Funeral of Brother Roger  

Our departure from London was scheduled for 6 p.m. but it was still with a sense of slight disbelief that we caught the train from our hometown, Eastleigh... Were we really heading off to Taizé - to spend a grand total of eight hours there? The decision had been taken so quickly - the time between it and putting it into action so short - that there was an air of unreality hanging over us.

The journey from London to Victoria is very familiar - the change at Clapham Junction and then the walk up to Victoria Coach Station and the search for the Bay. Amidst the destinations from Aberdare to Weymouth, there, on the holiday display, we spotted Taizé - departing from Bay 3.

We arrived to find a fair few people had already arrived. A glance round showed that this was indeed a queue of people heading for Taizé: a prayer stool; the distinctive dove-cross and other medallions; the quiet passing round of newspaper cuttings with photographs and headlines speaking of the killing of Br Roger.

The weather was not conducive for a long journey - dull and drizzly but we hoped for improvement for the day ahead.

In the short time between Br Roger's death and the funeral, Nuneaton Coaches had managed to organise and fill two coaches - one of them, the double-decker (no longer proudly purple, but navy blue) that regularly takes visitors to Taizé during the summer. We, however, were in Coach 2 which was single-decker and, we have to admit, rather cramped. We found seats right at the back and, as Catherine pointed out, it was really useful that Kathryn doesn't need a lot of space!

The journey through London was very stop and start as we caught the end of the London rush-hour but once on the motorway, we made great progress to Dover. Sandwiches and a glass of wine on the boat and we were ready to tackle the long run down to Taizé. Plans to while some time away reading came unstuck when our personal lights didn't work so, after a stop at Sommesous services, we faced the challenge of getting some sleep on the coach. Anyone who has done this will know exactly what we mean when we describe the 3 min 46.5 seconds for which one position is just about comfortable when you have to then negotiate a way to move into another one - for the next 3 minutes... Eventually, of course, weariness kicks in and snatches of sleep become possible - the rest of the time offering opportunities - well, for one thing rehearsing this and the article for the Tablet - but also time to pray for the day ahead and for the many calls for prayer from home.

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