We’ve reached the final week of the Round of 32, and we’re starting it with two of our favs✨
First up is Brother Roger of Taizé, martyred just 25 years ago. He founded the community of Taizé where Christians from every denomination could join in community, pray, and worship together as brothers & pilgrims! You’ve likely heard their form of chant and worship, and if you haven’t, give it a listen on Spotify today! What began with Brother Roger using this as a refuge for people fleeing Nazi persecution has grown into a global pilgrimage site welcoming tens of thousands of young people every year. In fact, Fr. Michael and youth from NYC made the journey themselves… and rumor has it a video might be dropping soon. 👀🎥
In the other corner stands Fr. Damien of Molokai, the priest who didn’t just care for people suffering from leprosy, he chose to live among them. Eventually he even bore the disease himself. Damien didn’t simply admire Jesus’ call to love the outcast, he lived it in the most radical way imaginable. 💛
Two extraordinary witnesses. Two very different ministries. One impossible choice.
Read the blogs. Then cast your vote. 🗳️
P.S. Marina the Monk give it everything she had, but the knight proved too strong. Joan of Arc marches on to the Saintly Sixteen. ⚔️
Brother Roger of Taize
Brother Roger of Taizé is a modern-day martyr, a Nazi-fighter, a prolific author, and an uncanonized saint brutally murdered for his non-violent beliefs during worship.
Born Roger Schutz in 1915 in Switzerland, Brother Roger founded the Taizé monastic community in 1940 in Burgundy, France, designed as an ecumenical association. He was the prior of Taizé for 65 years until his public killing in 2005.
As a young man, while studying theology, Roger was stricken with tuberculosis, forcing him into a long convalescence. During this time, he discovered the joys and ways of a monastic life.
At the beginning of World War II, Roger took an initial step by purchasing a home in Taizé, located in unoccupied France. For years, he and his sister hid and smuggled Jews and Christians away from the Gestapo. After the war, the Taizé community grew and welcomed Christian pilgrims of all ages, especially youth.
The community focused on prayer, reconciliation, contemplation, and non-violence. Brother Roger was dedicated to ecumenism among the many Christian factions. His focus was often Christian youth.
Brother Roger lived a quiet, simple life, steeped in prayer and centered on Christianity. He was friends with Mother Teresa and met with various popes including Pope John Paul II.
On August 16, 2005, Brother Roger was stabbed to death in the chapel while deep in meditation during evening prayer. His murderer was a mentally ill Romanian woman. In a twist of fate, she, too, was stabbed in 2011.
His funeral attracted religious and secular dignitaries including the President of Germany and the Minister of the Interior of France. The funeral was presided by a Catholic cardinal, the president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. So many attended that screens were erected outside the church for the thousands who gathered.
Brother Roger’s writings focused on prayer, reflection, and Christian spirituality. His publications list is extensive, starting in 1944 and includes three written with his friend Mother Teresa: Mary, Mother of Reconciliations; Seeking the Heart of God; and Meditations on the Way of the Cross.
His many honors are equally impressive, among them Archbishop Rowan Williams’ Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism; the John Templeton Foundation Templeton Prize; and the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education.
While no particular date is set for him, the Taizé Community and some Anglicans and Episcopalians commemorate him on the anniversary of his death on August 16.
— Neva Rae Fox
Collect for Brother Roger of Taize
O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us from an inordinate love of this world, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Brother Roger., may serve you with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Damien of Hawai'i
Born Joseph de Veuster in Belgium in 1840, Damien was the youngest of seven children. He was a precocious child who cared deeply for his family. He attended college at Braine-le-Comte and joined the Society of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1858. Damien was eager for a hands-on mission that would offer personal connection rather than more schooling. The opportunity came in 1863 when his brother, also a priest, became ill and was unable to travel. Damien, not yet ordained, volunteered to replace his brother and chose to leave his family for the Sandwich Islands (modern-day Hawai’i). His request was eventually approved, and in 1864, he arrived in Hawaii and was ordained that same year. Once in Hawaii, Damien became a traveling priest, setting up temporary altars and calling the faithful to Mass with a conch shell. Years later, another volunteer opportunity to serve the much-neglected leper colony on Molokai would change his life.
Arriving on Molokai on May 10, 1873, his eventual feast day, Damien faced his greatest challenge. The strict exile rules for the infected left the island lacking basic infrastructure. Damien immediately began overhauling the village and its inhabitants, building a church and community dwellings and establishing a clean water system, all while calling people to faith. He would advocate repeatedly for his community, serving as both pastor and physician. He demanded resources from his superiors, giving him a reputation for obstinacy. With limited resources, he chose to share equally among all in the colony, ignoring denominational differences in favor of humanity. Damien’s improvements to the island buoyed those infected and fostered a true connection, as they shared food, music, and faith. While it is undeniable that Father Damien enriched the lives of those he touched, in doing so, he also repeatedly exposed himself to the disease. He followed Christ’s example, ignoring quarantine protocol and eating from the same pot, even sharing the occasional pipe with his community.
Father Damien continued to treat the lepers of Molokai with decency and respect, living five years with leprosy before his passing in 1889. In the wake of his death, there was an immediate call for his sainthood, which wouldn’t come until over a century later in 2009. While his moral heroism was irrefutable, even to his detractors, some remained unconvinced of his holiness, an accusation that would be repeatedly disproven. In truth, Father Damien’s example teaches that there is joy to be found among hopelessness, and beauty to be found in misery. Through his sacrifice, Damien serves as a real-world example of how to embody Christlike characteristics. His eventual canonization would bring to Rome a cultural fusion of pilgrims, predominantly from Belgium and Hawai’i, continuing to build community around unlikely companions.
— Tori Proctor
Collect for Damien of Hawai'i
Bind up the wounds of your children, O God, and help us to be bold and loving in service to all who are shunned for the diseases they suffer, following the example of your servant Damien, that your grace may be poured forth upon all; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
52 comments on “Brother Roger of Taize vs. Damien of Hawai'i”
You're right. This was one impossible decision! Despite my love of Taize music ad the fact that I have friends who have spent time in the Taize community and sing its praises, I finally came down on the side of Father Damien. To love the unlovable, to care for the incurable, to become one of those in need of care takes courage. To do it all for the love of God and to carry out the mandate of Christ insuch a way is an eample of deep faith.
One should never try to type with arthritic fingers! Sorry again for my typos.
I honestly didn't notice. Your words were beautiful.
As was stated in the intro, an impossible choice. Since I had to choose Taize’ got my vote because I love the service. It requires I quiet my mind and focus which is good practice for anyone. Damien you also deserve the vote, just not today.
This was a tough choice. The Taize' community and it's principles, as well as the work during and after WWII decided for me. I also love the service and the chants.
I'm going to my first Taize tomorrow. I can't wait.
This was a hard one. Brother Roger stands for peace and unity. Damien spoke truth to power and knowingly made his life a sacrifice to God. Damien edges out Roger today
Today it's Brother Roger for me, no question.
Praying through the Taizé chants is the most powerful form of prayer I have ever encountered. For me, it is the deepest prayer of the heart and the deepest way to simply be in God's presence.
Nothing here in Brother Roger’s writeup about the Taize music and worship style beloved by many in this busy world??? And Damian has been in Lent Madness in the years that I’ve been participating in it. So I can’t vote yet. Maybe later in the day I can choose???
Damien was nominated in 2013 and 2019; in neither year did he advance to the second round.
This is such an impossible choice, whichever we choose forces us not to vote for the other. I'm going to have to go with Brother Roger, and his effort to re-establish the unity that our church should have, in a place where wars were fought over that schism.
Brother Roger of Taize gets my vote. Not because he was more saintly or because of inclusion of other faith traditions. Honestly it is because of his association with Mother Teresa…, I won’t go into those details. If truth be known Damian is the true saint in my opinion! To establish a community on a remote and undeveloped island- to serve all, lepers as loving as Christ loved is not remarkable…. It is acting as Jesus acted!! I do not know anyone off hand that would volunteer for that ministry. God bless him… I weep
Having had the privilege of worshipping in the Taizé community in Iona, my vote goes to Brother Roger. The aura of holiness that surround the community is life changing.
As an alumna of the University of Hawaii and a lover of Taize and all it stands for I am torn, but in this time of war, I have to go with Roger of Taize.
This was another hard choice, but Brother Roger got my vote. I went to Taize gatherings at the university of Dayton when he and others from Taize offered an international youth gathering. My family hosted 2 college students from Canada. It was amazing. He has had a lasting influence on the church and on my spiritual journey
Brother Roger created a community the embodies everything the world needs today, and was martyrd for it. The only place in the world where Roman Catholic Mass is offered to anyone of any faith, brothers from every denomination, with an Anglican prior leading them at the moment. A refuge for this fleeing the Nazis turned into a place for kids from all around the world. This one is easy!
Such a hard choice! I had to choose Brother Roger, because the music and peace of Taize worship have meant so much to me on my journey--along with the message of reconciliation and the focus on welcoming youth from around the world.
I suppose my initial decision to vote for Brother Taize was based on memories of beautiful Taize prayer services.
But, given the situation in the world today, I am casting my vote for Brother Taize - who saw people in need during Nazi oppression and risked his life to help. May we each have such vision and courage as events unfold today. And may we carry on his work for Ecumenism and peace.
Brother Roger of Taize!
This was a tough one for me, so I defaulted to the easy way out. I play piano for the chants in our monthly Taize service, so I voted for Brother Roger. I wouldn't be unhappy if Damien wins, though.
This is my 14th or 15th year of Lent Madness. I continue to love finding out more about different saintly figures, beyond what is provided in the excellent “For all the Saints” book. I’m changing my approach to voting. Picking between saints based on their merits is just too difficult, especially in the early rounds. So I’m voting based on ”who do I want to learn more about?” That way I can tap into the skills and talents of our celebrity bloggers.
Taize has long been part of my experience of church. Simple songs to ground oneself alongside the great hymns of the faith. A Methodist music minister at a hymn workshop told us, “it is not theologically insignificant” that the angels sing. We can only process some things through music, not with the rational mind. We wake up every day now to some new atrocity; I have to remind myself, “yet we will sing alleluia into the grave.” I cast my vote for Brother Roger in memory of the sailors of the unarmed Iranian frigate the U.S. torpedoed and abandoned in contravention of the rules of engagement and of humanity. May choirs of angels welcome them to paradise.
Think Damien did more.
Just like Damien better.
Today’s vote was the hardest one so far! How do you choose between these two amazing saints?
A difficult choice but I vote for Brother Roger for his courage against Naziism and for the beautiful, reflective Taize service and music.
This was truly a tough choice. I saw the names and modestly went with Brother Roger in honor of my brother Roger who left this earth 32 years ago. But after reading I had to think and pray on it. I went with Roger in memory of my brother. I loved to read about his help with the war effort. Damian sorry, maybe next time.
I voted for Damien of Hawai'i (even though the image chosen to represent him is a little scary to me). Though I appreciate the work done by Brother Roger, this line about Damien solidified my vote for him: "With limited resources, he chose to share equally among all in the colony, ignoring denominational differences in favor of humanity."
Vote for Roger
Deciding between these 2 saints feels unfair and unkind. Either is worthy of the Golden Halo!
These two men--Brother Roger and Damien-should both be co winners this year. They gave it their all--literally. I am partial to Damien since I've read many books about his ministry, but Brother Roger and Damien are real saints, practicing the love of Christ in "down and dirty circumstances" Wow!
Our Priest is currently in Hawaii doing God's work. So I have to vote for Damien.
The music of Taize, and Taize style worship, have brought so much meaning to me, I have to vote for Brother Roger today. But I expect Damien to win, and won't argue if he does. These are two of the best, a shame they come up against each other in the first round.
I love the music of Taize and have great respect for Brother Roger. However, the first line of the Nominationtide rules reads:
"The nominee must be on the official calendar of saintly commemorations of some church."
The blog states that Roger is not on an official calendar.
How does he qualify?
The blog states that he is included in Episcopal/Anglican calendars on Aug. 16, the day of his martyrdom.
I never look at the results before I vote. Father Damien has been in Lent Madness several times before, and I'm sure he has a faithful following. I did, in fact, expect him to be ahead. But I voted for Brother Roger. I have heard of Taizé, and even had the opportunity to attend an evening service once; but I had no idea of its history or of the impressive life and tragic death of Brother Roger. I would, however, like to compliment Tori Proctor for spelling Hawai'i correctly.