June Taize: Come Holy Spirit, Empower Us

When Jesus returned to heaven, he did not leave his disciples alone; he remains present in the gift of the Holy Spirit and in the experience of his love.

Tonight we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the ways in which the Spirit inspires, guides, and strengthens us to live as Christian disciples.

In the prayers we pray during Mass on Pentecost Sunday are the following images, among others:

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the Poor!

You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Solace in the midst of woe.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew.

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.”

May these images also be our prayer this evening.

Download a program for the service here: Taize Service Worship Aid for June 2, 2022.

The event will be live streamed for our many friends who cannot be with us physically.

What is Taizé?

Taizé prayer is practiced throughout the world. It is a meditative candle-lit form of community prayer that includes simple chants sung repeatedly, silence and prayers of praise and intercession. In prayer, we enter the silence, stilling the mind, opening the heart, surrendering to the action of the Spirit ever molding us into the image of Christ. The candles used in the service symbolize the presence of the risen Christ, who conquered darkness and sin and offers new life to all humankind.

Taizé Prayer comes from an ecumenical, monastic community in France and has spread to numerous spots around the world.

From the depths of the human condition, a secret aspiration rises up. Today many are thirsting for the essential reality: an inner life, signs of the Invisible. Nothing is more conducive to communion with the living God than meditative common prayer. When the mystery of God becomes tangible through the simple beauty of symbols, when it is not smothered by too many words, then a common prayer awakens us to heaven’s joy on earth.

All the videos of our Taize prayer services are available here.

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