom putu je rekao: «Pod utjecajem svjedočanstva života moje bake, dok sam još bio posve mlad, u njezinim sam stopama pronašao svoj kršćanski identitet pomirivši u sebi vjeru svojih korijena s otajstvom katoličke vjere, ne raskidajući zajedništvo niti s jednom od njih.» Ostavio je ogromno nasljeđe. A to je nasljeđe, iznad svega, živo. Brat Roger nam je, naravno, ostavio svoje zapise; no smatrao je da se ti zapisi stalno moraju prilagođavati novim situacijama. Čak je i Pravilo Zajednice, koje će ostati osnovni tekst za naš zajednički život, prepravljano više puta. Bilo je to kao da nas je želio poučiti da se ne vežemo za riječi ili za strukture, nego da se predamo dahu Duha Svetoga. Po svojem je Duhu Bog prisutan u svakome čovjeku. Brat Roger imao je u svom srcu mjesta za sve ljude, iz svakog naroda, a osobito za mlade i djecu. Imao je strast prema zajedništvu. Često je ponavljao sljedeće riječi: «Krist nije došao na zemlju kako bi stvorio novu religiju, nego kako bi svakom čovjeku ponudio zajedništvo u Bogu.» To jedinstveno zajedništvo, koje je Crkva, postoji za svakoga, bez iznimaka. Jedna je od njegovih stalnih preokupacija bila učiniti to zajednišvo pristupačnim mladima i maknuti prepreke s njihovog puta. Bio je potpuno svjestan da je jedna od najvećih prepreka promatrati Boga kao strogog suca koji izaziva strah. Intuicija je u njemu postajala sve jasnija, i učinio je sve što je mogao kako bi je prenosio svojim vlastitim životom: Bog može samo ljubiti. Pravoslavni teolog Olivier Clément nedavno nas je podsjetio kako je to inzistiranje brata Rogera na Božjoj ljubavi obilježilo kraj perioda u kojem su se vjernici različitih kršćanskih denominacija bojali Boga kao nekoga tko kažnjava. U svojoj je mladosti brat Roger upoznao kršćane koji su osjećali kako Evanđelje vjernicima nameće teško breme; i zbog tog je stava postojao period kada mu je bilo teško vjerovati i rasle su sumnje. Tijekom cijelog života, vjera u Boga ostala je za njega prava borba i u toj borbi leži korijen njegove otvorenosti prema mladim naraštajima i njegove želje da ih sluša. A ta vjera može pomicati planine. Sam je rekao da je želio «tragati kako da razumije sve u drugoj osobi». Mnogi su mladi o njemu stvorili sliku kao o čovjeku koji je uvijek bio spreman slušati ih, svake večeri nakon molitve u crkvi, satima ako je potrebno. A kada je postao prekrhak i preumoran da bi svakoga saslušao, i dalje je nastavio navečer ostajati u crkvi, dajući jednostavan blagoslov onima koji bi mu prišli stavljajući ruku na njihovo čelo. Do samoga kraja, i s izuzetnom energijom i hrabrošću, vodio nas je putem otvorenosti prema drugima. Nikakva muka, fizička ili duhovna, nije bila tako strašna da bi skrenuo s njega. Naprotiv, trčao je prema njoj. I više no jednom, toliko bi se zapleo u neku konkretnu situaciju patnje da se činilo kako je zaboravio na druge stvari koje su bile jednako važne. Po tome je bio poput pastira iz Isusove prispodobe, koji zaboravlja devedeset i devet ovaca kako bi se pobrinuo za jednu koja se izgubila. Razgovarajući s njegovom sestrom Geneviève, koja je umrla dvije godine nakon njega, uočavala se njena dojmljiva sličnost s bratom u izbjegavanju svake oštre riječi, svakog kategoričkog suda. To su nasljedili iz obitelji, od izuzetne majke. Naravno, takva karakterna osobina ima i svoju drugu stranu. No, važno je da je brat Roger znao kako stvarati s tim darom. A mi, njegova braća, vidjeli smo kako ga je on ponekad dovodio do samih granica onoga što čovjek može podnijeti. Govorilo se da je imao univerzalno srce, puno zapanjujuće dobrote. Dobrota srca nije prazna riječ, nego sila koja može preobraziti svijet, jer je kroz nju Bog na djelu. Suočivši se sa zlom, dobrota srca je ranjiva stvarnost, no život koji je brat Roger dao za druge obećanje je da će Božji mir imati zadnju riječ za svakoga na našem svijetu. Stalno je tragao za načinima kako dati konkretan oblik srdačnom suosjećanju, osobito prema siromašnima. Volio je citirati svetog Augustina: „Ljubite, i recite to svojim životom.“ To ga je ponekad vodilo do iznenađujućih koraka. Jednom se prilikom vratio iz Calcutte s bebom u rukama, malom djevojčicom koju mu je povjerila Majka Tereza u nadi da će odlazak u Europu spasiti njezin život – što se i pokazalo točnim. Također je u selu Taizé primio i pomogao smjestiti dvije udovice iz Vijetnama, s njihovih puno djece, koje je upoznao dok je bio u posjetu jednom izbjegličkom kampu u Tajlandu. Potreba za konkretnim: ta je njegova osobina bila vidljiva i u njegovom daru za uređenje soba ili kuća. Nije volio konstruirati zgrade. Kad je to bilo apsolutno nužno, morale su biti posve jednostavne, vrlo niske i, po mogućnosti, sagrađene od već rabljenog materijala. No, volio je preuređivati prostore. S vrlo malo, pokušavao je stvoriti ljepotu. U određenom se trenutku u Taizéu morala sagraditi nova crkva, no on se tom projektu dugo opirao, a kasnije je stalno prilagođavao i mijenjao uređenje. Primijetio sam to čak i u siromašnoj četvrti Mathare Valley u Keniji, gdje smo boravili nekoliko tjedana prije no što su neki od braće došli ondje živjeti više godina. U tu je jadnu potleušicu usred smeća našao načina unijeti malo ljepote, koristeći skoro ništa. Kao što je običavao reći, voljeli bismo učiniti sve kako bismo onima oko nas život učinili lijepim. Brat Roger često se pozivao na Blaženstva, i ponekad bi rekao o sebi: Je suis un pauvre, “Ja sam siromah.” Pozivao je nas, braću, da ne budemo duhovni učitelji nego ljudi koji slušaju. Osvrtao se na svoju službu priora kao „siromašnog slugu zajedništva u zajednici“. Nije skrivao svoju ranjivost. Sada se naša mala zajednica osjeća dužnom nastaviti putem koji je on otvorio. To je put povjerenja. Za njega riječ „povjerenje“ nije bila jednostavan izraz. Ona sadrži poziv: vrlo jednostavno primiti ljubav koju Bog pruža svakome, ukorijeniti naše živote u toj ljubavi i preuzeti rizike koje to podrazumijeva. Gubitak tog uvida doveo bi nas do toga da nametnemo teret na one koji dolaze tragati za živom vodom. Vjera u tu ljubav posve je jednostavna stvarnost, tako jednostavna da je svatko može primiti. A ta vjera može pomicati planini. Tada, čak iako svijet često razdiru nasilje i sukobi, način na koji ga promatramo može biti ispunjen nadom. Brat Alois Knjige brata Rogera (Francuski naslovi i naslovi odgovarajućih engleskih izdanja) Vivre l’Aujourd’hui de Dieu Dynamique du provisoire / Dinamika provizornoga Violence des pacifiques Ta fête soit sans fin Lutte et contemplation Vivre l’inespéré Etonnement d’un amour Les Sources de Taizé / Izvori Taizéa Fleurissent tes déserts Passion d’une attente Son amour est un feu En tout la paix du coeur / U svemu mir srca Dieu ne peut qu’aimer /Bog može samo ljubiti Pressens-tu un bonheur? Knjige koje je napisao zajedno s Majkom Terezijom iz Kalkute 1986, Le Chemin de Croix / Meditations on the Way of the Cross 1989, Marie, Mère des Réconciliations / Mary, Mother Of Reconciliations 1992, La prière, fraîcheur d’une source / Prayer: Seeking the Heart of God Svake je godine brat Roger pisao po jedno «pismo» koje su primili mladi i razmatrali ga tijekom sljedeće godine, kod kuće ili tijekom jednog od susreta u Taizéu. To je pismo osnivač Taizéa često pisao na nekom od mjesta obilježenih siromaštvom gdje je boravio neko vrijeme: Calcutta, Čile, Haiti, Etiopija, Filipini, Južna Afrika… Brat Roger je primio sljedeće nagrade: 4. 1974.: Templetonova nagrada, London 13. 10. 1974.: Nagrada za mir Njemačkog književnog udruženja, Frankfurt 9. 1988.: UNESCO-va nagrada za mirovni odgoj, Pariz 5. 1989.: Nagrada Karlo Veliki, Aix-la-Chapelle 20. 11. 1992.: Nagrada Robert Schuman Prize, Strasbourg 4. 1997.: Nagrada Notre Dame za međunarodnu humanitarnu djelatnost, Sveučilište Notre Dame, Indiana, SAD 22. 10. 2003.: Nagrada Dignitas Humana, Saint John’s School of Theology Seminary, Collegeville, Minnesota, SAD