Keep walking

Christian Century, April 5, 2005

KEEP WALKING: Many churches have incorporated e labyrinth into Lenten and Easter rituals. Labyrinths are pathways painted on canvas (for portability); stained on floors; set in stone, terrazzo or brick; or mulched in grass. The designs follow the patterns of what is considered sacred geometry. The most popular form resembles the circular Chartes Cathedral labyrinth in France, built in 1201.

"Ancient tradition in the French Gothic Cathedrals at Easter was for clergy to walk the labyrinth singing hymns and tossing a golden ball back and forth in the name of the risen Christ," according to Lauren Artress, head of Veriditas, the World Wide Labyrinth Project. Through the ages, churches have used the labyrinth as a pilgrimage walk when the journey to the Holy Land was too dangerous to make. Many contemporary labyrinth trekkers say they are more comfortable with a physical walk than with sitting in church pews (RNS, March 16).