St Mary the Virgin's Idol, Devizes
The Church of St Mary the Virgin in Devizes houses an unusual survivor. On the outside east gable, but somehow before the chancel, there is a medieval statue of Mary holding the infant Jesus. How this survived the Reformation is unclear, though local legend suggests that a parliamentary soldier in the civil war attempted to pull it down, failed, and fell to his death. If this were true, I would have thought his comrades would have been all the more determined to rid the church of this odious relic.
Idolatry has an uncanny ability to reinvent itself and sneak back into the places from which it has been cleared. It is also adept at keeping a firm hold of those places from which it was never fully dislodged to begin with. See how Baal-worship refused to budge from Israel’s religious life for hundreds of years; see how those horrid Hindu deities continue to haunt the consciousness of modern India after milennia of darkness. Idols can take many forms, and not just human-like statues or multi-armed monsters. That which robs God of His due, and what diverts worship, glory and affection from His throne, is an idol. Sadly, such things are found on, and in, our churches. I salute those who seek to be rid of them - or die trying.
- Log in to post comments