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On September 11, 2003, a memorial labyrinth on the lawn of Burns Library was dedicated as a space for prayer, peace, and consolation, in memory of Boston College alumni killed in the 9/11 tragedy. More than 1,500 members of the Boston College community attended the dedication ceremony, along with family members and friends of those who had been lost.
The memorial labyrinth at Boston College—modeled after the 13th-century stone labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France—is 50 feet in diameter, with a circle of concentric rings forming a single path to the center, symbolic of life’s journey. The names of the 22 deceased alumni are etched into its outer ring.
“May its presence on the Boston College campus call us to understand that even in darkness, there is a path on which we can walk,” University President William P. Leahy, SJ, said at the noontime dedication ceremony. “Even in confusion there is grace to guide our journey. And, even when we seem to stand most distant from where we began, we can yet turn again toward home, moving according to the sure compass of God’s enduring love.”
This video of the ceremony includes an invocation by Director of Campus Ministry James D. Erps, SJ, Fr. Leahy’s remarks, and the reading of the names of the lost alumni by current students; musical accompaniment is provided by the Liturgical Arts Group, Boston Fire Department bagpiper Kevin McCarthy, and Voices of Imani.
