When I entered the dimly lit St. Helen’s Hall in downtown Bend on the first Thursday of October for the monthly Taizé meditation service, I was somewhat familiar with the music that originated in Taizé, France. These short and melodic spiritual songs are repeated several times as instruments and perhaps a solo voice are added over the top to bring richness and variation. Sung mostly in Latin, a beautiful and phonetic language, the songs are also sung in English, French, Spanish and other languages. I have a few friends who have spent a week at the Taizé Community at one point in their lives, and they all seem to get a far-off look in their eyes when they speak of it. “Wonderful,” they say. “Nothing else is like it.” They seem wistful, longing for more of what they experienced in the provincial French retreat center.
The Taizé Community in the Burgundy region of France has existed as a retreat for hundreds of thousands of people, many of them young, since its founding in 1940 by Brother Roger. Today the community is made up of approximately 80 brothers who include Catholics, Anglicans and Protestants, hailing from almost 30 countries. The draw for people who make the journey to Taizé is to spend a week “set apart.” The guests live simply, sleeping in tents in the spring and summer months. Heated cabins are available in the winter, and visitors can also stay in nearby villages. Everyone participates in communal meals, prayer three times a day, study, discussions, chores, silence, and of course, every evening, the singing of the iconic songs that were written for the community by founder Brother Roger and Paris composer Jacques Berthier.
For the Taizé meditation evening in Bend, a sign on the door to the chapel let us know to enter in silence. A long and beautiful instrumental piece was played by musicians who are a part of the Taizé Choir of Central Oregon. The cello, violin, classical guitar, piano and a large, mellow recorder set the tone, literally. This instrumental music helped me transition from the outside world to this inner place of people gathering for an experience of peace. My thinking slowed. I remembered to breathe more deeply than I usually do. A small choir sat quietly, waiting to lead us in song.
Gail Coon directed the group while playing her classical guitar. She has been leading this Central Oregon choir since sometime in the 1980s. Several years ago, a dozen or so of the choir members visited Taizé together, and they now infuse their offering with this first-hand knowledge. Their music meditation evenings have been held at different locations over the years, but a few years ago Trinity Episcopal Church allowed them to make St. Helen’s Hall their monthly home.
Near the entry of the hall are small songbooks that you are invited to use as you experience a realm of beautiful songs, sacred and poetic words, silence, candle lighting and then more songs. A small board to the side let us know which songs we would be singing. “Da Pacem Cordium” (Give peace to our hearts) is a round in a minor key that began simply and grew to a symphony of our hearts’ cries. “Confitemini Domino” (Give thanks to the Lord for He is good) is a gorgeous four-part harmony piece that we sang enough times that I was able to pick up on the alto line, feeling even more enmeshed in the harmonies that grew. “Deep Peace,” our final song of the evening, was actually written by Gail Coon and it was the perfect send-off.
A few things shocked me about this event: how beautifully the music was presented, how easy it was to sing along, how much I needed an evening in a dimly lit chapel, how good it is to be silent with other people and how very good it is to sing together. Oh, and yes… it was free.
Spending a week at the Taizé Community is definitely a dream of mine, but until my bank account allows for that, to experience this “retreat” for even an hour once a month is a beautiful gift that I hope more people, young and old, will open.
Taizé Choir of Central Oregon
First Thursdays of every month, 7pm
Trinity Episcopal Church – St. Helen’s Hall
231 NW Idaho St., Bend
Taize-of-Central-Oregon-100071919285548/
Free
This article appears in the Source October 16, 2025.
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