The prayer labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral

FOR the second year running Islanders are being invited to experience Jesus’ last week on earth through a hands-on journey at St Ouen’s Methodist Church.

From Monday a labyrinth will be set up at the church to guide people through the sights, smells and textures of Holy Week.

The church will be cleared of chairs and a special trail laid out which will include various points of interest, all designed to further people’s understanding of what Jesus went through in his final days.

Objects along the journey will include giant iron nails, heavy chains, palm leaves and newspapers and there will also be points for reflection and prayer along the way.
The Rev Christine Legge, minister at St Ouen’s, said that the journey would also help people to link their modern lives with what Jesus experienced.

‘It is an opportunity for people to journey through the story of Holy Week of Jesus’ last week on earth and the events that took place for him,’ she said. ‘It is also to make connections between what Jesus was going through and our own experience of life.

‘We held the event for the first time last year as part of our bicentenary celebrations and people found it really helpful and although we weren’t going to make it an annual event we had many people asking if we were going to do it again.’

Prayer labyrinths have been used all over the world for hundreds of years for prayer, ritual and spiritual growth and originated in Greek mythology with Egypt, Peru and India also using them. They were later adopted by Christians as a way of connecting with God in a higher spiritual way and many European cathedrals have them embedded into their floors.

The labyrinth at St Ouen’s Church will be launched at 6 pm on Monday and will be open to everyone daily between Tuesday and Thursday between 11 am and 7 pm.
Refreshments will also be available.

Meanwhile, St Ouen’s Church will be holding a special sunrise service on Easter Sunday to which everyone is invited. The service starts at 6 am at the picnic area on the loop road by Les Fontaines Tavern on Route du Nord, St John.