Saint Agnes introduces new Healing Labyrinth

For more information, contact:


Malissa I. Rose


(559) 450-5317(office); (559) 779-6015 (cell)


Malissa.Rose@samc.com

Saint Agnes Medical Center is pleased to introduce the newest addition to its campus – the Healing


Labyrinth – A Place of Peace and Serenity.

The labyrinth, located at the top of the Medical Center's front lawn, is designed to complement the Saint Agnes' mission of healing body, mind and spirit by providing a place to inspire prayer, contemplation and inner healing.

Traditionally found in sacred places or cathedrals, hospitals nationwide have built labyrinths to promote walking meditation. Coupled with technological advances to promote outer healing, walking a labyrinth promotes inner healing. Although it may look like a puzzle easy to solve from the outside, the religious and spiritual benefits are numerous if you take the time to appreciate the path to the center.

“Walking a labyrinth is a special exercise to quiet and center ourselves and allows time for contemplation and prayer,” says Sister Emily Demuth, CSC, of Saint Agnes Medical Center. “We are delighted to have a beautiful sacred place where our patients, visitors, colleagues and physicians can meditate or take a spiritual walk to find serenity and peace.”

Unlike mazes, labyrinths have no tricks, turns, obstacles or dead ends. With only one route to the center and back out again, they gently guide walkers, allowing them to enter a meditative state in which their focus is simply on placing one foot in front of the other. With an assured final destination, walkers can free their mind, pay attention to their body's movement, listen to their heart, and be still in being rather than doing.

In accordance to the culturally-diverse community Saint Agnes serves, people representing various cultures, traditions or religions can benefit from the Healing Labyrinth. As an ecumenical, interfaith environment, Sister Demuth says the labyrinth can be used simply for meditation or within a number of traditional religious formats.

In addition, the Healing Labyrinth will be lit up at night so patients can see it from their windows, and eventually a fountain will be added to further promote healing. Julio Hallack of Concrete Innovations by Hallack in Turlock, Calif., designed the labyrinth which is modeled after the Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral, the largest of its kind in France, built in the early 13^th century.

For more information about the Healing Labyrinth, including how to use it, visit www.samc.com/healing-labyrinth.