Chartres Cathedral nobody calls her
The Basilica of Our Lady of Chartres names have a way of falling to the lowest denominator me a homesick pilgrim a young missionary stepping into a bible of sculpted stone ignoring the famous stained glass windows something else fascinated my eye carved into the granite scenes depicting Jesus’s life familiar ones except one I stared —the circumcision of Christ I had not considered it before was it a holy moment? but there it was in Saint Luke Chapter 2 Verse 21 how many times had I read the nativity story missed this "And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcision of the child his name was called JESUS—" King James translated the name from Greek Joshua = Jesus ironically for to be Greek was to be Uncircumcised putting the name in ALL CAPS next to the bit of severed foreskin as if shouting the cries of the babe whose genitals were gripped by some unnamed priest . . . who dares cut God’s tender flesh while he is powerless who asked permission to place the knife between his legs? there I stood still as statuary contemplating my hands |