St Mary Magdalen's Church, Brighton

Fr. Carl was fantastic. Easter message was deep
Apr 9th, 2023

Make sure you attend this church on a Sunday when you are in Brighton
Apr 5th, 2023

Apr 4th, 2023

Mar 14th, 2023

PROS Really interesting priest. Having recently arrived from Malta I've been thrown by the sung responses and the Latin though! Lovely candles and frankincense. P.S In Malta there are altar girls now too.... CONS It was my fourth visit on 1/1/2023 - I went to receive communion and knelt and opened my crossed hands (as I am used to doing). I was given the host and then gently broke it to make it easier to get in my mouth and not stick to my palate. The alter boy/man was horrified and quite loudly proclaimed "You cannot break the host, don't you know that this is the body of Christ?" I declared that I was aware but that I did this before putting it in my mouth. He said NO quite adamantly and asked me if I was Catholic. I responded Yes, that I was from Malta. He said I should check my hands for fragments as - did I not know that this was the actual body of Christ....I said I was terribly sorry and that I was used to doing this and wished him a Happy New Year. Had I not done this he may have continued being horrified...When I went to talk with him after mass he began immediately with angry castigating again about my breaking the host....I pointed out firstly that he might have asked if Id like to speak with him AFTER the mass to share his opinions with me instead of publicly humiliating me in front of a congregation like a schoolchild. ( I am 58). He said he would never be giving me communion again in the future. I said I was going to have a word with the priest. I went towards the vestry and he grabbed my arm at which point I slapped it off me and told him not to *** touch me. Things had become heated at this point. I walked to see the priest in his rooms but he did not want to talk with me.. Granted he is not well and the altar guy spoke to him in advance SO I called out and asked him if I he/the priest wanted to speak with me. He called back No. I asked if there was a better time...He also said No. The devil is in the details - so I will leave discussion of what is OK and not OK re hosts, out. But I was left shaken by the judgmental and aggressive stance of this altar man who instead of sharing love, peace and forgiveness (and information) left me feeling shaken and sadly unwilling to return. Humiliation and public punishment are for the old days or so I thought. Would he have done this to a grey haired woman? Or a man? Just wondering. Thanks to the people in the coffee room for listening and soothing my concerns after this distressing event.
Dec 31st, 2022