Volume XXIII: August 2020 to July 2021

Fr. Richard Bradford and the Congregation of Saint Athanasius have published Contra mundum, our parish paper, monthly since 1998 to provide religious instruction and news of the congregation. The name of our parish paper, Contra mundum, comes from the Latin phrase “Athanasius contra mundum” meaning “Athanasius against the world.” This phrase described our patron saint even in his own time, as he stood firmly for the fullness of the faith.

ISSUE 1. AUGUST 2020:

  • “God vs Caesar,” a homily preached by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, President of the Italian Episcopal Conference
  • “Rest in Peace – Bruce Rand” by Father Bradford
  • “Blessed Are the Peacemakers,” a letter by Father Daniel P. Moloney, former chaplain at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • “Christian Rights and Those of Others” by Father Bradford
  • “Revisiting Evangelium Vitae,” an article by Dr Helen Alvaré reprinted from The Helpers of God’s Precious Infants newsletter
  • “For the Sake of Doing Good, a sermon by Father Bradford
  • “The Whole Christ,” an excerpt of a sermon by Blessed Isaac of Stella
  • “Mary’s Assumption,” a poem by Fr Alfred J. Barrett, SJ

Issue 2. September 2020:

  • “The Holy Cross”  by Father Alban Butler, an English Catholic priest and author of The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, originally published in 1756
  • “Keeping the Oil of Glory Within Our Conscience” by Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
  • “A Report from our Business Manager” by Rick Timmerman
  • “The God of Inclusivity” by Eugene Genovese, an American historian who joined the Communist Party, but later embraced traditional conservatism and returned to Catholicism
  • “The Value of Suffering” by Rose Hawthorne Lathrop OF, daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne; she was a convert to Catholicism and foundress of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne
  • “The Most Holy Name of Mary” by Father Richard Bradford
  • “God Created Two Excellent Types of Creatures,” an excerpt from Summa of the Christian Life by Venerable Father Louis of Granada, OP, a noted theologian, writer, and preacher

Issue 3. October 2020:

  • “They Have Each Other’s Number,” a sermon preached by Father Bradford based on  St Luke 18:9-14
  • “Your Life Reflects Your Faith,” prayer composed by a Japanese co-worker of St Teresa of Calcutta in the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi
  • “Seeing Christianity in a Concrete Form,” an article on Dorothy Day by John Janaro, associate professor emeritus of theology in Christendom College, Front Royal, Va
  • “An Informed Electorate” by Father Bradford
  • “When Lack of Love Peeps Out,” an excerpt is from Spiritual Letters by Sister Wendy Beckett
  • “Captured by Christ,” sermon preached in the English College in Rome by Saint John Paul II, Supreme Pontiff
  • “The Month of the Holy Rosary,” an excerpt from an article by the Provost in The Oratory Parish Magazine
  • “Walk in His Ways” by Saint John the Serene

Issue 4. November 2020:

  • “What God Has Reserved for Those Who Love Him” by Fr Francis Canavan, S.J. 
  • “The Right of Self-Will: Counterfeit,”  a quote from Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman’s Letter to the Duke of Norfolk
  • “Beginning and Ending: Notes on the Catechism,”  talking points in Fr Bradford’s notebook for Confirmation classes; during Advent the Church is mindful of the four last things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell
  • “Reach Out to Assemblies in Heaven” by Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan and one of the four Latin Doctors of the Church
  • “A General Law for All,” an excerpt from The Academic Sermons, The Fathers of the Church: Medieval Continuation, Vol. II by Saint Thomas Aquinas
  • “A Day of Thanksgiving” by James Madison, the fourth President of the United States and often referred to as the “Father of the Constitution”

Issue 5. December 2020:

  • “The Earth Groans for God’s Grace,” an article by the Provost from THE ORATORY PARISH MAGAZINE, a publication of the Brompton (London) Oratory
  • “Jesus Is There,” a sermon preached by Father Bradford
  • “Jesus Is Our Lord, an excerpt from an editorial published in the National Catholic Register
  • “Catholics for God and Country,” an excerpt from a guest column, “How the West Was Lost,” by Michael Wisniewski in the New Oxford Review
  • “Belief Comes First” by Fr Bonaventure Chapman, OP in the 2018 Magnificat Advent Companion
  • “He Came to Free Us All” by Pope Saint Leo the Great

Issue 6. January 2021:

  • “The Elephant in the Closet” by Father Bradford
  • “The Secret of God’s Presence,” a sermon preached by Father Bradford
  • “The Word of God Follows the Voice in the Wilderness” by Saint Gregory Nazianzen
  • “He Knew Himself to be Loved by Christ” by Saint John Chrysostom
  • “The Hidden Years” by Baroness Maria von Trapp

Our online archives are here.