The Prayer Garden is anchored by a Labyrinth, which is an ancient symbol of a journey.  When staying on the circuitous path, one finds their way to the heart of the labyrinth, which represents a personal or communal goal.

Many forms of labyrinths exist in the world today.  The oldest intact labyrinth in the floor of a church is found in the Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France.  It was conceived during the Crusades as a tool for prayer for those unable to make the dangerous and expensive journey to the Holy Lands.  The model of labyrinth used in the Prayer Garden is the Classical Greek design found on the island of Crete dating back to the ancient Minoan civilization and served as the model for the Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth in the medieval period.

Labyrinths today are used in diverse ways as a form of walking meditation.  They are used in spiritual and secular settings as a tool for prayer and contemplation.  This tool is used in multi-faceted ways, especially in the process of healing in the midst of transition, trauma, loss, and conflict.  

The Angel of Hope name comes from a best-selling book and television movie called The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans, who inspired this statue. In the story, an elderly woman mourns the death of her little daughter by making regular trips to the child’s grave, which is marked with an angel statue (Angel of Hope). The statue evokes a profound and miraculous connection between mother and child and helps convey valuable lessons about the true meaning of life to others. This simple, non-religious but spiritual story has brought hope to thousands of parents who have endured the death of a child.

In 1996, in response to reports that grieving parents were actually seeking out the statue described in the book, Evans commissioned an angel statue to stand in the City Cemetery in Salt Lake City, which served as the setting for his book. Although the story is mostly fiction, the angel monument once existed in the cemetery, but is thought to have since been destroyed.

Once the statue was erected, people from all over the country flocked to the Salt Lake City cemetery seeking solace from their own loss and hope for the future.

The names of the children remembered by the families of Ryker’s Rainbow will be listed at no cost to the family on the Memorial Wall surrounding the northeastern boundary of the Prayer Labyrinth. 

Multiple memorial benches and seating options are being created throughout the garden to allow for family and community reflection.