Labyrinth Garden

Our labyrinth welcomes you on your way, your inner path and is an example of other labyrinths.

Labyrinths are one of the oldest contemplative and transformative tools known to humankind.

Modeled after the labyrinth in the great Chartres Cathedral in France, situated before the altar since the 13th Century, some walk there… others walk here on their way to our Chapel seeking healing and reconciliation as a way of opening to all the mysteries of life.

In the center of our labyrinth is a “rose cross” which reaches out north, south, east and west, formed in concrete with stones from Assisi, LaVerna and Spello, Italy; places where St. Francis, St. Clare and other Franciscans walked. Stones are also here from the California coast, the Atlantic shore, deserts of the Middle East, and the pyramids of Egypt.

Under the rose cross in the center of the labyrinth, the names of friends, family and benefactors of Mt. Irenaeus, living and deceased, are placed in grateful memory.

We walk here remembering them, and all of the world, in our longing for peace. We walk in the ancient Hebrew notion of the “Holy Memory” and “shalom;” all who are remembered are present to us now in the fullness of life.

As we walk here, we pray and give thanks.