July 13, 2010
I went to Sisters of Providence at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in West Terre Haute, Indiana to meet with the Director Brother Barry Donaghue. Brother Barry is a trained and certified labyrinth facilitator who possesses and displays his love and dedication to the Catholic church, labyrinths, and poetry. I was fortunate enough to share and receive his knowledge, passion, and experience of labyrinths. With the assistance from the community he built an outdoor Chartres replica labyrinth on the grounds. He started with a canvas labyrinth that they still use indoors at Providence Center. He presented an incredible presentation of the history, meaning, and uses of labyrinths. I especially enjoyed his infusion of poetry throughout his presentation and discussion.
According to Brother Barry, walking the labyrinth, or otherwise a moving meditation allows one to present oneself, get rid of egos, and get in touch with humanity. The whole idea of journey is basic to humanity.
The longest journey is the journey inwards. Of him who has chosen his destiny, Who has started upon his quest for the source of his being. (Dag Hammarskjold)
Call the world if you Please "The Vale of Soul- making"by John Keats shows us that the soul takes onboard everything and creates psychic space in which we grow. A sacred space- a thin place in where we are drawn to place where the veil between this world and the other world is encountered. When one is in a 'Thin Place' one can feel the powerful energy and know that there is more than the world that our five senses knows. The labyrinth is a tool and a good place to do soul work.
Celtic saying, 'Heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller.'
The labyrinth walk overflows with metaphor and meaning. All over the world, people are searching for ways to express their deep desire to be on a journey to oneness with the holy of holies — to experience, if only for an instant, that transcendent moment. Walking labyrinths is a metaphor of going on a journey. It is to intentionally choose to be on a spiritual path. The call is to be on the move, trusting in the journey, open to seeing things in new ways. When one takes that first step in the labyrinth, one opens to the possibility of encountering the holy of holies on the path. The labyrinth walk is truly an inward journey and an outward sign of your willingness to be present to the holy. Expect to encounter the holy on this path with sure and certain knowledge, reaching and experiencing the center, home.
We humans quest for God and for self-knowledge. We, too, want to experience the holy moment, the presence of the holy. WE KNOW THIS: We cannot discover anything unless we look; we cannot move forward while standing still.
Adapted from “Labyrinths from the Outside In,” Schaper, Camp; Skylight Publishers, VT
Saint Mother Theodore Guerin was the foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Born in 1798 in the village of Etables-sur-Mer in Brittany, France, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin led an extraordinary life. She died on May 14, 1856, at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. She was declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 2006. shrine honoring Saint Mother Theodore Guerin is located at the front of the Church of the Immaculate Conception where Mother Theodore's remains reside.
I went to Sisters of Providence at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in West Terre Haute, Indiana to meet with the Director Brother Barry Donaghue. Brother Barry is a trained and certified labyrinth facilitator who possesses and displays his love and dedication to the Catholic church, labyrinths, and poetry. I was fortunate enough to share and receive his knowledge, passion, and experience of labyrinths. With the assistance from the community he built an outdoor Chartres replica labyrinth on the grounds. He started with a canvas labyrinth that they still use indoors at Providence Center. He presented an incredible presentation of the history, meaning, and uses of labyrinths. I especially enjoyed his infusion of poetry throughout his presentation and discussion.
According to Brother Barry, walking the labyrinth, or otherwise a moving meditation allows one to present oneself, get rid of egos, and get in touch with humanity. The whole idea of journey is basic to humanity.
The longest journey is the journey inwards. Of him who has chosen his destiny, Who has started upon his quest for the source of his being. (Dag Hammarskjold)
Call the world if you Please "The Vale of Soul- making"by John Keats shows us that the soul takes onboard everything and creates psychic space in which we grow. A sacred space- a thin place in where we are drawn to place where the veil between this world and the other world is encountered. When one is in a 'Thin Place' one can feel the powerful energy and know that there is more than the world that our five senses knows. The labyrinth is a tool and a good place to do soul work.
Celtic saying, 'Heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller.'
The labyrinth walk overflows with metaphor and meaning. All over the world, people are searching for ways to express their deep desire to be on a journey to oneness with the holy of holies — to experience, if only for an instant, that transcendent moment. Walking labyrinths is a metaphor of going on a journey. It is to intentionally choose to be on a spiritual path. The call is to be on the move, trusting in the journey, open to seeing things in new ways. When one takes that first step in the labyrinth, one opens to the possibility of encountering the holy of holies on the path. The labyrinth walk is truly an inward journey and an outward sign of your willingness to be present to the holy. Expect to encounter the holy on this path with sure and certain knowledge, reaching and experiencing the center, home.
We humans quest for God and for self-knowledge. We, too, want to experience the holy moment, the presence of the holy. WE KNOW THIS: We cannot discover anything unless we look; we cannot move forward while standing still.
Adapted from “Labyrinths from the Outside In,” Schaper, Camp; Skylight Publishers, VT
Saint Mother Theodore Guerin was the foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Born in 1798 in the village of Etables-sur-Mer in Brittany, France, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin led an extraordinary life. She died on May 14, 1856, at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. She was declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 2006. shrine honoring Saint Mother Theodore Guerin is located at the front of the Church of the Immaculate Conception where Mother Theodore's remains reside.
