Friday, October 07, 2005
TAIZE
This retreat center has been in the news since Bro. Roger died. It has captured Catholic attention because there were questions about the distribution of communion which George Weigel tried to answer by referring to the Antidoron.
Taize has Benedict's approval.
A sampling of Taize chant can be heard here. It sounds like pre-Vatican II Catholicism. George Weigel indicated in his recent article on Taize that "Since the 1970s, all eucharistic celebrations at the Church of the Reconciliation at Taize are Catholic liturgies, presided over by priests or bishops."
Why, then, is the Enneagram often presented by organizations that also offer Taize prayer? How has the spirituality of Gnosticism gotten intertwined with the spirituality of Catholicism?
The Enneagram was created by Russian occultist G. I. Gurdjieff. It has been labeled divination. Fr. Mitch Pacwa, in an article titled "Tell Me Who I Am, O Enneagram", explains:
Gurdjieff relates that while in Afghanistan, around 1897, a dervish (a type of Muslim mystic or Sufi) introduced him to an old man of the Sarmouni sect he had been searching for. As the story goes, this man arranged for an expedition to take Gurdjieff to the Sarmouni monastery in central Turkestan, where he learned their mystical dancing, psychic powers, and the enneagram. For the Sarmounis the enneagram was important as a means of divination to foretell future events as well as a tool to represent life processes, such as personal transformation.[3] They also used it as a symbol of the conscious and unconscious states in human beings.[4] These uses would become part of Gurdjieff's spiritual teaching when he founded his own school for attaining enlightenment.
The Vatican Document on New Age titled "Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life" places the enneagram into the category of Gnosticism:
Gnosticism never completely abandoned the realm of Christianity. Instead, it has always existed side by side with Christianity, sometimes taking the shape of a philosophical movement, but more often assuming the characteristics of a religion or a para-religion in distinct, if not declared, conflict with all that is essentially Christian”.(6) An example of this can be seen in the enneagram, the nine-type tool for character analysis, which when used as a means of spiritual growth introduces an ambiguity in the doctrine and the life of the Christian faith.
Some examples of the Taize-Enneagram mix:
At the Mother of God Monastery the Benedictines hold a Taize Prayer Service on the third Saturday of each month. They also offer retreats. One of the "personal growth workshops" which are "optional, but recommended" is the Enneagram.
Among the spirituality resources listed on a Churches of Christ Conference Center website is the Wellspring Centre.
Wellspring also runs retreats, prayer days, workshops and meditations on a variety of subjects. Examples of the workshops are: Dreams, Enneagram, Taize worship services, Interfaith dialogue and Art and Spirituality.
The Bethlehem Retreat Centre offers a Taize service on Wednesdays. Their retreat schedule for 2005-2006 includes the November program titled "Enneagram Wisdom Through Story Telling" which is being taught by Mary Ann Gisler OSB.
The calendar of the Diocese of Oakland, CA lists a "Taize Prayer Around the Cross"an ecumenical candlelight retreat. It also lists a "Growing Spiritually: A Beginning Enneagram Workshop" on January 24.
That's just a sample of what I mean. There are many more examples. How has Gnostic Christianity insinuated itself into Catholic spirituality? And a companion question, is the Taize service closer to Catholicism or to Gnostic Christianity? Or is it that the New Springtime combines both?
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
