We have learned that one of the perpetrators of the massacres in Paris, Omar Mostefai, came from Chartres. When I heard this, I recalled Chartres Cathedral, glory of Gothic architecture, with its lapis lazuli stained-glass windows, especially the beautiful Blue Virgin.I thought of the cathedral’s famous labyrinth. Labyrinths make us think of losing ourselves and possibly perishing in darkness and fear. This labyrinth leads you to a central rose. You walk on a number of paving slabs which correspond to the number of days in a woman’s pregnancy. It is a meditative walk through the confusion of our life as we try to comprehend the mystery of the incarnation. The rose at the end of our journey is the foetal Christ in Mary’s womb. In all the confusion and pain of the present