Ray Blake

Raymond Blake (17 November 1953 – 3 July 2025) was an English Catholic priest and religious blogger. Considered a Traditionalist Catholic, he was the priest at St Mary Magdalen's Church in Brighton from 2000 until 2023.

Blake's blog, which he established in 2006, gained attention in the local and national press for his more traditionalist ways, such as restoring the older neo-Gothic design of St Mary Magdalen's Church.

Biography Blake was born in Guildford on 17 November 1953, to Frank and Maria Blake. His father ran a building company; his Italian Catholic mother Maria agreed for her children to be brought up as Anglicans. He attended the local comprehensive school and read English at the University of Southampton. Blake worked in a hotel after graduating. He refused to perform Maundy, believing it was "theatre" performed for the priest's own vanity.

Blake retired from active ministry in 2023 and died in 2025.

Personal life Blake owned one of England's largest private collections of medieval musical instruments. He ran a soup kitchen for the homeless and allowed a refugee to stay at his house without the knowledge of his diocese.