St. Aloysius will host its annual Community Prayer Labyrinth April 11 from 8 to 9 at the school’s Balzli Field.

The senior class at St. Al helps put together the event each year, as the path of the labyrinth is outlined with luminaries and leads to a center with a cross and a space to pray and reflect.

The connection between labyrinths and Christianity dates back thousands of years. Because of the difficulties in traveling to Christianity’s holy lands, labyrinths started being built into cathedrals in Europe as churchgoers traveled its path in lieu of making a pilgrimage.

“It’s like a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but it really is representative of our pilgrimage to the center of God,” Joan Thorton, who sponsors the event, said.

The Labyrinth as it is today started back in 2014 and is usually held on the Wednesday of Holy Week each year, but inclement weather is pushing back the event to April 11. Attendance is free.

“We start off on the outside, we say a prayer asking God to be with you as you journey through it, and then you just start walking,” Thorton said.

The labyrinth is not like a maze with different twists and turns to confuse you. Instead, it’s just one path that leads to the center, and then you follow the same path to leave, according to Thorton.

“At some times, it might be harder because you might feel like you’re lost, and then of course that represents that sometimes we feel lost and we still have to hold strong to our faith and our belief, and know that God has got this and I’m going to figure my way to continue on and be strong enough to continue on our way to the journey,” Thorton said.

When the center is finally reached, it’s meant to be representative of being in the presence of God.

“So you stay in that center as long as you need to be there, and then when you’re ready to take Christ back out into the world, then you start journeying, and it’s the exact same path that you just walked in, and you walk it out, God’s got you the whole way,” Thorton said. “You just rest in that security, and knowing God’s got this, I’m going to follow his way. And you’ll get back out and take Christ out into the world.”

Thorton added the labyrinth is open for any members of the community to come by and participate in the walk, with candlelight and soothing music playing making for quite a calming experience. 

Throughout the night, the senior class does everything possible to make the labyrinth a positive experience for the participants.

“Certain members of the class do certain things to make it run smoothly,” Thorton said. “The kids are really responsible for making sure the event is going on as it should. It’s pretty healing for a lot of people who come through the prayer labyrinth.”