CHURCH LABYRINTH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 June 1938, Page 9

CHURCH LABYRINTH

PROVISION FOR PENITENTS. There are still a number of labyrinths in French churches. They are not, however, labyrinths in which one walks, but are designs worked in tiles in the flooring, and in ancient times penitents followed the tracery of the labyrinth on their knees, saying prayers as they made slow progress round and round the intricate pattern from entry to exit. One of these labyrinths can be seen in the side hall of the cathedral of Bayeux. It is formed of enamelled bricks, and its diameter is roughly 12 feet. The way is shown by square bricks of a dark tint, on which are patterns in yellow. Other bricks, entirely black, set cross-wise, separate the different parts of the labyrinth, while yellow bricks indicated to the kneeling pilgrim the points of juncture leading from one circle to another. . Chartres also has traces of a labyrinth which took a penitent on his knees one hour to cover. The Cathedral of Sens seems to have had one of the largest of these labyrinths, measuring no less than 30 feet in diameter, and two thousand steps had to be made by anyone following faithfully the complete tracing of the converging circles. The way is never direct, but doubles back and forth in regular convolutions.