Pilgrimage has been an important feature of our tradition since the days of the Old Testament writers. In Ancient Judaism, people would travel to the temple in Jerusalem for important feasts and celebrations. We see references to this pilgrimage throughout the Old Testament, and in the Gospel of Luke we hear that Jesus himself made this pilgrimage with his parents while growing up. Pilgrimage became an important part of Christianity soon after Christ’s death and resurrection with Christians traveling to Jerusalem to visit the holy sites of Jesus’ life and crucifixion. Later in the Middle Ages Christians began making pilgrimages to Rome and to shrines of saints throughout Europe. To this day, pilgrimage is still a very important part of the Christian tradition.

During the medieval period, some Christians were unable to make pilgrimages for various reasons. Recognizing that it was the journey of the pilgrimage that brought spiritual transformation as much as the actual destination traveled to, Christians found ways to simulate the transformative journey of the pilgrimage without having to actually travel. To do so, Christians commonly used labyrinths. A labyrinth looks similar to a maze, but it differs in that it only has one path. There are no decisions to make about which direction to go, and there is no way of getting lost. The path of the labyrinth reflects one’s own spiritual journey and path through life. Across Europe we can still see labyrinths on the floors of various cathedrals. Labyrinths long predate Christianity, but they were incorporated into Christian use early in the history of Christianity. They have been used in many different ways, and scholars are not entirely sure why they were first incorporated into Christian use or how they were first used. It is clear, however, that one use was as a substitute for pilgrimage.

Today we will walk our own pilgrimage through the labyrinth, trusting in the path before us with hearts open to the transformative power of this spiritual journey.