When visiting the cathedral, we first tried to experience the West Portal, the famous royal portal. As you enter the cathedral, you enter the gate of the New Jerusalem. But if we want to experience a reality, that is not the right entry. For the human being is far from perfect enough to present a similarity with the apocalyptic perfection.

The south portal is the gateway of outward Christianity. There is the Christ Himself as a worldly teacher and he is flanked by his apostles, confessors and the martyrs. Again, this portal ad the first entry is not the right one.

On the north portal, however, we find the purification of the soul, based on the Old Testament, culminating in the birth of Mary, the child of Anna. Mary, the mother of Jesus, meets Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.

Here we can go in and follow the path of the medieval pilgrims …
We hear the music with our eyes and look at it with our ears.
The macrocosmic man will appear cautiously and prudently.

Chartres – 3 by Mieke Mosmuller