The disposition of the north lateral portal is identical to the south with six column figures on each side and a central triumphant figure: the column figures represent local saints whose relics were contained in the magnificent châsses displayed behind the principal altar in the cathedral choir (the final objective of our pilgrimage): the stories of these saints and their feast days are recounted in our website.  The central figure is Saint Firmin who was thought to have brought Christianity to the region, becoming the principal saint of the cathedral and of the city of Amiens.  Firmin triumphs over the Roman officer responsible for his execution just as the Virgin tramples the Serpent.  Above Firmin's head and matching the Ark of the Covenant in the south portal is the relic box (châsse) containing his remains, flanked by six seated bishops.  Thus, in our sequence of looking, the Ark has become the châsse; the Old Testament priests have become Christian bishops; the Church Universal personified by the Virgin Mary has become the local church with its saints, sacraments, miracles and bishops.  All this is visible.  What is not visible is that the feast of the Discovery (Invention) of the relics of Saint Firmin was celebrated in the week directly after Epiphany: in addition to being matched visually, the two portals are thus linked together in a great two-week celebration that united city and cathedral.  The story is told in the tympanum: the seventh-century bishop Sauve was led by a bright light to the place where Firmin's body had been buried (just as the star led the Magi), the tomb was opened and the body found to be miraculously preserved. The event was marked by an ecological miracle: a frigid winter's day was transformed into Spring with the blossoming of flowers and leaves and wonderful odors percolating over the land and leading the inhabitants of neighboring cities to participate in the miracle.  Saint Firmin's body was brought back into Amiens in a procession that paralleled the Triumphal Entry of Christ in to Jerusalem.  The miracle of the leaves and flowers was celebrated each year on the saint's feast day (January 13) when a man dressed all in green (l'homme vert) came into the choir and presented each member of the clergy with a foliate crown.  You can find L'homme vert represented just behind the procession in the tympanum: he has removed his cloak and wears a foliate crown while the trees around bloom luxuriantly.

Thus the visual rhymes between the two lateral portals are matched by the fact that they served in liturgical celebrations in contiguous weeks and that they express the relationship between Universal Church and the local church.