Beauty from Ashes

Photo by N. Chadwick (Wikimedia Commons)

I once came across a stone marker in London that told the legend of Mary Overie. It reads:

Legend suggests that before the construction of London Bridge in the 10th century, a ferry existed here. Ferrying passengers across the River Thames was a lucrative trade. John Overs who, with his watermen and apprentices, kept the “traverse ferrie over the Thames,” made such a good living that he was able to acquire a considerable estate on the South bank of the river.

John Overs, a notorious miser, devised a plan to save money. He would feign death, believing that his family and servants would fast out of respect and thereby save a day’s provisions. However, when he carried out the plan, the servants were so overjoyed at his death that they began to feast and make merry. In a rage, the old man leapt out of bed to the horror of his servants, one of whom picked up a broken oar and “thinking to kill the Devil at the first blow, actually struck out his brains.”

The ferryman’s distressed daughter Mary sent for her lover, who in haste to claim the inheritance, fell from his horse and broke his neck. Mary was so overcome by these misfortunes that she devoted her inheritance to founding a convent into which she retreated.

This became the priory of Saint Mary Overie, Mary having been made a saint on account of her charity. During the Reformation, the church of St. Mary Overie, described as “a fair church called St. Mary over the rie, that is over the water,” was renamed St. Saviour’s Church. In 1905, it became Southwark Cathedral and the collegiate church of St. Saviour and St. Mary Overie.

Southwark Cathedral stands to this day as a center of worship and ministry in the heart of London. Few know the story of its origins. But once you do, it brings to mind the words of the prophet Isaiah:

To all who mourn in Israel,
he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
that the Lord has planted for his own glory. 
(Isaiah 61:3, NLT)

If only more people would trust God for this promise. 

I recently stood, again, in Southwark Cathedral, gazing at its architectural majesty that reflected ministry for more than a thousand years…

… and thought of beauty from ashes.

James Emery White