March for Life Versus Women's March

A Spanish March to Honor the Billions of Slaughtered Babies in the Womb, in Our Age of Death

Today is the Anniversary of Roe V. Wade

Mercy, dear Jesus! Mercy!

Don't let anyone tell you that the slaughtered unborn innocents are only in the millions. Worldwide the figures are certainly in the billions, especially if the babies aborted by abortifacient contraception are considered, as they must be!  They are the smallest among us, and are totally disregarded as we shamelessly murder, expel and discard them with impunity.  --Plinthos

Concierto presentación de la Agrupación Musical Nuestro Padre Jesús de la Pasión de Linares en la Hermandad de Santa Genoveva de Sevilla. Acto celebrado en el salón de actos de la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería en la jornada del domingo 3 de febrero. Del repertorio escogido para la ocasión, destacaba el estreno de la siguiente marcha procesional dedicada al Prendimiento de Almería: 🎺 Al que yo bese (Francisco Javier Torres Simón) 📹 Otros vídeos del concierto: 🎺Cerca de Ti (Lowell Mason) https://youtu.be/JPcgvUnH1Xs 🎺 Sangre en tus Clavos (Nicolás Miguel Barbero Rivas) https://youtu.be/CH8VNtuaZic 🎺 Triunfo de tu Santa Cruz (Nicolás Miguel Barbero Rivas) https://youtu.be/iU5mi86SyCA 🎺 Atado a la Columna (Nicolás Miguel Barbero Rivas) https://youtu.be/Uknh-G4qZXU 🎺 Volver a la Vida (Cristóbal López Gándara) https://youtu.be/PA-dBRpvwJc 🎺 Misericordia ( José María Sánchez Martín) https://youtu.be/0tKDFxYGcu0 🎺 Al Señor del Prendimiento (Cristóbal López Gándara) https://youtu.be/sMH3qoYFc3s 🎺 El Sumo Sacerdote (Francisco José Ortiz Morón) https://youtu.be/ZW1W3VR_me4 🎺 Al que yo bese (Francisco Javier Torres Simón) - Estreno https://youtu.be/6fM4MErL338 🎺 Cautivo (Miguel Ángel Tomas Muñiz) - Estreno https://youtu.be/TTWNbiZd8o0 🎺 Llegó tu Hora (Francisco José Ortiz Morón) 🎺 Himno Nacional https://youtu.be/j2FwZBJVUVk

Summa Sermon Notes 5

Here are the Summa references for the EF for Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima Sundays.

Septuagesima Sunday

EPISTLE (I Cor. 9:24-27, 10:1-5)

"Know you not that they that run in the race"

   Hope II-II Q.17

   Man requires works to attain happiness I-II Q.5, a.7

   Is a good act meritorious? I-II Q.5, a.7

   Whether eternal beatitude is the object of our hope II-II Q.17, a.2

   Is hope something certain? II-II Q.18, a. 4

"So run that you may obtain"

   Whether God can be comprehended by us I Q.12, a.7; I-II Q.4, a.3, ad.1

"But we an incorruptible one"

   Does human happiness consist in created good? I-II Q.1, a.8

   Does happiness consist in riches? I-II Q.2

   Is happiness something outside of creation? I-II Q.3

   Does it consist in the vision of the divine essence? I-II Q.3, a.8

   How happiness is of itself fixed and constant I-II Q.3, a.3, ad.3

   Can it be lost? I-II Q.5, a.4

"I chastise my body"

   Fasting II-II Q.147

   Why fasting should be practiced II-II Q.147, a.1; a.3

   Is fasting of precept II-II Q.147, a.3

"Our fathers were all under a cloud"

   What sign and figure was the protection in the Red Sea? III Q.70, a.1, ad.3

GOSPEL (Matthew 20:1-16)

"And having ageed with the laborers"

   Does God make Himself a debtor to us? I-II Q.114, a.3, ad.3

"Into His vineyard"

   Happiness I Q.21, a.1, ad.3; I-II Q.2, a.3; a.4

   On the merit of good works I-II Q.114

"Thou hast made them equal to us:

   Does God's justice distribute gifts unequally? I Q.23, a.5, ad.3

"They murmured against the master of the house"

   Do the saints in all things approve God's disposition of affairs and conform their will to His? I-II Q.39, a.2, ad.3

   Can the blessed sin? I Q.62, a.8

   Does beatitude (eternal happiness) completely satisfy man's appetite and desires? I-II Q.2, a.8

   Is anything desirable lacking to any of the blessed? I-II Q.5, a.2, ad.3

"They received every man a penny"

   by all receiving the same (a penny) would one not be happier than another? I-II Q.5, a.3, ad.1; I Q.12, a.6

"I do thee no wrong"

   Does injustice exist in God? I Q.21, a.1

   Do justice and mercy abide in all of God's works? I Q.21, a.4

"Or is it not lawful for me to do what I will?

   In granting graces what part does personal acceptance play? II-II Q.63, a.1, ad.3

"For many are called but few are chosen" I Q.23, a.4, ad.2

   What is election or choice? I Q.23, a.4

   Are only the predestined chosen? I Q.23, a.4

   Are all Christians to be saved? Suppl. Q.99, a.4

Sexagesima Sunday

EPISTLE (2 Cor. 11:19-33, 12:1-9)

"If a man be lifted up"

   In what does boasting consist? II-II Q.112, a.1

   Is boasting a mortal sin? II-II Q.112, a.2

   Is an empty love of glory sinful? II-II Q.132, a.1

"I dare also"

   Did St. Paul boast in this passage? II-II Q.112, a.1

   When may one desire his own glorification? II-II Q.132, a.1, ad.1-3

   When may insults not be borne by us? II-II Q.72, a.3, ad.1

"In prisons more frequently"

   When incarcerating is licit? II-II Q.65, a.3

"Thrice was I beaten with rods"

   On the sufferings of the just (3rd Sunday after Epiphany)

   Is punishment always because of fault? I-II Q.87, a.7

"Knoweth that I lie not"

   When should an oath be taken? II-II Q.89

"And so escaped his hands"

   May a man condemned to death defend himself? II-II Q.59

   Was St. Paul in rapture out of his senses? II-II Q.175, a.4

   Was St. Paul's soul completely separated from his body in rapture? II-II Q.175, a.5

"Whether in the body or out of the body"

   Rapture II-II Q.175

   Did St. Paul know whether or not his soul was separated from his body? II-II Q.175, a.6

"Even to the third heaven"

   What is here understood by "third heaven?" I Q.68, a.4

"And heard secret words"

   Did St. Paul in his rapture see the divine essence? II-II Q.175, a.3

"For which thing thrice I besought the Lord"

   Why St. Paul was not heard in his prayer II-II Q.83, a.15, ad.2

"My grace is sufficient for thee"

   Grace and its effect I-II Q.114

"For power is made perfect in infirmity"

   How virtue is perfected in weakness I-II Q.55, a.3; II-II Q.123, a.1, ad.1

GOSPEL (Luke 8:4-15)

"The sower went out to sow his seed"

   Honor of preaching the word of God II-II Q.188, a.4; a.2, ad.3; III Q.40, a.1, ad.2

   How the word of God should be preached II-II Q.177, a.1

"Yielded fruit a hundredfold"

   What is implied by a hundredfold? I-II Q.70, a.3, ad.2

"He that has ears to hear let him hear"

   Whether faith is a gift of God II-II Q.6, a.1

"To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God"

"But to the rest in parables"

    Why should Christ have spoken often in parables to the multitude and explain their true meaning to the disciples? I Q.111, a.3, ad.4, III Q.42, 3

"That seeing they may not see"

   On mental and spiritual blindness II-II Q.15

"Then the devil cometh"

   On combating the devil and temptation I Q.114

   Do all sins come from temptation of the devil? I Q.114, a.3

"Choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life"

   Why riches are a hindrance to salvation II-II Q.188, a.7

"Keep it (word) and bring forth fruit in patience"

   Preaching I-II Q.106, a.4, ad.4

   The doctrine of Christ III Q.42

Quinquagesima Sunday
EPISTLE (I Cor. 13:1-13)
"If I speak with the tongues of men"
   The gift of tongues and grace from sermons II-II Q.176, Q.177
"And of angels"
   What is here understood by the phrase tongues of angels" I Q.107, a.1
   The speech of the angels I Q. 107
"And if I should have all faith"
   The two kinds of faith--living and lifeless II-II Q.6, a.2
   Is lifeless and living faith one habit of faith? II-II Q.4, a.4
"And if I should deliver my body to be burned"
   Whether acts of faith, patience and fortitude are without merit unless they proceed from charity I-II Q.114, a.4, ad.3
   Without charity is any true virtue possible? II-II Q.23, a.7
   Is charity the form of all other virtues? II-II Q.23
   Is charity the beginning of merit? I-II Q.114, a.4
"Charity is patient, is kind"
   Since charity extends to the works of all virtues, how is it a special virtue? II-II Q.23, a.4, ad.2
"Seeketh not her own"
   Out of charity ought we to love ourselves more than our neighbor? I-II Q.26, a.4, ad.3
"Charity never falleth away" II-II Q.26
   Whether charity once possessed can be lost II-II Q.24, a.11
   Whether charity remains after this life in heaven I-II Q.67, a.6
"Whether prophecies shall be made void"
   Why and how should prophecies be voided in heaven? II-II Q.173, a.1
"Or knowledge shall be destroyed"
   Do the intellectual virtues remain after this life? I Q.89, a.5, ad.1; I-II Q.67, a.2
   Do faith and hope remain in heaven? I-II Q.67, a.3; a.4
   Does any part of faith and hope remain in heaven? I-II Q.67, a.5
"But when that which is perfect is come"
   How on the coming of the perfect will the imperfect be done away with? I Q.59, a.7, ad.3; Q.62, a.7, ad.7; II-II Q.4, a.4, ad.1
"We see now through a glass in a dark manner"
   The three ways of knowing anything I Q.56, a.3
   Can anyone in this life see God's essence? I Q.12, a.11
   Can a created intellect see God by His essence I Q.12, a.1
"And now there remain faith, hope, charity"
   The three theological virtues, their order I-II Q.62, a.3; a.4
"But the greatest of these is charity"
   Is charity the greatest of the theological virtues? I-II Q.67, a.6
GOSPEL (Luke 18:31-43)
"And all things shall be accomplished," etc.
   How all the prophecies were fulfilled by the death of Christ I-II Q.103, a.3, ad.2; III Q.47, a.2, ad.1
   The effects of Christ's passion III Q.49
"He shall be delivered to the Gentiles"
   The reason for Christ's suffering at the hands of the Gentiles III Q.47, a.4
"He shall be mocked"
   Whether Christ underwent all suffering III Q.46, a.5
   Whether the suffering of the passion exceeded all others III Q.46, a.6
"They will put Him to death"
   Whether Christ was put to death by someone other than himself III Q.47, a.1
"And the third day He shall rise again"
   Was it suitable for Christ to rise the third day? III Q.53, a.1; a.2
   Was Christ three days in the Tomb? III Q.51, a.4
"And they understood none of these things"
   Why did Christ teach many things at times obscurely III Q.42, a.3
"A certain blind man sat by the wayside"
   Whether Christ suitably performed miracles on men III Q.44, a.3
"Thy faith hath made thee whole"
   Why is the working of miracles attributable to faith?
"Glorifying God"
   Giving thanks II-II Q.106
   Whether man is bound to give thanks to His benefactors II-II Q.106, a.3
   Is the innocent more bound than the penitent to give thanks? II-II Q.106, a.2

Why I Am Catholic

Civil Anarchy is the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

I fully acknowledge the greatness of the King speech but also question the character and motives of the man, who had a reputation as a communist and a whore monger, coupled with the fact that the great race riots of the 60's followed him wherever he went. By their fruits you shall know them.

The real issue today is what has been the net benefit of the civil rights movement to the American Blacks? With any socio-economic indicator, are they any better off today than they were in 1970? America continues to fail them, and the terrible face of that failure today is the practical extinction of the American Black family (no father and mother to beget and rear the children). Sexual immorality, contraception and abortion have been exterminating the American Black communities at an alarming rate throughout my lifetime and I have seen the results with my own eyes, beginning in my home of Wilmington, NC, and now in urban New Jersey for the past thirty years. In Wilmington the black population has been almost entirely uprooted and transplanted, and shuffled around. And in the New Jersey cities the black neighborhoods have been largely repopulated by foreign blacks. In my city, for example, if you see a black married couple with children you can be sure they are immigrants!

The American Black is largely living in social upheaval in pockets which comprise all of the nation's ghettos, under welfare-state programs, and slowly being destroyed by cultural suicide, with no solution in sight. However, Giuliani transformed New York City in one decade. That is a rare exception by a political hero, but the abortion/contraception genocide there continues. 60% of the black pregnancies in NYC end in abortion. Most of the American cities are war-zones where only those who cannot afford any other housing settle.

I have, what seems to me, an impossible dream...of a world in which there will be thousands of prosperous and peaceful and culturally distinct American-Black towns in America and throughout the world, which to date do not even seem possible. In contrast there are countless pleasant white places all over the countryside. All of the desirable real estate municipalities of the nation are predominantly white towns and neighborhoods. Just take a drive through the towns on the Jersey Shore, or any US shore for that matter, or through towns in any rural area, and stop at a restaurant in any decent neighborhood in any town and you can be sure it is not owned and operated by American Blacks.

I call that a total failure. It has all the marks of communism. We have created an tidy, ever-shrinking, black, communist sub-culture in America.

Some may deem this conversation controversial, and will ignore the argument by demonizing the messenger.

Anyone who thinks that there is nothing wrong with the plight and the downward trend of the American Black throughout our lifetime, is either blind, stupid or bad. Granted, the cultural demise of the nation is not restricted to the blacks, but it is most evident in them.

Here is the most recent on the FBI King Files, from the BBC, November 4, 2017. Explosive Martin Luther King document amid JFK files

Cf. Harlem is God's Commentary on Park Avenue, Thomas Merton

The Conversion of Chauncey Stillman

Chauncey Stillman's Chapel, Wethersfield

Below is a letter of Chauncey Stillman explaining to his sister the reasons for his conversion to the Catholic faith. Stillman was the founder of the Stillman Chair of Roman Catholic Theological Studies at Harvard, which was first held by Christopher Dawson. He also founded the Wethersfield Institute “to promote a clear understanding of Catholic teaching and practice and to explore the cultural and intellectual dimensions of the Catholic faith.”

Dearest Elizabeth,
I’ve long put off writing you this letter wondering how to do it without distressing you. Now I rely most earnestly on your love and respect, and Lang’s, for sympathy when I tell you that I am taking a step of greatest significance to me: that is joining the Catholic Church. Only two considerations mar my happiness about it – that you may be troubled at first to learn it, and that I will henceforth be attending a different service from Lily and Theo. To you two, as to them eventually, I owe some account of the path that has led me to conversion.

Summarily – too simply put to mean much – of course my reason is that I am convinced that the whole truth is contained in the Catholic Faith. Chesterton remarked, “It is impossible to be just to the Catholic Church. The moment men cease to pull against it, they feel the tug towards it.” As you know, I’ve felt this tug for years. To resist it longer would be a denial, a refusal to bear witness to the light as I see it.

Many years ago I started finding that every secular expression of the human spirit that struck me as valid, beautiful, wholesome, could be traced back, if one sought far enough, to the mainstream of Christianity, usually pre-Reformation. This proved true of architecture, painting, music; economics, social ethics, psychology, – even romantic poetry. It took me a long time (me lazy, scatter-brained, and no scholar) to face up to the inference that all these peripheral paths that I wandered across led from a central highway.

An obstacle has been the notion that the Catholic Faith required a servile, unreasoning submission to authority. Fortunately life has given me a number of Catholic friends, notably Louis Warren, Martha Hamlen, and the Emmett Rieras. Although I have never seriously discussed religion with any of them, their lives have shown me that the assumption that they were in any way unfree was a chimera. Gradually my distrust of spiritual authority per se dissolved, to be replaced by the desire for duty, enrollment, under such authority as “an obligation freely undertaken.”

Here my navy experiences helped by an analogy. Submission to authority, it became plain to me, is a condition of honorable service. For instance, in the navy there were men above me to whom I must submit, and men below me to whom I must transmit authority. My own effectiveness and peace of mind depended on subordination, on my acceptance of my place in an order. So, in creation, I as a man rank somewhere between animal and angel. The Church recognizes, reflects this hierarchic condition of man. She doesn’t expect each seaman or junior officer to route the task force or to write fleet doctrine, but she requires his full duty for the successful accomplishment of the entire mission. When a man sets out on a long combat voyage he does well to travel with professional officers, the most reliable charts, and tested instruments.

I feel in this step I make no repudiation of any positive tenet of the Episcopal Church. I am grateful for familiarity with “her august and passionate liturgy,” for having known such ministers as Bishop Rhinelander, Arthur Ketchum, and Tooie Kinsolving. In joining the Catholic Church I feel I am abandoning no birthright but reclaiming the full one that your and my ancestors enjoyed for some 1500 years, then relinquished some 450 years ago. I have found the rooted tree from which the branch was lopped. 

As an undergraduate I was surprised to hear Bishop Rhinelander remark that the Protestant Reformation was the greatest tragedy in history. I remembered the remark on reading Belloc to the effect that the tragedy was two-fold in that the north lost the full faith whereas the Catholic Church lost “the genius of the north.” I guess he means that she lost the peculiar contribution that lay within the Teutonic (including Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian) people. I mention this realizing ruefully how alien to us yankees the surface of Catholic practice and people can seem. But I have learned to distinguish between faith and its temporal vessels.

Solely on my own hook I sought instruction, choosing a priest mainly because his office was on 76th Street and Madison. No friend has been consulted. I have never been proselytized; in fact I have been lengthily and rather austerely quizzed on my sincerity.

I doubt if my external life will show much change. I daresay I will continue to be a stumbling, erratic person. But I know I will get back on course more quickly after each aberration, and with no more wanderings into “adventures of discontent.” I know that I will continue and increase in the love of the same people, particularly yourselves.

Always devotedly,

Chauncey

July 1951

to my sister, written longhand of course
(copy kept for my daughters)

Source

Nudism, Why Not?

Nudism/naturism is a temptation to deny the human need for clothes. Clothes are necessary and helpful for at least the following reasons.

  1. Modesty
  2. Chastity/Virginity
  3. Continence
  4. Self-control
  5. Decorum
  6. Hygiene
  7. Sanity
  8. Reverence
  9. Piety
10. Marriage/Family
11. Fidelity
12. Protection
13. Security
14. Respect
15. Honesty

16. Intelligence

17. Progress

18. Right worship

19. Holiness

20. Heaven

21. Beauty

22. Goodness

23. Truth

24. Mary
25. Jesus Christ

26. The Angels

27. The Saints

"And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons." Genesis 3:7

"And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife, garments of skins, and clothed them." Genesis 3:21

"And such as we think to be the less honorable members of the body, about these we put more abundant honor; and those that are our uncomely parts, have more abundant comeliness." I Corinthians 12:23

"But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:28

"Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8

Pants are Anti-Woman

Healthy Modesty Boundaries

Community Depends Upon the Public Unity of Faith

Community is built up only when the individuals within the community share with one another what is deepest in them, only if they bring out and openly share their most intimate religious matters.

"I think that the time has come for us to dispel the modern illusion that religion is the most intimate business, which we deal with by ourselves alone, and that these intimate matters should not be brought into the public arena. When we thus reduce faith to a spirituality that has no connection with reality, we first strip faith itself of its reality, but than we also rob human fellowship of its most precious dimension. The end result is the individual on one side and the pure collectivity on the other. Community, in which individuals remain themselves but at the same time encounter what is truly human in their fellow--this community is not built up when man keeps to himself what is deepest in him. Furthermore, man needs this kind of community if he is to be himself. That is why we have the duty of making public what is most intimately ours, of bringing it forth and allowing it to put its stamp on the world around us. It is up to us not to let the world be without God but, rather, to convey God into the midst of it through our faith."
Joseph Ratzinger, Dogma and Preaching, San Francisco: Ignatius, 2011, 282.

We must evangelize the culture by boldly proposing and defending the Catholic faith. The meta-historian Christopher Dawson spent his life demonstrating the central historical relevance of the Catholic Church. He wrote that the Catholic Press "somehow manages to be entirely out of touch with the real world--to live in the atmosphere of the sacristy--and yet at the same time to be thoroughly unsupernatural and materialistic."
Christina Scott, A Historian and His World, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction, 1992, 91-92.

Google Gmail Storage Scam

Google recently sent me an email informing me that they would be charging me for extra email storage after 15GB. That was the first time I ever knew that they would charge me anything for using any of their products, which I have been freely using now for over a decade. In my mind Google should pay me for patronizing it, from which they already greatly profit! Now they say I need to pay for more email storage. Wrong. I need to get rid of all the old mail. So I threw out the trash.

Moral: Delete your emails and empty the trash and you will always have room for more.

Here are two good rules of thumb.

Whatever you only have in email is probably not important to you. Dispose of it. Don't hoard it. Whoever does not communicate with you in person or by phone is probably quite dispensable to you, and you to him.

"No man putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62

Surely Google will soon inform me that my Blog also is beyond their arbitrary limit, and that I would have to pay a monthly fee to keep on posting here. Well, on that day, I will end my postings and go elsewhere. My blog posts I do not wish to delete because I consider them to be part of a great archive of important information, and Google should pay me for my contribution to Blogger, not charge me.

Google's annual revenue (Alphabet Inc.) is $137,000,000,000. I am sure that every use I make of their products contributes to that annual gain. Why should they want to get more out of me? It's a scam. They get you to need them, then they charge you for using them. That should be illegal. It is a form of entrapment through which they are swindling millions of people out of billions of dollars.

Christ Answers the Absurd!

I came across a passage in a Christopher Dawson biography in which he disparages the formal education systems of his training. Home-school was his best school.

I got nothing from school, little from Oxford, and less than nothing from the new post-Victorian urban culture; all my 'culture' and my personal happiness came from that much-derided Victorian rural home life. (From an unpublished letter to E. I. Watkin, 1925.)

Christina Scott, A Historian and His World, New Brunswick: Transaction, 1992, 34.

That passage reminded me of the present "Word on the Street" Times Square poster campaign, "Embrace the Absurd."

"Absurdism" is a philosophy, that of Camus, also related to Kierkegaard.

The absurdist philosopher Albert Camus stated that individuals should embrace the absurd condition of human existence. He then promotes life rich in willfull experience.

--Wikipedia.

Life, for the absurdist, is willfulness, which sounds like a cruel and violent blind world of survival of the fittest, the world of Machiavelli. We, of course, reject the premise of an absurd world, since the world is God's, and Jesus Christ is the center of the world and of human history.

Redemptor hominis Iesus Christus est centrum universi et historiae...

JPII, Redemptor hominis, 1.

Christ and His Cross fully confront and answer the problem of theodicy, the central problem of the absurdist. The answer is divine love, love and mercy. Meaning comes from sacrifice for love. All of creation tells of the glory of God!

Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13

Cf. Benedict XVI, Spe salvi, 2007.

From College Chaos to Catholicism => Christ.

James Bogle on the central cultural importance of the Traditional Latin Mass.

Matter and Manner of the Sermon

St. Vincent Ferrer Preaching in Salamanca

Below is a succinct passage from Bouscaren and Ellis, Canon Law: A Text and Commentary, Milwaukee, 1951, p. 753, with helpful principles on the nature, purpose, content and style of preaching.

   Matter and Manner of the Sermon. 1. The matter of sermons should be especially the things which the faithful must believe and do in order to be saved (c. 1347, §1). The Third Council of Baltimore (n. 215) especially urges preachers to speak the word of God with authority, to fortify the faithful against the religious indifferentism and heresies amid which they live, but without offense to non-Catholics who may be present; in moral precepts to be neither overrigid nor lax; to avoid novelties, strange tales, politics, personalities.
2. Preachers should abstain from profane and abstruse subjects which are beyond the grasp of the audience; let them exercise the ministry of the Gospel, not in the "persuasive words of human wisdom," nor with profane display and parade of useless and vain eloquence, but "in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power," ever preaching not themselves but Christ crucified (c. 1347, §2). If a preacher spreads errors and scandals he is subject to the penalties of canon 2317 (exclusion from the ministry of preaching and hearing confessions, etc.); if he preaches heresy he should be dealt with according to law (c. 1347, §3). As to language, the Third Council of Baltimore (n. 216) earnestly urges that it be simple, without being crude and flat; as to duration, the sermon at Mass should be short; all preaching requires careful preparation, which consists especially in the study of Sacred Scripture, theology, church history, and in pious meditation.
   Attendance at Sermons. The faithful should be admonished and exhorted to attend sermons frequently (c. 1348).

Beard Grooming Tips

Use clippers and scissors to shape, with the goal of phasing out the clippers.

To grow your beard full and long, shape and trim it minimally, giving long periods between groomings. The goal is to groom minimally once a month exclusively with scissors, or with very little use of the shape-up clippers. In other words, the beard line on the neck and on the face should go as far out as the natural growth, only clipping a few stray patches that might be slightly out of line.

Similarly, after a few months, and especially years into a beard, you will find that a few snips with the scissors at the bottom of the beard and at the upper lip (if desired) every few months will keep a beautiful and shapely beard, that is, as far as beard decorum and shapeliness goes. A beard that is too short looks patchy, even if it's fashionable. I think it's a bad fashion, along the same lines of daily shaving.

Nota bene. Do not expect your beard to look like the hair on your head. It is a different type of hair, with a different thickness, coarseness and flow. Let it do what it naturally is inclined to do, the same as one normally does with the hair on one's head. You should not be cutting your beard more often than you go for a haircut. That would be excessive, unmanly.

Making a Case for Manly Beards

Secret to a Clean Shave: Don't Shave Daily!

Homiletics --Catholic Encyclopedia 1910

Homiletics is the science that treats of the composition and delivery of a sermon or other religious discourse. It includes all forms of preaching, viz., the sermon, homily, and catechetical instruction. Since the nineteenth century, homiletics has taken its place, especially in Germany, as a branch of pastoral theology. The "Standard Dictionary" defines Homiletics as "that branch of rhetoric that treats of the composition and delivery of sermons or homilies". Many differ from this definition, and maintain that homiletics as a science is distinct from rhetoric. Of this we shall be better able to judge after considering the origin and history of homiletics; and the question will be noticed towards the end of this article. As the first form of preaching was largely the homily, the reader is referred to the article thereon for much that will supplement what is here stated. Needless to say, Christ himself preached, and He commissioned His Apostles to do so. His preaching included two forms of sermon, the missionary and the ministerial (to which correspond the magisterium and the ministerium of the Church), the former to unbelievers, the latter to those already in the Faith. Of the latter we have a striking example in the discourse after the Last Supper, John 14-16. It cannot be said that His preaching took any definite, rounded form, in the sense of a modern sermon; His aim was to sow the seed of the word, which He scattered broadcast, like the sower in the parable. His commission to His Apostles included both kinds. For the former or missionary preaching, see Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; 3:14; Luke 9:2. St. Paul's sermon referred to in Acts 20:7-11, is an example of the second kind of preaching. In this the Apostles were supported by assistants who were elected and consecrated for a purpose, for example, Timothy and Titus; as also by those who had been favoured with charismata. The homily referred to in Justin Martyr's "Apology" (cf. HOMILY) is an example of ministerial, as distinct from missionary, preaching. In missionary preaching the Apostles were also assisted, but in an informal way, by the laity, who explained the Christian doctrine to their acquaintances amongst unbelievers who, in their visits to the Christian assemblies, must have heard something of it, v.g., cf. 1 Corinthians 14:23-24. This is particularly true of Justin Martyr, who, wearing his philosopher's cloak, went about for that purpose. The sermons to the faithful in the early ages were of the simplest kind, being merely expositions or paraphrases of the passage of Scripture that was read, coupled with extempore effusions of the heart. This explains why there is little or nothing in the way of sermons or homilies belonging to that period. It also explains the strange statement made by Sozomen (Church History VII.19), and by Cassiodorus in his "Tripartite History", which Duchesne (Christian Worship, p. 171, tr. London, 1903) apparently accepts, that no one preached at Rome. (Sozomen wrote about the time of Pope Xystus III) Thomassin's explanation (Vetus et Nova Eccl. Disciplina, II, lxxxii, 503) of Sozomen's statement is that there was no preaching in the sense of an elaborate or finished discourse before the time of Pope Leo — with the exception, perhaps, of the address on virginity by Pope Liberius to Marcellina, sister of St. Ambrose, on the occasion of her taking the veil, which is regarded as a private discourse. And the reason for this he attributes to the stress of persecution. Neander (I, 420, note) says of Sozomen's statement: "The remark could not extend to the early times; but suppose it did, it meant that the sermon was only secondary. Or the fact may have been that this Eastern writer was deceived by false accounts from the West; or it may have been that the sermon in the Western Church did not occupy so important a place as it did in the Greek Church."

The office of preaching belonged to bishops, and priests preached only with their permission. Even two such distinguished men as St. Augustine and St. Chrysostom preached, as priests, only when commissioned by their respective bishops. Origen as a layman expounded the Scriptures, but it was by special permission. But this is quite different from saying (as is stated by "Chambers' Encyclopædia", the "Encyclopædia Metropolitana", the "Encyclopædia Britannica", older edition) that priests were not ordinarily allowed to preach before the fifth century. This is not tenable in the light of history. For instance, Felix, priest and martyr, preached in the third century, under two bishops, Maximus and Quintus. Of the latter it was said that his mouth had the tongue of Felix (Thomassin, ibid., c. xiii, 505; Paulinus, "Poems"). Priests, indeed, were forbidden to preach in Alexandria; but that was on account of the Arian heresy. A custom springing from this had spread to the north of Africa; but Valerius, Bishop of Hippo, broke through it, and had Augustine, as yet a priest, to preach before him, because he himself was unable to do so with facility in the Latin language — "cum non satis expedite Latino sermone concionari posset". This was against the custom of the place, as Possidius relates; but Valerius justified his action by an appeal to the East — "in orientalibus ecclesiis id ex more fieri sciens". Even during the time of the prohibition in Alexandria, priests, as we know from Socrates and Sozomen, interpreted the Scriptures publicly in Cæsarea, in Cappadocia, and in Cyprus, candles being lighted the while — accensis lucernis. As soon as the Church received freedom under Constantine, preaching developed very much, at least in external form. Then for the first time, if, perhaps, we except St. Cyprian, the art of oratory was applied to preaching, especially by St. Gregory of Nazianzus, the most florid of Cappadocia's triumvirate of genius. He was already a trained orator, as were many of his hearers, and it is no wonder, as Bardenhewer (Patrology, p. 290) expresses it, "he had to pay tribute to the taste of his own time which demanded a florid and grandiloquent style". But, at the same time, he condemned those preachers who used the eloquence and pronunciation of the theatre. The most notable preachers of the century, St. Basil and the two Gregories (the "Clover-leaf of Cappadocia"), Sts. Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, and Hilary, were all noted orators. Of the number the greatest was St. Chrysostom, the greatest since St. Paul, nor has he been since equalled. Even Gibbon, while not doing him justice, had to praise him; and his teacher of rhetoric, Libanius, is said to have intended John as his successor, "if the Christians had not taken him". It is a mistake, however, to imagine that they preached only oratorical sermons. Quite the contrary; St. Chrysostom's homilies were models of simplicity, and he frequently interrupted his discourse to put questions in order to make sure that he was understood; while St. Augustine's motto was that he humbled himself that Christ might be exalted. In passing we might refer to a strange feature of the time, the applause with which a preacher was greeted. St. Chrysostom especially had to make frequent appeals to his hearers to keep quiet. Bishops commonly preached outside their own dioceses, especially in the great cities; polished sermons were evidently in demand, and a stipend was given, for we read that two Asiatic bishops, Antiochus and Severianus, went to Constantinople to preach, being more desirous of money than of the spiritual welfare of their hearers (Thomassin, ibid., ix, 504).

After the age here described preaching was on the decline in the West, partly because of the decay of the Latin language (cf. Fénelon, "Dial.", 164), and in the East, owing to the controversies on Arianism, Nestorianism, Eutychianism, Macedonianism, and other heresies. But still preaching was regarded as the chief duty of bishops; for instance, Cæsarius, Bishop of Arles, gave charge of all the temporal affairs of his diocese to deacons, that he might devote all his time to the reading of the Scriptures, to prayer, and to preaching. The next great name in preaching is that of St. Gregory the Great, particularly as a homilist. He preached twenty homilies, and dictated twenty more, because, through illness and loss of voice, he was unable to preach them personally. He urged bishops very strongly to preach; and, after holding up to them the example of the Apostles, he threatened the bishops of Sardinia in the following words: "Si cujus libet Episcopi Paganum rusticum invenire potuero, in Episcopum fortiter vindicabo" (III, ep. xxvi). An edict was issued by King Guntram stating that the assistance of the public judges was to be used to bring to the hearing of the word of God, through fear of punishment, those who were not disposed to come through piety. The Synod of Trullo laid down that bishops should preach on all days, especially on Sundays; and, by the same synod, bishops who preached outside their own diocese were reduced to the status of priests, because being desirous of another's harvest they were indifferent to their own — "ut qui alienæ messis appetentes essent, suæ incuriosi". At the Council of Arles, in 813, bishops were strongly exhorted to preach; and the Council of Mainz, in the same year, laid down that bishops should preach on Sundays and feast days either themselves (suo marte) or though their vicars. In the Second Council of Reims (813), can. xiv, xv, it was enjoined that bishops should preach the homilies and sermons of the Fathers, so that all could understand. And in the Third Council of Tours (can. xvii), in the same year, bishops were ordered to make a translation of the homilies of the Fathers into the rustic Roman tongue, or theodesque — the rustic Roman tongue being a species of corrupt Latin, or patois, understood by the uneducated (Thomassin, "De Benef.", II, l. III, c. lxxxv, p. 510). Charlemagne and Louis the Pious were equally insistent on the necessity of preaching. The former went so far as to appoint a special day, and any bishop who failed to preach in his cathedral before that day was to be deposed. Pastors, too, were ordered to preach to their people as best they could; if they knew the Scriptures, they were to preach them; if not, they were at least to exhort their hearers to avoid evil and do good (Sixth Council of Arles, 813, can. x). The Homiliarium of Charlemagne is treated elsewhere (see HOMILIARIUM).

We next come to the Middle Ages. It has been commonly said by non-Catholic writers that there was little or no preaching during that time. So popular was preaching, and so deep the interest taken in it, that preachers commonly found it necessary to travel by night, lest their departure should be prevented. It is only in a treatise on the history of preaching that justice could be done this period. The reader is referred to Digby's "Mores Catholici", vol. II, pp. 158-172, and to Neale, "Mediæval Sermons". As to style, it was simple and majestic, possessing little, perhaps, of so-called eloquence as at present understood, but much religious power, with an artless simplicity, a sweetness and persuasiveness all its own, and such as would compare favourably with the hollow declamation of a much-lauded later period. Some sermons were wholly in verse, and, in their intense inclusiveness of thought, remind one of the Sermon on the Mount: —

Magna promisimus; majora promissa sunt nobis:
Servemus hæc; adspiremus ad illa.
Voluptas brevis; pœna perpetua.
Modica passio; gloria infinita.
Multorum vocatio; paucorum electio;
Omnium retributio
(St. Francis, as quoted by Digby, op. cit., 159.)

The characteristics of the preaching of the time might be summed up as follows: First, an extraordinary use of Scripture, not a mere introducing of the Sacred Text as an accretion, but such a use as comes from entwinement with the preacher's own thought. It would almost appear as if many preachers knew the Scriptures by heart. In some cases, however, this admirable use was marred by an exaggerated mystical interpretation, which originated in the East and was much sought after by the Jews. Secondly, power on the part of the preachers of adapting their discourses to the wants of the poor and ignorant. Thirdly, simplicity, the aim being to impress a single striking idea. Fourthly, use of familiar maxims, examples, and illustrations from life — their minds must have been much in touch with nature. And, fifthly, intense realization, which necessarily resulted in a certain dramatic effect — they saw with their eyes, heard with their ears, and the past became present. For examples, the reader is again referred to the collection of "Mediæval Sermons" by Neale.

A few words as to the influence of scholastic philosophy. It supplied an almost inexhaustible store of information; it trained the mind in analysis and precision; whilst, at the same time, it supplied a lucidity of order and cogency of arrangement such as we look for in vain in even the great orations of Chrysostom. On the other hand, philosophy regards man only as an intellectual being, without considering his emotions, and makes its appeal solely to his intellectual side. And, even in this appeal, philosophy, while, like algebra, speaking the formal language of intellect, is likely to be wanting from the view-point of persuasiveness, inasmuch as, from its nature, it makes for condensation rather than for amplification. The latter is the most important thing in oratory — "Summa laus eloquentiæ amplificare rem ornando." Fénelon (Second Dialogue) describes it as portrayal; De Quincey, as a holding of the thought until the mind gets time to eddy about it; Newman gives a masterly analysis of it (Idea of a Univ., 1899, p. 280); his own sermons are remarkable for this quality of amplification as are those of Bourdaloue on the intellectual, and those of Massillon on the intellectual-emotional side, v. g. the latter's sermon on the Prodigal Son. Philosophy, indeed, is necessary for oratory; philosophy alone does not constitute oratory, and, if too one-sided, may have an injurious effect — "Logic, therefore, so much as is useful, is to be referred to this one place with all her well-couched heads and topics, until it be time to open her contracted palm into a graceful and ornate rhetoric" (Milton, "Tractate of Education"). What has been here stated refers to philosophy as a system, not to individual philosophers. It is scarcely necessary to say that many Scholastics, such as Sts. Thomas and Bonaventure, were noted preachers. It is a pity, however, that St. Bonaventure did not treat a little more fully of Dilatatio, which forms the third part of his work "De Arte Concionandi".

In a sketch, however brief, of the history of preaching, a reference to the mystics is called for; but, as their preaching cannot be explained without an exposition of their system, the reader is referred to the article on MYSTICISM. Suffice it to say here that the tendency of mysticism is, in the main, the opposite to that of philosophy. Mysticism makes for warmth; philosophy, for coldness — "Cold as a mountain in its star-pitched tent stood high philosophy." The next noted period in the history of preaching is the Renaissance. This period, too, is treated in its proper place. As to preaching, Humanism contributed more to oratorical display than to piety in the pulpit. The motto of its two representative types, Reuchlin and Erasmus, was: "Back to Cicero and Quintilian." Erasmus on visiting Rome exclaimed: "Quam mellitas eruditorum hominum confabulationes, quot mundi lumina." Batiffol (Hist. of the Roman Breviary, p. 230) says: "One Good Friday, preaching before the pope, the most famous orator of the Roman Court considered that he could not better praise the Sacrifice of Calvary than by relating the self-devotion of Decius and the sacrifice of Iphigenia." Fortunately, this period did not last long; the good sense of ecclesiastics rebelled against it, and the religious upheaval that soon followed gave them something else to think of. In the Reformation and post-Reformation period the air was too charged with controversy to favour high-class preaching. The Council of Trent recommended preachers to turn aside from polemics; it also (Sess. V, cap. ii) pronounced that the primary duty of preaching devolved on bishops, unless they were hindered by a legitimate impediment; and ordered that they were to preach in person in their own church, or, if impeded, through others; and, in other churches, through pastors or other representatives.

The famous names of the French preachers of the classical seventeenth-century period — according to Voltaire, probably the greatest in pulpit oratory of all time — are fully dealt with in their proper place. It is sufficient to state here that the greatest were Bossuet, Bourdaloue, and Massillon; Fénelon, matchless, probably, for purity of style, burnt his sermons. The first was the most majestic; the second, the most logical and intellectually compelling; the third, the greatest searcher of hearts, the most like Chrysostom, and, taken all in all, the greatest of the three. We are told that Voltaire kept a copy of his "Grand Carême" on his table, side by side with the "Athalie" of Racine. In this age Chrysostom was the great model for imitation; but it was Chrysostom the orator, not Chrysostom the homilist. It would be a mistake at the present day to imitate their style, which was influenced not a little by the unhealthy stimulus of the admiring court of Louis XIV. Their majestic style, with its grand exordium and its sublime peroration, became the fashion in the succeeding age; but it was a case of ordinary men trying to don the armour, and to handle the weapons, of giants, or of the unskillful rider venturing on the horses of Achilles. The result was that the imitators became proficient only in mannerisms and affectation, and dropped into sickly sentimentality and mechanical formalism. The sensible "Dialogues" of Fénelon, however, remained as a great check, being in fact to preaching what Hamlet's address to the players has been to acting. Of these "Dialogues" Bishop Dupanloup has said: "If the precepts of Fénelon had been well understood, they would have long since fixed the character of sacred eloquence among us." Sound principles, too, were laid down by Blaise Gisbert in his "L'Eloquence chrétienne dans l'idée et dans la pratique", by Amadeus Bajocensis in "Paulus Ecclesiastes, seu Eloquentia Christiana", and by Guido ab Angelis in "De Verbi Dei Prædicatione", all of which sounded a return to the simplicity of style of the Fathers.

In this brief historical sketch we are noticing only epochs, and the next important one is that of the so-called conférences in Notre-Dame in Paris, following the Revolution of 1830. The most prominent name identified with this new style of preaching was that of the Dominican Lacordaire, who, for a time, with Montalembert, was associate editor with de Lamennais of "L'Avenir". This new style of preaching discarded the form, the division, and analysis of the scholastic method. The power of Lacordaire as an orator was beyond question; but the conférences, as they have come down to us, while possessing much merit, are an additional proof that oratory is too elusive to be committed to the pages of a book. The Jesuit Père de Ravignan nobly shared with Lacordaire the honour of occupying the pulpit of Notre-Dame. For some years, other able but less eloquent men followed, and the semi-religious, semi-philosophic style was beginning to grow tiresome, when Monsabré, a disciple of Lacordaire, with a single stroke set it aside, and confined himself, in a masterly series of discourses, to an explanation of the Creed; whereupon it was sententiously remarked that the bell had been ringing long enough, it was time for Mass to begin (cf. Boyle, "Irish Eccl. Rec.", May, 1909).

As to preaching at the present day, we can clearly trace the influence, in many respects, of Scholasticism, both as to matter and form. In matter a sermon may be either moral, dogmatic, historical, or liturgical — by moral and dogmatic it is meant that one element will predominate, without, however, excluding the other. As to form, a discourse may be either a formal, or set, sermon; a homily (for different kinds see HOMILY); or a catechetical instruction. In the formal, or set, sermon the influence of Scholasticism is most strikingly seen in the analytic method, resulting in divisions and subdivisions. This is the thirteenth-century method, which, however, had its beginnings in the sermons of Sts. Bernard and Anthony. The underlying syllogism, too, in every well-thought-out sermon is due to Scholasticism; how far it should appear is a question that belongs to a treatise on homiletics. As to the catechetical discourse, it has been so much favoured by Pope Pius X that it might be regarded as one of the characteristics of preaching at the present day. It is, however, a very old form of preaching, as the name (from kata and heche) implies, i.e. the instruction that was given by word of mouth to the catechumens. It was used by Christ Himself, by St. Paul, by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, by St. Clement and Origen at Alexandria, by St. Augustine, who wrote a special treatise thereon (De catechizandis rudibus), also, in later times, by Gerson, chancellor of the University of Paris, who wrote "De parvulis ad Christum trahendis"; Clement XI and Benedict XIV gave to it all the weight of their authority, and one of the greatest of all catechists was St. Charles Borromeo. There is the danger, however, from the very nature of the subject, of this form of preaching becoming too dry and purely didactic, a mere catechesis, or doctrinism, to the exclusion of the moral element and of Sacred Scripture. In recent days, organized missionary preaching to non-Catholics has received a new stimulus. In the United States, particularly, this form of religious activity has flourished; and the Paulists, amongst whom the name of Father Hecker is deserving of special mention, are to be mainly identified with the revival. Special facilities are afforded at the central institute of the organization for the training of those who are to impart catechetical instruction, and the non-controversial principles of the association are calculated to commend it to all earnestly seeking after truth.

Bibliography of the historical development of preaching
Practice preceded theory. Certain ideas are to be found in the Fathers, and these have been collected by Paniel in the introduction to his work "Gesch. der christl. Beredsamkeit". The first to treat of the theory of preaching was St. Chrysostom, in his work "On the Priesthood" (peri Hierosynes). Inasmuch as this contains only reflections on preaching, St. Augustine's "De doctrinâ Christianâ" might be regarded as the first manual on the subject. It consists of four books. The first three deal with collecting the materials for preaching, "modus inveniendi quæ intelligenda sunt", and the last with the presentation thereof, "modus proferendi quæ intellecta sunt". He goes to Cicero for rules in the latter. He makes a distinction, in which he evidently follows Cicero, between sapientia (wisdom) and eloquentia (the best expression of it). Sapientia without eloquentia will do no good; neither will eloquentia without sapientia, and it may do harm; the ideal is sapientia with eloquentia. He adapts Cicero's ut doceat, ut delectet, ut flectat, changing them to ut veritas pateat, ut placeat, ut moveat; and lays down these as the rules by which a sermon is to be judged. This work of Augustine was the classic one in homiletics. In this connexion we are reminded of the three conditions which Hugh of St. Victor (died 1141) in the Middle Ages laid down for a sermon: that it should be "holy, prudent, and noble", for which, respectively, he required sanctity, knowledge, and eloquence in the preacher; and of Fénelon's "must prove, must portray, must impress" (Second Dialogue). We might also mention St. Augustine's work "De rudibus catechizandis". St. Gregory the Great's work, "Liber regulæ pastoralis", is still extant, but is inferior to St. Augustine's; it is rather a treatise on pastoral theology than on homiletics. We have it on the testimony of Hincmar that a copy used to be given to bishops at their consecration. In the ninth century Rabanus Maurus (died 856), Archbishop of Mainz, wrote a treatise "De institutione clericorum", in which he depends much on St. Augustine. In the twelfth century Guibert, Abbot of Nogent (died 1124), wrote a famous work on preaching entitled "Quo ordine sermo fieri debet". This is one of the historical landmarks in preaching. It is replete with judicious instruction; it recommends that preaching should be preceded by prayer; it says that it is more important to preach about morals than on faith, that for moral sermons the human heart must be studied, and that the best way of doing so is (as Massillon recommended in later times) to look into one's own. It is more original and more independent than the work of Rabanus Maurus, who, as has been said, drew largely from St. Augustine. Guibert's work was recommended by Pope Alexander as a model to all preachers. St. Francis gave to his friars the same directions as are herein contained.

To the same period belongs the "Summa de arte prædicatoriâ" by Alain de Lille. He gives a definition of preaching: "Manifesta et publica instructio morum et fidei, informationi hominum deserviens, ex rationum semitâ et auctoritatum fonte proveniens". He lays stress on explanation and use of Scripture, and recommends the preacher to insert verba commotiva. The remarks of Cæsarius of Heisterbach (died 1240) have been collected by Cruel; his sermons display skill in construction and considerable oratorical power. Conrad of Brundelsheim (died 1321), whose sermons have come down to us under his cognomen of "Brother Sock" (Sermones Fratris Socci), was one of the most interesting preachers at this time in Germany. Humbert of Romans, General of the Dominicans, in the second book of his work, "De eruditione prædicatorum", claims that he can teach "a way of promptly producing a sermon for any set of men, and for all variety of circumstances" (Neale, "Mediæval Sermons", Introd., xix). Linsenmayer, in his history of preaching, gives information about Humbert, who was a severe critic of the sermons of his time. Trithemius quotes a work by Albertus Magnus, "De arte prædicandi", which is lost. St. Bonaventure wrote "De arte concionandi", in which he treats of divisio, distinctio, dilatatio, but deals extensively only with the first. St. Thomas's claim rests chiefly on the "Summa", which, of course, has principally influenced preaching since, both in matter and form. He insists very strongly (III, Q. lxvii, a. 2) on the importance of preaching, and says that it belongs principally to bishops, and baptizing to priests, the latter of whom he regards as holding the place of the seventy disciples. There is a treatise entitled "De arte et vero modo prædicandi" attributed to him, but it is simply a compilation of his ideas about preaching that was made by another. Henry of Hesse is credited with a treatise, "De arte prædicandi", which is probably not due to him. There is a monograph quoted by Hartwig which is interesting for the classification of the forms of sermon: modus antiquissimus, i. e. postillatio, which is purely the exegetic homily; modus modernus, the thematic style; modus antiquus, a sermon on the Biblical text; and modus subalternus, a mixture of homiletic and text sermon. Jerome Dungersheym wrote a tract "De modo discendi et docendi ad populum sacra seu de modo prædicandi" (1513). He treats of his subject on three points: the preacher, the sermon, the listeners. He lays stress on Scripture as the book of the preacher. Ulrich Surgant wrote a "Manuale Curatorum" (1508), in which he also recommends Scripture. In his first book he gives for material of preaching the usual order — credenda, facienda, fugienda, timenda, appetenda. And he ends by saying: "Congrua materia prædicationis est Sacra Scriptura." He uses the figure of a tree in laying stress on the necessity of an organic structure (Kirchenlex., pp. 201-202).

In the works of the two humanists, Reuchlin (Liber congestorum de arte prædicandi) and Erasmus (Ecclesiastes seu de ratione concionandi), the return is marked to Cicero and Quintilian. A masterwork on the art of preaching is the "Rhetorica Sacra" (Lisbon, 1576) of Luis de Granada, for modern use, perhaps, a little old. The work shows an easy grasp of rhetoric, founded on the principles of Aristotle, Demetrius, and Cicero. He treats the usual subjects of invention, arrangement, style, and delivery in easy and polished Latin. Of the same class is Didacus Stella in his "Liberdemodo concionandi" (1576). Valerio, in Italy, also wrote on the art of preaching. We next come to another of the landmarks on preaching, the "Instructiones Pastorum" by St. Charles Borromeo (1538-84). At his request Valerio, Bishop of Verona, wrote a systematic treatise on homiletics entitled "Rhetorica Ecclesiastica" (1575), in which he points out the difference between profane and sacred eloquence, and emphasizes the two principal objects of the preacher, to teach and to move (docere et commovere). Laurentius a Villavicentio, in his work "De formandis sacris concionibus" (1565), does not approve of transferring the ancient modes of speaking to preaching. He would treat the truths of the Gospel according to 1 Timothy 3:16. He also recommended moderation in fighting heresy. The same was the view of St. Francis Borgia, whose contribution to homiletics is the small but practical work: "Libellus de ratione concionandi". Claudius Acquaviva, General of the Jesuits, wrote, in 1635, "Instructio pro superioribus" (in "Epistolæ præpositorum generalium ad patres et fratres S.J."). They were principally ascetic, and in them he regulated the spiritual training necessary for the preacher. Carolus Regius, S.J., deals, in his "Orator Christianus" (1613), with the whole field of homiletics under the grouping: "De concionatore"; "De concione"; "De concionantis prudentiâ et industriâ". Much is to be found in the writings of St. Vincent de Paul, of St. Alphonsus Liguori, and in St. Francis de Sales, especially in his celebrated letter to Monsignor Fremiot, Archbishop of Bourges. Among the Dominicans we find Alexander Natalis with his "Institutio concionantium tripartita" (Paris, 1702). In the "Rhetorica ecclesiastica" (1627) of Jacobus de Graffiis is contained a symposium of the instructions on preaching by the Franciscan Francis Panigarola, the Jesuit Francis Borgia, and the Carmelite Johannes a Jesu. The "Dialogues" of Fénelon, the work of Père Blaise Gisbert, that of Amadeus Bajocensis and of Guido ab Angelis have already been referred to. In the nineteenth century homiletics took its place as a branch of pastoral theology, and many manuals have been written thereon, for instance, in German, compendia by Brand, Laberenz, Zarbl, Fluck, and Schüch; in Italian, by Gotti and Audisio; and many in French and English, some of which are quoted in the bibliography at the end of this article.

The question as to how far homiletics should make use of profane rhetoric is often raised. Some assert its independent character, and say that it is independent in origin, in matter, and in purpose: in origin, because it has not grown out of profane rhetoric; in matter, because it has to deal not with natural, but with supernatural truths clearly defined in Revelation; and in purpose, because the aim is to lead souls to Cooperate with the grace of the Holy Spirit. The upholders of this view point also to certain passages in Scripture and in the Fathers, notably to the words of St. Paul (1 Corinthians 2:4): "And my speech and my preaching was not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in shewing of the Spirit and power"; also to 1 Corinthians 1:17 and 2:1-2; and 2 Corinthians 4:2; and to the testimony of Cyprian (Ep. ad Donat.), Arnobius (Adv. Nationes), Lactantius (Institutionum divinarum), and to Sts. Gregory of Nazianzus, Augustine, Jerome, and Chrysostom. The last-named says that the great difference may be summed up in this: that the orator seeks personal glory, the preacher practical good. On the other hand St. Paul's own sermons are in many cases replete with oratory, e.g., his sermon on the Areopagus; and the oratorical element generally enters largely into Scripture. Lactantius, the Christian Cicero, regretted that there were so few trained preachers (Divine Institutes V.1), and we know that St. Gregory of Nazianzus, as well as Sts. Chrysostom and Augustine, made use of rhetoric in preaching. The writer of this article thinks that there would be no room for difference of opinion if oratory were defined not according to the style that prevails in any particular period, but according to that which constitutes its very essence, viz, persuasiveness. And he thinks it will be found that the Fathers, in speaking against oratory in preaching, had in mind the false style that then prevailed. For instance, St. Gregory of Nazianzus censured the use in the pulpit of the eloquence and pronunciation of the theatre; but surely that was not to oppose real oratory. Also we know that many unhealthy excrescences had grown by this time around Greek oratory, and it was probably such imperfections that those who spoke against it had in mind. Who, for instance, can read Demetrius "On Style" without feeling how petty are many of the tricks of speech and figures that are there found? Many extravagances are indulged in, in the name of oratory, but true oratory, as the art of persuasion, can never be out of place in the pulpit.

Sources
KEPPLER in Kirchenlex., s.v. Homiletik, gives an extensive, especially German, bibliography; THOMASSIN, Vetus et Nova Ecclesiæ Disciplina (Paris, 1688); DIGBY, Mores Catholici (London, 1846); NEALE, Mediæval Sermons (London, 1856); BARDENHEWER, Patrology, tr. SHAHAN (St. Louis, 1908); DUCHESNE, Christian Worship (tr. London, 1903); SCHMID, Manual of Patrology (tr. St. Louis, 1899); SCHÜCH, The Priest in the Pulpit (tr. New York, 1905); POTTER, Sacred Eloquence (New York, 1891); MACNAMARA, Sacred Rhetoric (Dublin, 1882); BOYLE, Instructions on Preaching (New York, 1902); FEENEY, Manual of Sacred Rhetoric (St. Louis, 1901); COPPENS, Oratorical Composition (New York, 1885); FÉNELON, Three Dialogues on Pulpit Eloquence (tr. London and Philadelphia, 1897); HOGAN, Clerical Studies (Boston, 1898); STANG, Pastoral Theology (New York, 1897); MULLOIS, The Clergy and the Pulpit (tr. London, 1867). Many works on pastoral theology contain useful chapters on homiletics, amongst others: MANNING, Eternal Priesthood (London, 1884); GIBBONS, The Ambassador of Christ (Baltimore, 1896); OAKLEY, The Priest on the Mission (London, 1871); SMITH, The Training of a Priest (New York, 1899); HAMON, Traité de la Prædication (Paris, 1906); MONSABRÉ, La Prédication, avant, pendant, et après (Paris, 1900); BOUCHER, L'Eloquence de la chaire (Lille, 1894); ARNAULD, Reflexions sur l'Eloquence des Prédicateurs (Paris, 1695); MAURY, Essai sur l'Eloquence de la chaire (Paris, 1810); DUPANLOUP, Entretiens sur la Prédication (Paris, 1866); FONTAINE, La Chaire et l'Apologétique au XIXe siècle (Paris, 1887); LONGHAYE, La Prédication (Paris, 1897); MOURRET, Leçons sur l'Art de Précher (Paris, 1909). Non-Catholic works in English: GRINFIELD, History of Preaching (London, 1880); PHILLIPS BROOKS, Lectures on Preaching (London, 1903); HOPPIN, Homiletics; Pastoral Theology (New York, 1901); KER, History of Preaching (London, 1888); BEECHER, Yale Lectures on Preaching (New York, 1892); BURTON, In Pulpit and Parish (Boston, 1888); JAMES, The Message and the Messenger (London, 1898); DARGAN, History of Preaching (London, 1905); BROADUS, Preparation and Delivery of a Sermon (London, 1871); SHURTER, The Rhetoric of Oratory (New York, 1909).

Source: Beecher, P. (1910). Homiletics. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved January 7, 2020 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07443a.htm