Dode's 'plague' church reopened

DOWN a narrow and winding Kentish lane Bishop Cowderoy on Monday evening reopened and blessed the tiny pre-Reformation church at Dode, perhaps the only church of its age in England where a non-Catholic service has never taken place.
For this Norman church-it will hold only 100 people standing and there are no seats-was closed nearly 600 years ago after a plague had killed most of the inhabitants of the near-by village.
A Rochester monk, William Dene, writing at the time, said : "The Bishop of Rochester remained at Hailing and Trottiscliffe [near Dode] and he conferred Orders in both places at certain intervals. Alas, to our sorrow, this mortality swept away so vast a multitude of both sexes that none could be found to carry the corpses to the grave."
Farm building
Through the centuries Dode fell into disrepair and was used only for housing cattle and as a general farm building.
Fifty years or so ago, Mr. George Arnold, a Catholic, an archeologist and a former Mayor of near-by Gravesend, bought the church and had it restored along Norman lines.
Now the church has been handed over by Mr. Arnold's family to the Southwark diocese and it is to be dedicated to Our Lady of the Meadow.
Many people attended the High Mass on Monday evening and it is hoped that other services will be held from time to time. The 10 acres of land adjoining the church may tie used as a Catholic youth camping site.
An unusual feature of the church is that there is a stone seat round the walls of the nave, intended for the use of the aged, maimed and sick. These seats were common in early days and gave rise to the expression "The weakest to the wall."
Flag day £29,514
The Princess Elizabeth Day appeal held throughout Greater London on May 1 for the principal children's societies, including the Crusade of Resen realised f29.514.
St. Albans has new statue of first martyr
A new statue of St. Alban. which has been fixed in a niche over the main entrance to St. Alban's Church in St. Alban's, Hertfordshire, was blessed on Tuesday, the feast day of England's first martyr.
The statue was blessed by Canon Galvin, and a sermon was preached by Mgr. S. M. Shaw, president of the Pontifical Mission Aid Societies. Mgr. Shaw was born in St. Albans.
The Mayor and members of the City Council attended the ceremony in state. This is one of several celebrations for the golden jubilee of the building of the church.
Boniface statue in Southampton
Bishop King of Portsmouth has dedicated a large statue of St. Boniface which stands 12 feet above the entrance of St. Boniface Church. Shirley, Southampton.
The statue, the work of 25-yearold sculptor Mr. David John, depicts the Wessex Saint in his Benedictine robes. It has been erected to mark the 12th centenary of his martyrdom.
Jubilee day
When a presentation is made to Fr. C. E. McMenemy, rector of the Church of the Blessed English Martyrs, Wembley Park, I.ondon, on Tuesday to celebrate his silver jubilee. a cheque and an address will be presented on behalf of parishioners by Fr. Alfred Florio, ordained only a week or so ago.
Fr. Bonaventure Sch we lz e r, Superior General of the Salvatorian Order. has arrived in England on a visitation of the six Salvatorian houses in this country.