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Congregation of St. Athanasius

~ A Roman Catholic Community in Boston Preserving Elements of Anglican Tradition and Liturgy

Congregation of St. Athanasius

Category Archives: Our blog

Read the July issue of our parish paper

01 Friday Jul 2022

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If you signed up to receive Contra mundum by mail, you should receive your July 2022 issue soon. You can also read it here on our website as well as all of the back issues.

Our parish paper provides religious instruction, news, and upcoming events for our our combined congregation and community. It also contains sermons and articles by Father Bradford, and articles and writings by contemporary and classic authors.

This month’s issue includes:

  • “The Father of Lies Hides His Victims,” from an address by Dr. Peter Kreeft
  • “For Our Country” by The Revd George Lyman Locke
  • “Underlying Good Intention,” sermon by Fr Richard Bradford
  • “The Peoples Republic of Cambridge” by Fr Richard Bradford
  • “Without Forgetting You are a Christian” by Sydney Smith
  • “Problems” by Fr Andrew, S.D.C.
  • “Hope Only in the Mercy of God” by Saint John of Ávila
  • “Through Charity” by Robert Cardinal Sarah

Read the June issue of our parish paper

31 Tuesday May 2022

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If you signed up to receive Contra mundum by mail, you should receive your June 2022 issue soon. You can also read it here on our website as well as all of the back issues.

Our parish paper provides religious instruction, news, and upcoming events for our our combined congregation and community. It also contains sermons and articles by Father Bradford, and articles and writings by contemporary and classic authors.

This month’s issue includes:

  • “Sin Against the Holy Ghost,” a sermon by Father Bradford
  • “For Life in the Spirit” by Father Donald Allchin 
  • “How the Incarnate God Keeps His Promise” by Father David Vincent Meconi, S.J.
  • “Jesus and His Earthly Father” from the Catholic Eye
  • “A Supreme Visible Head” by Father John Goter
  • “Jesus Is Ready to Give What He Asks of You” by Saint John Paul II
  • “Blessed Ralph Milner” from Magnificat magazine

Read the May issue of our parish paper

02 Monday May 2022

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If you signed up to receive Contra mundum by mail, you should receive your May 2022 issue soon. You can also read it here on our website as well as all of the back issues.

Our parish paper provides religious instruction, news, and upcoming events for our our combined congregation and community. It also contains sermons and articles by Father Bradford, and articles and writings by contemporary and classic authors.

This month’s issue includes:

  • “The True Wisdom Took Flesh,” an excerpt from the Four Discourses by Saint Athanasius
  • “May Is Mary’s Month” by Pope Saint Paul VI
  • “The Hot-Button Topic,” a sermon by Father Bradford
  • “They Spoke with Such Confidence,” a portion of a sermon by Saint John Chrysostom
  • “The Whole Pattern of Our Life” by Baroness Maria von Trapp
  • “The Ascension Prepares a Place for Us” from The Catechism of the Council of Trent

Read the April issue of our parish paper

30 Wednesday Mar 2022

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If you signed up to receive Contra mundum by mail, you should receive your April 2022 issue soon. You can also read it here on our website as well as all of the back issues.

Our parish paper provides religious instruction, news, and upcoming events for our our combined congregation and community. It also contains sermons and articles by Father Bradford, and articles and writings by contemporary and classic authors.

This month’s issue includes:

  • “Fearless and Unembarrassed Proclamation” by the the Provost from the parish paper of the Brompton (London) Oratory
  • “The Alienating Effects of Sin” by Father Romanus Cessario, OP
  • “Small Ways Add Up,” a sermon by Father Bradford
  • “The Loving Gentleness of Jesus” by Saint Aelred
  • “Baptism Coming into Broad Daylight” from the The Jerusalem Catecheses attributed to St Cyril of Jerusalem
  • “Morality Cannot Be Divorced from Religion” by Judge Robert Bork

Consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

25 Friday Mar 2022

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On Friday, March, 25, 2022, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Francis and bishops throughout the world will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, praying especially for peace and an end to war. Please unite your prayers with theirs.

Father Bradford will use this prayer at Mass. A printable copy of the prayer is here.

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young. We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns. We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our neighbour’s keepers and stewards of our common home. We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!

Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life. He has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity. By God’s gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love.

We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart. We are your beloved children. In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort. Say to us once more: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In you we place our trust. We are confident that,especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.

That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, you said to him: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Now, O Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded. We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace. We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness. How greatly we need your maternal help!

Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.
Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.

O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts. May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew. Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace. May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs. May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.

Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said: “Behold your son” (Jn 19:26). In this way he entrusted each of us to you. To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: “Behold, your Mother” (v. 27). Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome you into our lives and our history. At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ. The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.

Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine. Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world. The “Fiat” that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.

Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the “Fiat”, on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May you, our “living fountain of hope”, water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.

Mask mandate lifted

09 Wednesday Mar 2022

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The Town of Brookline (which includes Chestnut Hill) lifted its indoor mask mandate for all individuals in public spaces on Saturday, March 12th. (The Archdiocese of Boston lifted its mask mandate on February 28th). Business and other facilities can still require masks on their own, and the Brookline Department of Public Health encourages everyone to maintain a mask-friendly environment. The health commissioner said, “We are cautiously lifting the mask mandate, but I want to remind all residents and business owners that the Covid-19 pandemic remains unpredictable.”

For Ordinariate services the mask mandate is lifted and we continue to maintain a mask-friendly environment and encourage social distancing in the church building.

Read the March issue of our parish paper

28 Monday Feb 2022

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If you signed up to receive Contra mundum by mail, you should receive your March 2022 issue soon. You can also read it here on our website as well as all of the back issues.

Our parish paper provides religious instruction, news, and upcoming events for our our combined congregation and community. It also contains sermons and articles by Father Bradford, and articles and writings by contemporary and classic authors.

This month’s issue includes:

  • “Lent a Silent Awakening of a Desire to Love God,” a sermon preached by Father Bradford
  • “Ashes Waiting to be Washed Away” by Father Richard Veras
  • “The Opportunity to Repent” by Pope Saint Clement
  • “To Penetrate the Surface” by the Provost of the Brompton Oratory
  • “O My Saviour Receive Your Traveler” by Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
  • “A Masterpiece of God’s Wisdom” by Dom Anscar Vonier, O.S.B.

Read the February issue of our parish paper

31 Monday Jan 2022

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If you signed up to receive Contra mundum by mail, you should receive your February 2022 issue soon. You can also read it here on our website as well as all of the back issues.

Our parish paper provides religious instruction, news, and upcoming events for our our combined congregation and community. It also contains sermons and articles by Father Bradford, and articles and writings by contemporary and classic authors.

This month’s issue includes:

  • “Liturgical Dance of the Very Highest Order,” a sermon preached by Father Bradford
  • “Candles as a Gift of Thanks” about Saint Blaise
  • “Devoted to the Passion of Our Lord” about Saint Robert Southwell
  • “The Grace to Answer Correctly,” an article by the Provost of the Brompton Oratory
  • “In Honor of Our Holy Father” by Pierre-Marie Dumont
  • “Attraction to Beauty” by John Janaro

Positive Covid Notification from Fr. Bradford

12 Wednesday Jan 2022

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Father Bradford has been informed a parishioner at Mass last Sunday tested positive for Covid on Monday. The individual had no symptoms on Sunday and was not in close contact with anyone. Our Mass will be celebrated as usual on Sunday, January 16th.

Read the January issue of our parish paper

05 Wednesday Jan 2022

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If you signed up to receive Contra mundum by mail, you should receive your January 2022 issue soon. You can also read it here on our website as well as all of the back issues.

Our parish paper provides religious instruction, news, and upcoming events for our our combined congregation and community. It also contains sermons and articles by Father Bradford, and articles and writings by contemporary and classic authors.

This month’s issue includes:

  • “Four Marks of the Church,” an excerpt by Monsignor Ronald Knox
  • “Walk the Walk” by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
  • “Welcomed by Those Who Need Saving” by Father Bradford
  • “Enter by Way of Little Streams” by Saint Thomas Aquinas
  • “Our Second Birth” by Bishop Faustus of Riez 
  • “Who Keeps the Pro-Life Movement Alive” by Monsignor William M. Helmick 
  • “We are Only Christians if We Encounter Christ” by Pope Benedict XVI
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