It is an astonishing time to be alive — an age of tremendous peril and magnificent callings. It is hard to take in the generative possibilities of our time, and rise to our highest humanity, amidst the overwhelm of rupture. Yet the news that is, as we say, “breaking” is never seeing things whole. In this week, Krista Tippett will offer wisdom for tending the distress inside ourselves and those around — while embodying the world we want to inhabit as we go. Drawing on her quarter century of conversation with wise and graceful lives, she will offer ways of seeing and arts of living towards tangibly shifting our presence in the everyday and being of service to our larger crises and callings.
How to make sense of the gravity of being alive now?
How not to give in to overwhelm, and stay present to this world’s tenderness and its pain? How to muster a reasonable hope? How to anchor in what we love, and orient towards healing? How to walk forward if not together at least towards a shared future? How to discern what is my work to do?
We can train our imaginations and our lives towards what, amidst all that is breaking, wants to be born.
Come. Join us in an ancient place of refuge and renewal.
The Chartres Experience
From June 15-19, 2026, the Veriditas pilgrimage to Chartres, France, offers a blend of spiritual practice, historical exploration, and personal reflection. Program registration begins at the Hotelliere St. Yves in Chartres, France at 4:00 pm on Monday, followed by an orientation and opening reception. Each day begins with a seminar led by Krista Tippett, followed by a large group conversation with Krista and Lauren Artress, and leader led small group discussions. Participants will experience the sacred space of Chartres through a tour of the cathedral, as well as an unforgettable private candlelit labyrinth walk with medieval music. Participants will also have an opportunity to walk with the public, allowing time for reflection, connection, and community. The program concludes with a celebratory dinner on Friday evening that ends by 10 pm. You may want to plan to arrive a day prior to the start of the program to give yourself time to recover from jet lag, and we recommend planning to depart on the Saturday after the program concludes.
Krista Tippett
Krista Tippett is a Peabody-award winning broadcaster, National Humanities Medalist, and New York Times bestselling author. She created the groundbreaking public radio show and podcast On Being, which pursues deep thinking, moral imagination, social creativity, and joy towards the renewal of inner life, outer life, and life together. It has won the highest honors in broadcast, Internet and podcasting, and been downloaded over 450 million times. The On Being Project, which Krista founded in 2013, also engages “quiet conversations” to accompany the generative people and possibilities within this tender, tumultuous time to be alive. She received the National Humanities Medal at the White House in 2014 for "thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence. On air andin print, Ms. Tippettavoids easy answers, embracing complexity and inviting people of every background to join her conversation about faith, ethics, and moral wisdom."
Krista grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, attended Brown University, worked as a young journalist and diplomat in Cold War Berlin, and later received a Master of Divinity from Yale. She is the author of three books, most recently Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living.
The Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress
The Rev. Dr. Lauren Artress is Canon Emerita of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and author of Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice; The Sacred Path Companion: How to Use the Labyrinth to Heal and Transform; and The Path of the Holy Fool: How the Labyrinth Ignites our Visionary Powers. Her first book Walking a Sacred Path was instrumental in launching what the New York Times named The Labyrinth Movement in May, 1998. She founded the non-profit, Veriditas, the World-Wide Labyrinth Project, in 1996 to “pepper the planet with labyrinths.” With over 6,000 labyrinth sites in the U.S. alone, her nonprofit work embraces the vision to activate and transform the human spirit through the labyrinth experience. Lauren received the Gandhi, King, and Ikeda Peace Award for her work in bringing people together in creative, peace-giving ways. In 2021 she received the Extraordinary Visionary Leader award from Women Creating our Futures. She is on the Editorial Board of Presence Magazine, a publication of Spiritual Directors International. Lauren is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the State of California.
Logistical Information
Travel to and from Chartres: We look forward to welcoming you in Chartres! Participants are responsible for making their own travel arrangements to and from Chartres. Most airline flights will arrive at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France. You have a variety of options on getting to Chartres from CDG Airport.
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- Consider taking an UBER to Chartres. It has proven to be a convenient and cost effective option.
- The most economical way is to take a taxi to the Montparnasse Train Station and take a train to Chartres. Chartres is about an hour outside of Paris by train. For train information, please see the SNCF website.
- You can make a reservation online for a car or small van to meet you at the airport and drive you to Chartres.
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- You can also consider the option of taking a taxi all the way to Chartres, though the cost will be in the range of 150 – 200 Euro or more. If several participants arrive at the same time, sharing a taxi will bring the price down.
We will be creating an online Circle group for participants to be able to connect with each other prior to the start of the Pilgrimage in case you want to plan to share accommodations or transportation to Chartres. An invitation to join the group will be included in your confirmation email when you register.
Accommodation: Veriditas has a very small block of rooms reserved at the Hotellerie St. Yves for each week that we will be in Chartres in 2025. You will receive a link to book your room after you register for a Pilgrimage. Most participants find the rooms comfortable and convenient. Each has a small bathroom with a shower. Bedding and towels are provided, but you will need to bring a hairdryer. You may also choose to use booking.com to locate accommodation near to the Hotellerie St. Yves where the program is held.
Meals: Chartres is a charming, medieval village with many options for eating out from casual fare such as omelettes and soup to fancier formal restaurants. There is also a grocery store in walking distance that sells sandwiches and snacks. Breakfast is included in the cost of your accommodation if you book through our block of rooms at the Hotellerie St. Yves. You are responsible for your own lunches and dinners throughout the week.
Spouse packages (partner/family/friends) are available if they want to come but not participate in the full program. Includes opening reception, closing dinner and cathedral tour. Simply select spouse package when you register.
Cancellation Policy: We understand that life happens! When things don’t go as you planned, Veriditas has policies in place so that you always know what to expect should you have to cancel an event. Please read our updated cancellation policy here.
Travel Insurance: Veriditas strongly recommends purchasing travel insurance to cover your expenses in the event of an unforeseen circumstance that may hinder your ability to attend the program. . Click here for a link to Travel Guard, specializing in insurance for our Chartres programs.
For additional information on our Walking a Sacred Path Pilgrimages, please click here.
