Any pretty Catholic Churches near Blandford, Dorset? My aunt wants to know.

My aunt sent me a Christmas card with a letter inside - see below. Not sure if she is a lapsed catholic but she was a confirmed catholic definitely. I don't know Dorset well but please read her sad letter as she would like a traditional Catholic Church near Blandford and she doesn't want minimalist!

Now I do sympathise with her. My own church is moving to a new location and having visited the new chapel I don't like it at all. It is stark and brutal with blooming windows floor to ceiling. The hard white walls are devoid of any beauty and I feel so sad about it. Talk about harsh lighting - I cannot understand architects who design modern churches and don't think about soft lighting. No - my mind and heart are not lifted one bit. No - when I look up I see 1000watt bulbs glaring down - in giant downlighters. The floor is whitish marble - hard and cold. I have no idea who designed it or anything like that. Maybe the nuns like it - who knows.

I don't know when the 'big move' to the new chapel is taking place and I wonder if it will move at all. There is some legal hitch holding things up. 

Maybe God has other plans and just maybe it isn't His will for the current church to leave Heathfield high street. The parishioners who voted not to move cited the fact that the Catholic Church would lose its high-street presence. Valid argument but sadly it is locked all day anyway, so not much good if one wants to simply go and pray.

 

I know minimalist is all in and that is fine in museums and private houses. But for places of worship?minimalist won't do at all (in my opinion!). Nothing but the best for God. 

"New Catholic RE Course - 'Come and See' is heretical!

Daphne McLeod heads the "Pro Exclesia et Pontifice" group, which publishes "The Flock", an excellent pamphlet regarding catholic education and catechetics (or rather - the lack of it!). I have met Daphne on a couple of occasions and I don't doubt her knowledge!

I get depressed when I open my "Flock" but this one takes the biscuit!

In it Daphne, (retired head teacher of a catholic primary school) goes through the new catholic RE course "Come and See" and lists many errors and heresies in it. Yikes - all I can say is DEO GRATIAS my boy is NOT at a catholic state primary. Hopefully NOT ALL catholic primaries will take this course on BUT parents need to be alerted to this one, which is terrible. 

I urge you to go to the website www.proecclesia.com and read all about the theological errors in this RE programme. It isn't a joke and one wonders what is actually going on with our hierarchy?! Bishops dear bishops please wake up and don't allow this course in your primary schools. Souls are at stake here! Daphne has sent her critique to every bishop in the land, plus to the CDF.

It won't take long to read.

On another note our parish priest was promoting a book by the famous mystic Vassula Ryden - published this year - called "Heaven is real, but so is Hell: An eyewitness account of what is to come". I have put the book on my wish list. I know this mystic is controversial, but Cardinal Ratzinger was quite favourable towards her writings when he headed the CDF. Cardinal Levada was not so keen. Good on our PP though. Hell is just so not PC is it? But Vassula is right - hell exists, even if a large majority don't believe in it. Until and indeed if the Vatican condemns her I see no reason why I can't read this book.

The photo below is an excerpt of Daphne McLeod's critique of "Come and See" Not a good photo I know! Website is better.