Cathedral IOM is looking forward to the official opening of the Labyrinth within the cathedral gardens on Mothering Sunday 26th March.
The Labyrinth is an exact replica of the one at Chartres Cathedral, which is one of the finest medieval cathedral labyrinths in France. It is a rare example of a religious labyrinth, which is not a ‘puzzle’ maze intended to get the visitor lost, but rather symbolises the path to God and religious enlightenment.
The labyrinth was created in Bali by Ongki Wijana who carved the Maughold Cross in the Maughold Garden and the five crosses in the Cross Garden.
The Dean, The Very Rev’d Nigel Godfrey said, “we are pleased that we shall be opening the Labyrinth, sometimes knows as the Path to Jerusalem, on Mothering Sunday and invite people to make use of it once complete. Much has been written about labyrinths as paths of healing and the value of them to help reduce anxiety and stress has long been recognized.”
To celebrate, the cathedral is having an official opening on Mothering Sunday 26th March which will be attended by local dignitaries and invited guests and members of the public are welcome to come and see the event. A new mass setting has also been specially written for the cathedral choristers.
Dr Peter Litman, Musical Director and Cathedral organist said, “The problem was to find a setting of the Eucharist in modern language which matched the Common Worship liturgy, which was interesting and challenging for a group of young treble voices (the St German’s Cathedral Choristers). The only solution was to commission a composer to write a setting, Dr Bill Ives took the challenge and wrote us the Missa Brevis.”
Bill Ives has spent his life in choral music – as a singer, conductor, teacher and composer (writing as Grayston Ives). He was a chorister at Ely Cathedral and later studied music at Cambridge. After Cambridge he sang in Guildford Cathedral Choir before joining the famous King’s Singers, with whom he recorded and performed worldwide.
World Labyrinth Day this year is 6th May.
Photo - Dr Bill Ives, music composer.
