Merciful Love Labyrinth
The Merciful Love Labyrinth was constructed in the spring of 2001. Just as the Chapel builders had done in the 1930s to provide rocks for the Shrine Chapel, Stations of the Cross, and other building foundations as a labor of love, volunteers of all ages carried stones from the nearby beach to construct the labyrinth.
The Shrine’s Merciful Love labyrinth, laid out in patterns of concentric rings similar to the labyrinth found at Chartres, France, provides individuals of all faiths an opportunity to enter a sacred spiritual experience. Some people equate the labyrinth with a maze, but they are quite different. Labyrinths, symbols of the single path to the holy center, have no confusing dead ends or false pathways; mazes, however, have many paths purposely designed to confuse and dupe the person navigating them.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux, our Shrine patron saint, learned the truth of God’s “merciful love” for his creation. She knew this merciful love from God was an invitation to allow the love of God to flow through her into the lives of others.
"Labyrinths are part of the mystical tradition which looks for a direct connection to the Divine. It is a part of the 'kinetic knowing' of praying through moving the body…In a time when many people are seeking ways to integrate psychology with spirituality, the labyrinth creates a safe, open space where the inner and outer meet and become one… Labyrinths are symbols of the path to the sacred center and a metaphor for the human journey of life."
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Volunteers, the Backbone of the Shrine!
From the beach stones gathered that make up the walls of the Shrine Chapel to the plants that grace the Marian and Biblical Gardens, all are the work of volunteers giving their time for the greater glory of God. Are you being called to this work?