iPray: Walking the Labyrinth

The description of this event at the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's web site begins with an appeal to authority.

"In his book The Way of Prayer, Pope John Paul II indicates that people sometimes say they don't know how to pray. ["]How to pray? This is a simple matter. I would say: 'Pray any way you like, so long as you do pray' You can pray the way your mother taught you; you can use a prayer book. Sometimes it takes courage to pray; but it is possible to pray, and necessary to pray. Whether from memory or from a book or just in through, it is all the same."

That should, I suspect, read "just in thought" rather than "just in through." This "iPray" event makes more sense with the typo.

The labyrinth is a path of prayer for all people seeking the divine, regardless of the tradition in which one stands. The winding path leading to the center, based on a labyrinth laid in the floor of Chartes [sic] Cathedral around 1220, serves as a mirror to reflect the movement of the Spirit in our lives. The labyrinth has only one path so there are no tricks to it and no dead ends. Walking the path with an open mind and an open heart touches our sorrows and releases our joys.

This leaves the impression that the use and purpose of the labyrinth in this event is grounded in its use and purpose at Chartres. That's not the history as told even by a labyrinth advocate.

In the past it could be walked as a pilgrimage and/or for repentance. As a pilgrimage it was a questing, searching journey with the hope of becoming closer to God. When used for repentance the pilgrims would walk on their knees. Sometimes this eleven-circuit labyrinth would serve as a substitute for an actual pilgrimage to Jerusalem and as a result came to be called the "Chemin de Jerusalem" or Road of Jerusalem.

For more on the "iPray" series, see this earlier post.