The Labyrinth
Lenten focus: the labyrinth
Several offerings at St. Stephen’s Church this Lent are focused on the labyrinth. What is a labyrinth?
Veriditas is a non-profit organization founded by the Rev. Lauren Artress, an Episcopal priest, that teaches about the labyrinth. Their website describes the labyrinth as “a walking meditation, a path of prayer and an archetypal blueprint where psyche meets Spirit. It has only one path that leads from the outer edge in a circuitous way to the center. There are no tricks to it and no dead ends. Unlike a maze where you lose your way, the labyrinth is a spiritual tool that can help you find your way.”
While labyrinths have ancient origins in varied cultures, interest in labyrinths and their use in spiritual practice had a resurgence in the late 20th century. Famous labyrinths are found at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and Chartres Cathedral in France. There is a labyrinth at Shrine Mont, our diocesan camp and conference center, near the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration. Like other structures at Shrine Mont, this labyrinth was constructed with stones.
At St. Stephen’s Church, we will hold a concert of “Music for the Labyrinth,” a Sunday Forum presentation, and an opportunity to walk the labyrinth during the week of March 23. These are described below.
You can learn more about the practice of walking the labyrinth from Lauren Artress’s book Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice, or visiting the Veriditas website.
Photo: Chartres Cathedral
March 23 at 10:10 a.m. in the Sunday Forum
Praying with Labyrinths
The Rev. John Jenkins, associate rector, and the Rev. Craig Kocher, Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life at The University of Richmond, will introduce and reflect on the practice of praying by walking/tracing labyrinths, including outdoor labyrinths in Richmond and the new St. Stephen’s indoor labyrinth. Brent te Velde will discuss the Compline choir’s Lenten concert inspired by the inward/outward motions of the labyrinth.
This Sunday Forum session is part of a three-part series called “Journey Inward, Journey Outward.” Read more about this series here.
Photo: the labyrinth at Shrine Mont
March 24-28
Walking the labyrinth in Palmer Hall Chapel
From Monday, March 24, through Friday, March 28, a labyrinth will be installed in Palmer Hall Chapel for those who wish to walk this ancient path. The labyrinth will be available during regular office hours, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. A one-sheet about the practice of walking the labyrinth will be available in Palmer Hall during this time, and is also available for download here.
When you come to Palmer Hall, prepare before you begin walking the labyrinth: consider what you bring to the labyrinth, what questions you might pose to yourself or to God while walking, or what challenges in life you be seeking clarity for as you walk the labyrinth. If someone else is walking when you arrive, it’s fine for you to walk at the same time. Simply give others space and grace to walk at their own pace.
Photo: Labyrinth in Palmer Hall Chapel
Wednesday, March 26 at 7 p.m.
Music for the Labyrinth
Sanctuary, our Compline Choir, will offer a concert inspired by the meditative practice of walking the labyrinth. This ancient practice has found new vitality in the 20th and 21st centuries as the labyrinth’s power for channeling self-awareness, finding peace, engendering gratitude, stimulating creative energy, and processing grief and trauma has changed countless lives.
The program will reflect the three-part experience of walking the labyrinth: the release and spiritual trust of walking into the labyrinth; receiving of the gifts of the labyrinth at its center; and the return to the world as one leaves the labyrinth. Portions of the program will be accompanied by flutist Amy Blake and sound bath musician Jim Morgan.
The choir will sing music by Johannes Brahms, Hildegard von Bingen, Kerensa Briggs, Damon Daldridge, David Hurd, Michael McGlynn, Claudio Monteverdi, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Eric Whitacre. Tickets are available online.
Photo: the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco