Happy Holy Foreskin Day
The Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord is celebrated throughout Christendom on the 1st of January. Christians celebrate the Circumcision as the first time the blood of Christ was shed, beginning the process of the redemption of man. The circumcision was a demonstration that God was fully human, and of his obedience to Biblical law. The Holy Foreskin is particularly important to Christians as it was the only part of Jesus that remained on earth after he left for Heaven.
For centuries, on the 1st of January, the Holy Foreskin was paraded through the Italian town of Calcata. This practice continued until 1983, when the Holy Prepuce was stolen.
Painting: “Circumcision of Christ” - Friedrich Herlin of Nördlingen -1466, detail from Twelve Apostles Altar (Zwölf-Boten-Altar).
