By Caroline Connick | Staff Writer
The Salve Regina Mercy Center has hosted a Taizé prayer service at Our Lady of Mercy Chapel Thursday.
Taizé is a prayer service observed by all Christian congregations that welcomes people of other faiths as well, and the Mercy Center hosts them multiple times throughout the school year. The service closely resembles the meditation and group chants done at the end of a yoga class. Unlike a traditional Mass, the Taizé service is shorter and mostly composed of short meditative songs and moments of silence in the place of Communion and a sermon. Instead of one particular person leading the service, everyone is able to participate together.
This particular Taizé service was dedicated to the current period of the Liturgical year. The entire month of November is reserved for people to remember their loved ones who have passed away. Much of the songs and scripture readings at the Taizé service were about the kingdom of Heaven and how although our bodies die, souls exist forever. At the end of the time of “Profound Silence,” which is a longer moment of silence in the middle of the service where people reflect on their deceased loved ones, everyone was invited to name people in their lives who are no longer with us.
The prayer service was held in the multi-faith area of the chapel which was lit by an arrangement of small candles. The room was full of chairs, and almost every one of them was occupied. All manner of people attended, including Salve students and Newport residents. Just outside the room was a piano and flute to accompany the musical traditions of the service. The meditative qualities of the Taizé service is intended to leave the faithful feeling renewed and at ease, and this service delivered its purpose.
