Retrospective: Taizé prayer and the Ruprechtskirche

Most of the Wednesday evenings I have spent in Vienna I have been to the Ruprechtskirche, the oldest church in central Vienna, for a Taizé prayer service. According to traditional belief, the church was founded in 740, although other evidence suggests it may have been 50-90 years later, and the first documented mention of it appears in 1200. The inner decoration is very simple, with coloured light streaming in through the modern stained glass windows at the sides as well as ancient panels dating back to 1370 at the east end.

Taizé prayer features a lot of singing of simple, repeated chants - also where I got my choral harmony fix as I didn't have a choir there - and silence. Around 30-50 people attend, ranging from students to pensioners, and after the service a group always goes to a nearby restaurant for a drink. This group is essentially my church community in Vienna and I have made many dear friends through it.

Here they are singing "Leaving on a Jet Plane" on my last Wednesday in Vienna. In parts, with instruments. What have I done to deserve such wonderful people in my life?

Just to confirm that die Welt ist ein Dorf, the first time I went to this service, shortly after my arrival, I (re-)encountered someone I had danced with at a lindy hop social four days before. The next time I went to the lindy hop event, a girl approached me and asked if we knew each other, and whether I perhaps went to the Taizé service in the Ruprechtskirche. The next time I went to the service, the person I was talking to afterwards turned out to live on the same street as me. Wednesday evening Taizé is clearly THE place to be.

Big Taizé prayer at the European Meeting in Prague over the New Year