A young boy walked the eight-sided labyrinth with steady, assured steps following a well-traveled path to the center. He had done this before. The low clicking of his high-tops on the smooth dark concrete mingled in the air with guitar and flute music, wind buffeting branches outside the church and the occasional tearful sigh.
St Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Alexandria was hosting a “Candlelight and Silence” public service in memory of Hannah Graham on Nov. 1 from 8:30-10:30 a.m.
The University of Virginia sophomore and West Potomac alumna had gone missing Sept. 13. On Oct. 24, the Virginia Medical Examiner's Office and Albemarle County Police Department confirmed her death by linking her to human remains found the previous week on an abandoned property along Old Lynchburg Road in southern Albemarle County.
The labyrinth, painted in deep burgundy on the floor in the back corner of the sanctuary, was meant to offer people a method to meditate and reflect while walking. Stopping at various points along the path gave different perspectives on the Spartan interior of the hall, with its unfinished panels and slats of light ochre-colored wood from floor to ceiling.
“While comfort may yet feel out of reach, we offer this place and time to be in the quiet with painful truths, difficult unknowns and heartbreaking losses,” said an announcement from the church. “Some measure of healing and nourishment can be found in being alone together.”
At the front of the sanctuary, the altar was decorated with a white runner and a large, slightly tousled yellow ribbon. Two ceramic bowls stood before the altar, elevated on black metal stands. The bowls held a bed of white sand for propping up pencil-thin prayer candles.
Supporters came and went over the course of the two hours, lighting candles and sitting in silence before moving on. After exiting the labyrinth and lighting his candle, the boy sat with his mother in the pews. She held him close.