The day of circumcision,

The infant child was brought,

And laid upon the table,

Midst holy prayer and thought,

The blade was duly sharpened,

And sparks flew from the wheel,

And though the flesh was severed,

All knew that it would heal.

 

The covenant that God had made,

As Abraham was told,

Required that every human male

On reaching eight days old

Should have his foreskin cut away,

And in that act alone,

Become an heir of God's great love;

A sign that could be shown.

 

When Moses was in danger great,

His wife Zipporah knew

That she must make a bloody sign,

So to her son she flew,

And taking up a sharpened flint,

She circumcised the lad,

And spread it out on Moses' feet,

So he could see she had. 

 

So when the Virgin Mary's son

Reached his eighth day of life,

His family prepared their child

To undergo the knife.

After the act, the Hebrew nurse

Took up the piece of flesh,

And put it in a jar of oil

Perfumed to keep it fresh.

 

This precious alabaster box

Was held for many a year,

Until her son disposed of it

To a young woman near.

This second Mary kept the gift

For future use unknown,

Until the day she heard her Lord

And love to her was shown.

 

Into the house she brought the oil

And poured it on his head,

And with her hair she wiped his feet,

For soon he would be dead.

And so the circle was full made,

The piece of skin returned

Unto the one who gave his life

To pay a debt not earned.

 

This holy Feast we keep with awe

Since Habbakuk decreed

Our foreskins are uncovered

By every sinful deed.

The circumcision that we keep

Is not a fleshly one,

But done in spirit and in truth,

Through faith in God's own Son.