Grace Cathedral has two labyrinths. The outdoor labyrinth is made of terrazzo stone and is located to the right of the cathedral doors. This labyrinth is open 24 hours daily for walking.
Grace Cathedral Labyrinths
The indoor labyrinth is open during cathedral hours, which are normally 7:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday – Friday, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm Saturday, and 7:00 am to 7:00 pm on Sunday, when no special events or services are being held (weddings, funerals, concerts, Sunday Eucharist, etc.). On cathedral holidays, hours are 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The cathedral also schedules events where the labyrinth is covered with chairs.
Grace Cathedral Landing
The indoor labyrinth at Grace Cathedral
The Labyrinth is an archetype, a divine imprint, found in all religious traditions in various forms around the world. By walking a replica of the Chartres labyrinth, laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France around 1220, we are rediscovering a long-forgotten mystical tradition that is insisting to be reborn.
The labyrinth has only one path so there are no tricks to it and no dead ends. The path winds throughout and becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives. It touches our sorrows and releases our joys. Walk it with an open mind and an open heart.
Grace Cathedral outdoor labyrinth
”’Holy Week and Easter Services”’
Friday, April 3 6:00 pm – The Stations of the Cross
As Lent draws to a close, we pray these fourteen walking meditations: a popular devotion imported by pilgrims returning from Jerusalem during the middle ages. They are drawn from the practice of Christians in the Holy City symbolically retracing the steps of Jesus – from his condemnation to death, carrying his cross through the city streets and to the hill of Calvary, where he was executed by the Roman authorities by means of crucifixion, then laid in borrowed tomb by his faithful followers.
Holy Week
Holy Week, the solemn commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus, begins this year in most Western (i.e., non-Orthodox) Christian churches on April 5, 2009, with the Sunday of the Passion, commonly known as Palm Sunday. The worship services during Holy Week are rich in evocative symbolism and ritual, having roots in the celebrations of the Palestinian Christian communities in Jerusalem.
Palm Sunday, April 5
8:30 am – Choral Eucharist
11:00 am – Choral Eucharist
3:00 pm – Organ Meditation for Palm Sunday
6:00 pm – Contemplative Eucharist
At Grace Cathedral, Palm Sunday is visually and dramatically striking, with red vestments, palm branches, processions, and a dramatic retelling Jesus’ trial and crucifixion.
Monday, April 6
9:00 am – Morning Prayer
12:10 pm – Holy Eucharist
5:15 pm – Evening Prayer
Tuesday, April 7
9:00 am – Morning Prayer
12:10 pm – Holy Eucharist (Clergy Renewal of Ordination Vows)
5:15 pm – Evening Prayer
Wednesday, April 8
9:00 am – Morning Prayer
12:10 pm – Holy Eucharist
6:00 pm – The Office of Tenebrae
Based on the monastic prayer service of “vigils” or “readings,” Tenebrae is a simple yet powerful Scriptural and musical meditation on the Passion. Employing psalms and chants, this meditative service, like the monastic choir services, focuses on the darkness of the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Candles are extinguished one at a time during the solemn service until the church is shrouded in darkness.
Triduum: The Great Three Days
The Great Three Days (Triduum) begin Maundy Thursday and conclude with the Easter Vigil on Saturday night.
Maundy Thursday, April 9
7:30 am – Morning Prayer
9:00 am – Morning Prayer
12:10 pm – Noonday Prayer
6:00 pm – Solemn Liturgy of Maundy Thursday
Evening Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper, including the Rite of Footwashing and Solemn Transfer of the Eucharist to the Altar of Repose; with optional quiet prayer and vigil until 10:00 pm.
At 6 pm worshipers gather in the cathedral church for the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, hearing the bible stories of the Passover meal and of the Last Supper which Jesus shared with his disciples. At that meal, Jesus shocked his followers by acting out the role of the servant, kneeling down to wash their feet, an action re-created as clergy and worshipers wash one another’s feet. The Holy Communion service continues, concluding with a solemn procession of any remaining Sacrament to the “altar of repose” for use at tomorrow’s service. This movement also commemorates Jesus going to the Garden of Gethsemane for prayer on the night before his death. The service ends with the “stripping of the altars” – removing many of the furnishings from the Cathedral to prepare for the stark services of Good Friday – and quiet reflection “in the garden of Gethsemane” before the reserved Sacrament at the Altar of Repose.
10:00 pm – Compline (Night Prayer)
Good Friday, April 10
9:00 am – Morning Prayer
12:00 noon to 3:00 pm – Confessions heard in the cathedral
3:00 pm – Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday
Among the oldest Christian liturgies, our Good Friday celebration includes the Passion according to John, the Solemn Collects, the Veneration of the Cross, and Communion from Maundy Thursday’s reserved Sacrament.
6:00 pm – Grace After Hours on the Labyrinth
Holy Saturday, April 11
8:00 pm – The Great Vigil
The less well-known but actually primary and most ancient Easter service is the Great Vigil. The service begins entirely in darkness and illumined by the kindling of the new fire, the lighting of the giant Easter candle, and candles for the worshipers. After the chanting of the Easter proclamation (the Exsultet), vigil is kept with the reading of the ancient stories of Creation, the Flood and the Exodus, and prophecies pertaining to new life and resurrection. Water is blessed and adults who have been prepared are baptized in accord with ancient practice. Then the restraint of the vigil gives way to Easter joy and brilliance with the sound of brass and the first Holy Eucharist of Easter is celebrated with triumphal splendor.
Easter Day, April 12
8:30 am – Choral Eucharist and Baptisms
11:00 am – Choral Eucharist with brass and tympani
6:00 pm – Contemplative Eucharist
Holy Baptism and Eucharist is celebrated with a full congregation in the Nave of the cathedral at 8:30 am, with many infants and children brought to baptism by their families. At 11:00 am, a crowded cathedral continues its Easter celebration with another joyful Holy Eucharist. The day concludes with Contemplative Eucharist.
Where
Grace Cathedral
When
Friday, April 3, 2009 – Sunday, April 12, 2009