Invitation to Walk the Labyrinth’s Path

Last year, one woman did a slow graceful dance through it. Others quietly walked through the labyrinth at St. Clement’s By The Sea Episcopal Church in San Clemente, reading or saying the rosary. Still others quietly reflected on recent problems or joys.

Walking a labyrinth is an ancient form of meditative prayer that involves moving through a series of circular pathways leading to a center. Unlike a confusing maze--designed with false turns and trickery--labyrinths, dating from 1800 B.C. Egypt, instead offer only one route.

“It’s a metaphor for a spiritual journey or one’s journey through life,” said Tom Murdock, a lay minister from Hermosa Beach’s St. Cross By the Sea Episcopal Church, which loans the 40-by-40 foot canvas labyrinth to organizations and churches throughout the region.

The public is invited to walk the labyrinth--a replica of one from France’s Chartres Cathedral--at St. Clement’s today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 202 Aragon. Recorded information: (949) 492-3401.

After today, the labyrinth will return to its home base of St. Cross, 1818 Monterey Ave. in Hermosa Beach, where it will be on display July 4. It then will travel to St. George’s Episcopal Church in Riverside July 18 and the Episcopal Cathedral of Los Angeles in Echo Park on Sept. 9.

Information (310) 376-6616.