Something Odd in the Cathedral

In Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford there is a tomb, the tomb of a woman.  On the side of the tomb are carved representations of several women.  But notice what has happened.  The face of each of these women has been destroyed.  I asked the curator why.  He told me that no one knows for sure but they believe that during the time of the Puritans, these images were smashed because the replicas of saintly women were treated as pagan icons.  Perhaps it was a reaction to the Catholic worship of Mary.  Perhaps it was something else.  But I found it fascinatingly disturbing that the Church didn’t allow women to be recognized as essential, active, saintly members of God’s congregation.  It made me think of the similarity between Christianity and Islam over the role of women, something we don’t often consider these days.  Just a little bit of history tucked into the side of a very old tomb.  They needed to read Guardian Angel.