The Oratory Labyrinth Prayer Garden

The Labyrinth Prayer Garden on the grounds of the Rock Hill Oratory is open to all faiths and all seeking to walk this prayer experience. Labyrinth prayer touches many parts of our lives and faith communities. We welcome all whose prayer and sense of God make this a sacred place.

Labyrinth Design: People of faith have been building and walking the Labyrinth experience for thousands of years on most continents. Although there are many variations in form and materials, the Labyrinth in the Oratory garden is a rounded, classical pattern of seven concentric circles in a single path 18 inches wide and covered with white stone. According to Robert Ferre, master labyrinth maker, a labyrinth has definite characteristics, distinct from a maze:

1. A continuous perimeter enclosing the design

2. Only one entrance and one center connected by one path.

3. A single path with no intersections or choices.

4. Circling turns that create a back-and-forth pendulum-like motion.

In some cultures, the circling pathway simulates the movement of planets in the solar system. The spiritual journey is the main focus of the Labyrinth experience. Walking and resting simulate the believer's movement through life. In Medieval times, Christians who wanted to journey to the Holy Land would approximate that pilgrimage in a local labyrinth walk and with Bible stories as a guide. Some believers pray the labyrinth journey to become clear on the direction for life and walk with a prayer phrase such as the mantra, "Show me the way, I will follow." This may lead to surrendering and allowing the Spirit to lead the way. Many labyrinth instructors recommend the traditional three-step method of the early Middle Ages: purgation, illumination, and union. Purgation is the journey to the center in which we let go of tensions, barriers, and spiritual blocks. At the center, meditiation, full communication with the divine, brings illumination and insight. Finally, union is the application and the living of the spiritual light as we return to everyday life. The labyrinth journey is open to many meanings in our life with God. It is one prayer path with and to God.