Labyrinth: Is there a real Catholic basis?

[Seitz]

I know about the labyrinth patterns in European Cathedrals. I have not been able to find any evidence that they were used when the Cathedrals were built as they are used today. Are there surviving prayers, writings, etc. instructing on there use?

Second, and more importantly, is there any official guidance from the Church as to the modern interpretation of this patter/practice? Has the Holy Father (or any Holy Father) offered guidance?

My high school religious education is thinking of adding a class for the kids on this in the fall. I have been unable to find concrete evidence of Christ centered meditation (as we find in the Rosary, for instance) in the labyrinth movement.

 

[Marie]

From the Catholic Encyclopedia–

Labyrinth is a complicated arrangement of paths and passages; or a place, usually subterraneous, full of windings, corridors, rooms, etc., so intricately arranged as to render the getting out of it a very difficult matter.

While the labyrinth can be traced to Catholic cathedrals of the Middle Ages, it was deemed superstitious centuries ago. In the European cathedrals they were used traditionally as a site of pilgrimage. There were 22 Labyrinths in the 80 Gothic cathedrals that went up during the Middle Ages in Europe. Chartres was one of the major pilgrimage cathedrals. Early Christians took a vow to visit the Holy City of Jerusalem at some point in their lives. During the middle ages the Crusades made travel to Palestine unsafe, so they used other means to honor their commitment. Labyrinths were used as a substitute pilgrimage experience for the holy land. The Roman Catholic Church Labyrinths were offered to the congregation as a way of fulfilling their vow to visit the holy land. Christians using it as a symbol instead made their pilgrimages to the cathedral cities of Chartres, Rheims or Amiens. “With an emphasis on rationalism in the 16th and 17th centuries, however, labyrinths fell out of favor and were looked upon as superstitious distractions. As a result, most were torn out of the cathedrals. Chartres’ survived, but for a time was covered with chairs so that it could not be walked on.

New Ager’s and those mystically inclined are especially attracted to this kind of subjective experience. One said to ask your deity of choice, or your higher self to walk with you. Some go as far as to say that self realization can occur, where you discover the divine that is within us all, bridging the separation of us from our own truth, from the Creator.

While the church does not speak directly of this movement, by it’s very elements of invalidating the Truth of Christ and Holy Mother Church, it should not be used by Catholics. The modern version is purely New Age.

DECLARATION “DOMINUS IESUS”

 

[GrahamAPhone]

Just as the rosary, its just a tool, its not about the labyrinth, its just a visual aid to assist one in meditating in God.