In this cold season, I’m seeking warmth from memories of sunnier trips. When I was 19, I spent three weeks in July with the Taizé community in the Burgundy region of France. My time was spent roasting in a little tent, gradually relinquishing cleanliness for the sake of Godliness, fitting myself in with the simple rhythm of work, prayer and fellowship. As a solo traveller, I had been nervous about being lonely, but my English reticence was overcome by the friendliness of others. Among these was an American priest with a booming laugh who anointed himself with scented oil every day to remind him of his sacred calling; a young Polish woman who shared her coffee with me when I was unwell, who had come on pilgrimage to discern whether God was calling her to be a doctor or a nun; and two Irish sisters who were so bursting with life and mischief that they could hardly be contained during the long periods of silence which form a part of every time of communal prayer.

The community of Taizé was founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schütz. Himself a Protestant, he founded the community as a place for ecumenism, and more than 100 brothers, both Catholic and Protestant, now live together following a simple rule of life. It has become a particular centre of pilgrimage for young people, especially in the summer. They have so many visitors that the Church of Reconciliation, their church building, has had to be expanded several times. It is now so big that the local airbase uses it as a navigation landmark on their training flights. At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says that ‘a city built on a hill cannot be hidden’; nor can a sprawling church built to accommodate 5000 people.

When I went to Taizé, I thought I was going on my own, but very soon I found that was not the case. The amazing people I encountered there taught me that I was far from alone, which gave me courage to explore my faith. They were the salt and light that Jesus speaks about in that same passage, lending interest and illumination to my life, and inspiring me to take that out into the world.