SACRED ORATORY. - It is the oral presentation of Christian truths, made by one who has the authority to do so, in order to call the hearers to faith or to the practice of the moral law.
I. OBJECT OF SACRED ORATORY
It is indicated by Christ himself: "Praedicate Evangelium..." (Mk. 16:15): "Docentes eos servare omnia quaecumque mandavi vobis" (Mt. 28, 20). St. Thomas, developing the content — comprehensive yet synthetic — of the two phrases, writes: "Preachers must enlighten regarding what is to be believed, direct in acting, indicate what is to be avoided and, now threatening, now exhorting, preach to men" (Comment. in Mt., V). The Council of Trent adds: "Announcing to them the vices they must avoid and the virtues they must practice" (Sess. V, can. 2; cf. also Pius IX, encyclical of 9 Nov. 1846).
The propagation and preservation of the Gospel is entrusted essentially to the living, spoken word, more than to writing or anything else. Christ left nothing written; the Apostles considered preaching their particular task (cf. Acts 6, 2) as an indispensable means of apostolate: "Fides ex auditu" (Rom. 10, 14 ff.). What the Apostles and disciples wrote was only to supplement the living word. The ordinary subject matter of sacred oratory is the Creed and the Decalogue, the precepts of the Church and the Sacraments, the virtues and vices, the duties proper to the different classes of persons, the last things of man and the other eternal truths (cf. Motu proprio Sacrorum antistitum of Leo XIII, 31 July 1894). Accidental and, as it were, an external wrapping is the manner of presenting the dogmas, of explaining them as far as possible by reasoning, of discerning their coordination, their adaptation to every age, the increase in good that they bring to individuals and to the community. The sacred oratory of today, in its essential content, is the same as that of the first ages of the Church; the truths of faith proclaimed in succession of time down to the present day are nothing other than an explicit unfolding of what was already contained, but implicitly, in the very earliest Creeds.
The source for sacred oratory is Holy Scripture, which contains par excellence the word of God, completed and authentically interpreted by the divine-apostolic Tradition, and therefore there are added the infallible decisions of the Holy See and of the ecumenical Councils, and those, although not infallible, of provincial councils and diocesan synods. A derived source is theological teaching, when it expounds not opinions controversies and scholastic disputes, but what is indisputable, universally certain, dogmatic in short. All this essential content of the faith is the preacher's duty to present in conformity with the needs of his times, thus confronted with history, with the sciences, clothed in current eloquence, adapted to the mentality; sacred oratory will therefore have, as secondary sources, the sciences, history, literature.
II. THE JURIDICAL FOUNDATIONS OF SACRED ORATORY, THE PREACHERS, THE HEARERS
Christ, to whom "all power was given in heaven and on earth" by virtue of the mission entrusted to him by the Father, presented himself to the world as a teacher of truth and entrusted to the Apostles the task of continuing his work, making them guarantors of the genuineness of the teaching: "Whoever listens to you listens to me, whoever despises you despises me. And whoever despises me despises the one who sent me" (Lk. 10:16). "Behold, I am with you until the consummation of the ages" (Mt. 28:18 ff.). The Apostles therefore received from Christ the fullest power to preach, which they transmitted by divine right to their successors, popes and bishops, constituted as preachers by birth, authentic, who together make up the teaching Church; priests and deacons preach in their name. A priest, therefore, in order to be able to preach, must have a commission from his own Ordinary; outside his own diocese, from the Ordinary of the place; no one may arrogate this right to himself on his own authority.
There was no lack of rebels who, proclaiming themselves enlightened by a higher impulse, sought to spread doctrines in contrast with the teaching of the Church and were promptly condemned. The "pauperes de Lugduno" (Waldensians) arrogated to themselves the power to exercise the ministry of preaching without depending on the legitimate hierarchy, imitated in this in Italy by those numerous heretics who looked to Segarelli, to Fra Dolcino (v.), to the Fraticelli (v.), etc. Wycliffe and Hus claimed that priests of good life and sufficient instruction had the right to preach by force of priestly ordination, even against the will of the bishop and notwithstanding excommunication; a claim condemned by Martin V in 1418
(Denz-U, 643-44). The Protestants admitted an equal right even for the laity, thus linking themselves back to the Waldensians; and experience has shown to what confusion and what excesses one can come by this path.
Present-day legislation (CIC, tit. XX, cann. 1327-51) follows the principle that the office of preaching the Catholic doctrine belongs principally to the Roman Pontiff for the universal Church, and to the bishops for their dioceses (can. 1327 § 1). Bishops have of themselves the duty to preach the Gospel, where they are not prevented by a legitimate cause: moreover, besides parish priests, they must also avail themselves of the help of other persons suitable for fruitfully discharging this office of preaching (can. 1327 § 2).
It is lawful to exercise preaching only for one who has received an express commission from the legitimate superior, or has obtained an office to which the duty of preaching is annexed, according to the sacred canons (can. 1328). To the clerics of the secular clergy and to religious this faculty is given by the Ordinary of the place within the bounds of his territory (can. 1337). For religious, the license of their own superior is further required (can. 1339 § 2).
As regards preaching to religious, to novices, to persons who for reasons of service, education, hospitality, or frail health dwell night and day in religious houses, if it is a question of an exempt clerical religion the faculty to preach is given according to the constitutions by the competent superior, and he may also call members of the secular clergy, or of other religions, provided they are approved by their Ordinary, or superior (can. 1338 § 1); if it is a question of non-exempt religious, or of a lay religion, even if exempt, the faculty to preach is given by the Ordinary of the place, to which must be added, if it is a question of nuns subject to regulars, the license of the regular superior; if it is a question of a lay religion, the assent of the superior (can. 1338 §§ 2-3). From which it appears that the Ordinary of the place is of himself the supreme moderator of preaching in his own territory. To avoid, however, any exaggeration, the CIC recommends to the Ordinary of the place not to deny without grave reason the faculty to preach to religious presented by their own superior and not to revoke it once given, and especially not to take it away in a body from all the religious of a house (can. 1339 § 1).
In preachers, moreover, those intellectual and moral qualities are required that render their word effective; the judgment on such suitability belongs immediately or mediately, always to the Ordinary of the place. As for intellectual qualities, the suitability must be established by examination, which may be imposed even after the faculty has been given a first time, if doubts arise (can. 1340). If a priest from outside the diocese is invited to preach, the license of the Ordinary of the place where the preaching takes place is required, and the local superiors must request it, according to the cases (can. 1341). The faculty to preach can be given only to priests, to deacons, to other clerics in particular cases; not to the laity. In recent times, from Pius IX to Pius XI there was no pontiff who, directly or through the Sacred Consistorial Congregation, did not give detailed and precise dispositions regarding preaching. The same solicitude was felt by many saints, who founded from the Middle Ages to the present day religious orders and congregations with the precise purpose of giving the Church excellent preachers.
To the preacher, whoever he may be, can. 1347 prescribes that he say "what the faithful must believe and do to be saved"; it further recommends him to shun profane and abstruse subjects, exceeding the common capacity of the hearers, and to exercise the evangelical ministry not in the persuasions of human culture, not in the profane and flattering display of an empty and pretentious eloquence, but in the manifestation of the spirit and of virtue; not to preach himself, but Christ Crucified. The Sacred Consistorial Congregation, dated 28 June 1917, Regolamento circa la sacra predicazione, art. 20 prescribes: "The subjects of sermons must be essentially sacred. If a preacher wished to treat others... always nonetheless suitable to the House of God, the license of the Ordinary is required. To all preachers, however, it is absolutely and entirely forbidden to treat of politics in Church."
No human authority has the right to impede preaching itself, as St. Peter and St. John proclaimed before the sanhedrin: "We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20); St. Paul asserts that "the word of God is not bound" (II Tim. 2:9) and felt in himself the urgent obligation to preach: "Necessitas mihi incumbit" (I Cor. 9:16). On the part of all men there is the obligation to listen frequently to preachers and to put their teachings into practice, since this is a condition for eternal life (can. 1348).
III. AIMS TO BE ACHIEVED AND VARIOUS FORMS OF ORATORY
From the various classes of persons to whom preaching is addressed and from the various circumstances in which preaching takes place, various forms or kinds of oratory have arisen. Thus bishops deliver their homilies on the major feasts; they may deliver them in any church of their own territory, but ordinarily they are given in the cathedral. While the bishop is preaching, or is present at the preaching, he may forbid preaching at the same time in other places, with the exception of large cities (can. 1343).
Thus parish priests give the explanation of the Sunday and feast-day Gospel, which is also called a homily. This is a personal obligation for the parish priest: the omission of the homily may be permitted only on the major feasts (can. 1344). It would be desirable that this explanation of the Gospel be given also at the other Masses celebrated publicly: the Ordinary may command it (can. 1346).
In the liturgical seasons, especially in Lent and Advent, the Church desires (can. 1346) that preaching be more frequent, even daily, in order to give the people a more complete, exact and organic vision of the truth. Thus there arose Lenten and Advent courses, some of them justly famous. The lectures given by the canon theologian (can. 400) will have as their subject the explanation of Sacred Scripture or, according to the bishop's wish, other dogmatic, moral or apologetic topics. In preparation for annual or periodic occasions, e.g., the pastoral visitation, tridua, novenas and octaves were instituted. Particular devotions have dedicated entire months to a given cult with preaching: the month of May to Our Lady, the month of June to the Sacred Heart, the month of March to St. Joseph and in some places the month of November for the dead. In many places, modifying somewhat the Clementine dispositions, the Forty Hours' triduum was instituted with corresponding preaching. The clergy and religious must, at fixed intervals or on particular occasions (cans. 1367 n. 4; 1001; 126; 541; 571 § 3; 595 § 1, n. 1; 465 § 3; 420 § 1, n. 7, § 2; 2313 § 1, n. 5), make the spiritual exercises (v.), which are for the most part preached, and from these a whole genre of specialized oratory has arisen. Following this example, closed retreats are also held for laypeople of both sexes, separated, ordinarily according to their professions, so that the preaching may have a more precise purpose and more abundant fruits. The CIC (can. 1349) has decreed as obligatory, at least every ten years for each parish, an extraordinary course of preaching; these are the Missions (v. MISSIONI INTERNE), whose institution goes back to St. Vincent de Paul. Thus preaching is in a continuous effort of evolution and adaptation to the ever new demands of the varied forms of social life. The Church, ever vigilant guardian of the deposit of Revelation, checks whether this deposit is presented exactly to the faithful; it has decreed at times very grave penalties (can. 1347 §§ 2-3) against the heralds of the divine word who do not adhere to its prescriptions or even spread errors and scandals.
In certain periods and with magnificent exponents of the episcopate and the priesthood, Christian oratory, through depth of thought, harmony of parts, elegance of language and warmth of exposition, was brought to the splendors of eloquence, constituting a genre of its own in the various literatures, sacred oratory. Like every other, however, in this sense, it has had its ups and downs and known its declines.
Bibliography9 works
Elio Degano
IV. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The first hints of a properly so-called sacred oratory can be found in the apologists (v. APOLOGETICS, LITERATURE), but it had its most luminous manifestation in the 4th and 5th centuries, when, not without the influence of the pagan rhetorical schools, it reached its apogee. Already St. Athanasius (v.) in Egypt and St. Hilary of Poitiers (v.) in the West began to give illustrious proofs of it; it soon had a broader development with St. Basil (v.), St. Gregory of Nazianzus (v.), St. Gregory of Nyssa (v.) and culminated with St. John Chrysostom (v.). In the West, oratory perhaps did not reach the formal splendor of the Greeks, although it was often equal and sometimes superior in content, with St. Ambrose (v.) and particularly with St. Jerome (v.) and St. Augustine (v.).
The age that follows already marks a decline. Yet there was no lack in the East of great preachers, from St. Cyril of Alexandria (v.) to St. John Damascene and others. And in the West, St. Leo the Great (v.) manifested himself as admirable for the solemnity of his eloquence and St. Gregory the Great (v.) for the practicality of his teaching, and they are beautifully crowned by St. Peter Chrysologus, St. Maximus of Turin (v.), St. Caesarius of Arles (v.), Ennodius of Pavia and a few others. With the 6th century, sacred oratory can be said to disappear as oratory, and preaching itself rarely manifests itself in literature. Spain gives us St. Isidore of Seville (v.) and England St. Bede (v.); but then, certainly not the preachers, but almost entirely the literary monuments of sacred oratory come to be lacking, until it rises again vigorously with Hugh of St. Victor (d. 1141)
and his 100 sermons, 19 homilies and various scriptural lessons, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153) with the 86 sermons on the Song of Songs, 17 on the psalm Qui habitat, 67 sermons on the Virgin and several eulogies of saints and homiletic commentaries.
With the formation of new nationalities and the rise of new languages, there emerges what is rightly called popular oratory, prepared by the preaching of St. Dominic of Guzmán and St. Francis of Assisi, and continued by their disciples. Of the former few fragments survive; of the latter a few "admonitions" contained in the Verba aurea S. P. Francisci are preserved. In the Franciscan school, besides St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, mystic and preacher, grew St. Anthony of Padua (v.), considered the first of the popular preachers: his Sermons, which have come down to us in Latin, must have served as preachable material for sermons in the vernacular. Also famous was Berthold of Regensburg (d. 1272), "the Bernardino of the 1200s," a popular preacher of Germany. For the Dominican school one must remember St. Thomas Aquinas, who, like Bonaventure, was both theologian and preacher. In the 1300s, while there is no lack of preachers "swollen with wind" scourged by Dante (Par., XX), there are also excellent ones: the blessed Giordano da Pisa (d. 1311), of whom about 200 sermons are preserved, collected by the usual "cloth-shearers"; Agostino d'Ancona, successor of St. Bonaventure at the Council of Lyon, and St. Nicholas of Tolentino (v.), both Augustinians; the two Dominicans Domenico Cavalca and Jacopo Passavanti, of whom a Lenten cycle preached in the year 1354 survives, later condensed into the Specchio di vera penitenza. Also noteworthy is the preaching of the blessed Giovanni Dominici (d. 1415), a Dominican, who composed two Lenten cycles, a Treatise on Holy Charity and a Rule for the government of family care. But perhaps the highest exponent of popular oratory was St. Bernardino of Siena ([v.] 1380-1446). In his school were formed the blessed Alberto da Sartiano (d. 1450) and St. John of Capistrano (d. 1456), whose writings were lost; St. James of the March (d. 1479: a Lenten cycle still in manuscript); Michele Carcano (d. 1485: various Lenten cycles) and Michele da Milano (d. 1480: Sermons in the vernacular). Also to be remembered are St. Lorenzo Giustiniani, first patriarch of Venice (d. 1455: Sermons for the various solemnities of the year) and St. Antoninus, archbishop of Florence (v.). We come to the end of the 1400s, with fra' Roberto da Lecce, whose Lenten cycle was printed five times during his own lifetime, with the blessed Bernardino da Feltre ([v.] d. 1494) and with Mariano da Genazzano, an Augustinian (d. 1498), orators much admired in their time. A rival of St. Vincent Ferrer (d. 1419), who preached throughout Europe during the great schism, was fra' Girolamo Savonarola (v.), a Dominican like him, who made Florence the field of his preaching.
We thus come to the 1500s, when the greatest fame in Italy was perhaps enjoyed by fra' Bernardino Ochino (v.), a Capuchin, before he passed over to Protestantism in 1542; but after him sacred oratory becomes studied, with rhetorical tendencies. Yet there is no lack of excellent preachers such as Callisto di Piacenza, a regular canon, Franceschino Visdomini, a Ferrarese Franciscan (d. 1573), a substantial preacher at times quite harsh with his audience; Gabriele Fiamma, a Venetian regular canon, a distinguished man of letters, superior to Visdomini himself in form; Cornelio Musso, of the Conventual Friars Minor of Piacenza (d. 1575), bishop of Bertinoro and Bitonto; Egidio da Viterbo, general of the Augustinians and later cardinal, much admired by his contemporaries. In the midst of the Catholic Reformation appears St. Charles Borromeo (v.), author of 126 homilies in the vernacular, preserved for us in Latin, and of 17 sermons for nuns. He was a defender of the Franciscan preacher Alfonso Lupo, condemned for his prophetic threats that smack of the Savonarolan manner, and of Francesco Girolamo Panigarola himself; the latter, a Franciscan, later bishop (1548-94), refined and pressing, proves formidable in intelligence and memory. There survive from him the Dichiarazioni sui Salmi, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, the Catechism Lessons to parish priests, a Lenten cycle, the Panegirici and a Treatise on the manner of composing a sermon.
In the sixteenth century, sacred oratory also had excellent representatives in other countries. In France: the Dominican P. Divolé, G. Fresceau (d. 1575), Riccardo di Borgogna (d. 1574), J. Fourré of Mainvilliers (d. 1578), G. de Monluc, the Jesuit A. E. de Alleman (1530-91). In Spain and Portugal the treatise literature also flourished: one may recall the Ars concionandi of A. Zorilla (1508-70), the Methodus concionandi of A. García Matamoros (1490-1572) and the famous Ars concionandi of Fra Diego of Estella. Among the great orators there emerge the Franciscan Bl. Luigi Sotelo of Seville, later a missionary in Japan; St. Thomas of Villanova, archbishop of Valencia (d. 1555), Dionigi Vasquez of Toledo; the Dominicans Pasquale De la Fuensanta (d. 1512), Baldassarre Sorio of Valencia (d. 1557), Alfonso of Cabrera, court preacher under Philip II and Philip III (d. 1598); the Franciscans A. Guevara (1475-1545) and A. Lopez (d. 1559). Also noteworthy are the Jesuits G. Perpinan and Bl. Ignazio d'Azevedo, killed by the Calvinist Souire together with 39 other companions; the Franciscan Antonio of St. Mary, later a missionary in China; L. Bolanos, subsequently an evangelizer of the Guarani savages; the Dominican Bartolomeo Las Casas (1474-1566), apostle and defender of the Indians; Luis De Léon (1527-91), especially for his Nombre de Cristo; the Jesuits G. Lainez (d. 1562), later general of his Order, and A. Salmeron (d. 1585), a preacher throughout Italy and provincial of Naples; Gracián y Morales (1601-68), author of the Criticón; Juan de Ávila, apostle of Andalusia (1500-1569), an orator with the soul of an apostle; Luis de Granada (1504-88), a Dominican, a most famous orator in his time, confessor to the Queen of Portugal, author of The Book of Prayer and Meditation and The Guide of Sinners; Pedro Malón de Chaide, an Augustinian (1530-89); St. John of the Cross ([v.] 1542-91), mystic and at the same time orator with his principal works: The Ascent of Mount Carmel; Dark Night of the Soul. In Germany there labored
B. Arnoldo of Usigen, an Augustinian, with his prophetic preaching (d. 1532); G. Faber, later bishop of Vienna, called "the hammer of the heretics"; the Dominican M. Zittardt of Aachen, also a writer (d. 1570); the Franciscan G. Wilt, preacher of the cathedral of Mainz (d. 1554); St. Peter Canisius, of Nijmegen, called by the heretics, playing on his name, "the dog of Austria" (d. 1597); Bernardo of Luxembourg, author of the Sermones de Rosario (d. 1535). Of other nationalities are the preachers Matteo Bembo, a Jesuit of Posen; C. De Snekis (d. 1531), a Dominican, who left 75 sermons on the Misis est and four on St. Joseph; A. Holstadt of Louvain (d. 1598).
In the seventeenth century sacred oratory allowed itself to be carried away by the rhetorical pursuit of an artificial and paradoxical novelty, in which genuine religious feeling was badly diluted. Even in the titles of sermons the bombast and whimsicality of the conception is revealed; one may recall those of Altogradi, of A. Puccinelli, of F. A. Monforte. A typical example of seventeenth-century sacred oratory is the Jesuit L. Giuglaris (d. 1653); better known, for his caprices, is the Capuchin Emanuele Orchi (d. 1649). But by now the reform of sacred oratory was imminent: its symptoms are perceived in the Capuchin G. da Nardi (d. 1631); in the Jesuits L. Fabrizi, T. Reina, G. Ro; later there emerged the Jesuits F. M. Spinola, D. Bartoli (d. 1685) and C. A. Cattaneo.
In France too sacred oratory had run wild with the vulgarities and excesses of the orators of the wars of religion and particularly of the League; at the beginning of the seventeenth century St. Francis de Sales raised it up again with his preaching, so that it was able to offer the most luminous examples with Bossuet ([v.] 1627-1704), Bourdaloue ([v.] 1632-1704), Massillon (1663-1742) and Fénelon ([v.] 1651-1715). A second quattuorvirate is formed in the nineteenth century by Lacordaire ([v.] 1802-61), Felix ([v.] 1810-91), Bougaud ([v.] 1824-88), Monsabré ([v.] 1835-1907). Around these men, who are the masters of French sacred oratory, the following deserve mention: Claudio di Lingendes, a Jesuit, studied by Bourdaloue himself; St. Vincent de Paul (1576-1660), of whom two volumes of Sermons are preserved; J. Lejeune (d. 1671), a priest of the Oratory; F. Bourgoing (d. 1641), praised by Bossuet; A. Godeau, a member of the Académie Française; Claudio Joly (d. 1678), known for his very brief discourses on the Gospel, the famous Prônes; Faure, bishop of Amiens, and Mascaron (d. 1703), accused by Louis XIV for his frankness. Lesser figures are L. Cellot (d. 1658), a panegyrist, and L. Chrislet of Besançon (d. 1658), known for his catechism in 16 lessons. Also to be remembered are O. Bienville (d. 1680) for his Paradiso Terrestre o Esercizi spirituali; Bl. Claude de la Colombière (d. 1682), spiritual director of Margaret Mary Alacoque. Of some value too are A. G. Limoges, the Dominican G. Fréderix of Brabant with six Quaresimali, the Augustinian G. Cortade; the Belgian Van Hoorn of Ghent and Niccolò Stassart, both Augustinians; the Franciscan Ivone of Paris (d. 1678); Jacques Bridaine (d. 1676), who held 256 missions; Giovanni Billot (d. 1767); Carlo Frey de Neville (d. 1774), a Jesuit, brilliant and lively, who struggled much against Voltaire; the abbé L. Poulle (d. 1784), a member of the Academy, who preached like Fénelon from a brief outline; the abbé N. Thyrel de Boismont (d. 1786), N. S. Bergier (d. 1790), a good apologist, who opposed Rousseau with Il deismo confutato da se stesso and Boulanger with the Apologia della religione cristiana; G. B. De Beauvais (d. 1790), the abbé Cambacères (d. 1802). Worthy of consideration are the Jesuits L. A. Cuny (d. 1755), S. Parissault (d. 1753), C. G. Perrin (d. 1767), E. Griffet of Moulins, defender of the Jesuits (d. 1771); Francesco de Ligny (d. 1788), acceptable to the public for his doctrine and the conviction with which he expounded; A. Lenfant of Lyon (d. 1792), a preacher in Vienna at the wish of Maria Theresa; F. Nonnotte (d. 1799), an apologist and opponent of Voltaire. Also noteworthy are J.-J. Olier (d. 1657); Nicolas de Dijon (d. 1694), a Capuchin, considered one of the best preachers of the seventeenth century; P. Richard, called the Avocat (d. 1719), preacher and theorist of preaching; V.
Houdry (d. 1729); A. Antoine (d. 1737); F. Ballet (d. 1762); Bertrand de la Tour, orator and writer (d. 1780); B. Baudrand, a Jesuit (d. 1787); Daniel de Paris, a Capuchin of the early eighteenth century; Msgr. de Boulogne (d. 1825), of exuberant style, but most eloquent even though he overuses antitheses; MacCarthy (d. 1833) of Dublin, but considered French, a preacher rather moralistic in the Italian manner (indeed he seems to be an imitator of the Italian orator Turchi); Msgr. Frayssinous (d. 1841), perhaps the best sacred orator during the Restoration; Fr. de Ravignan, a Jesuit, and others. The conferences of L. Besson, bishop of Nîmes (d. 1892), especially those on the God-Man and on the Church, profound in theological doctrine and popular in exposition, are marked by vigorous eloquence and are useful for understanding the social controversies of the nineteenth century. The Jesuit F. Faller (d. 1802), a writer more than an orator, was an anti-Voltairian polemicist; his confrere G. N. Beauregard of Metz (d. 1804) is known for his frankness; G. S. Maury (d. 1817) was the only one who knew how to confound the sophisms of Mirabeau. In the turmoil of the Revolution the figure of the abbé Legris Duval (d. 1819) also stands out; known later is Msgr. Dupanloup, bishop of Orléans.
Contemporary French sacred oratory (1900-50) numbers among its most illustrious names that of Msgr. d'Hulst, successor of Monsabré in the pulpit of Notre-Dame, whose conferences, somewhat academic and too philosophical, are dictated more for the learned than for the people (6 vols. of Conferences on Social Christian Morality and various volumes of Exercises for Holy Week); Msgr. Charles-Louis Gay (v.), bishop of Anhedon, called by d'Hulst himself an ascetic orator yet well tied to the needs of the earth and of his time; E. Janvier, a Dominican, preacher at Notre-Dame from 1903 to 1924 (Morale générale, in 8 vols., 1903-10; Morale spéciale, in 4 vols.,
1911-14; the annual volumes of the Spiritual Exercises or of the Retreats): his entire preaching turns on the problems of God, society and the order that constitutes it. C. Gibier, preacher in the church of Orléans between 1899 and 1911 and then bishop of Versailles, in his conferences on God, Jesus Christ, the Church and society, displays stringent logic and an interest in social problems. A conference speaker at Notre-Dame from 1924 to 1937 was the Jesuit E. Pinard de la Boullaye, whose Lenten sermons all turn on the figure of Jesus Christ — the Messiah, the history, the person, the heritage of Jesus. A Jesuit too is the current preacher of Notre-Dame, Fr. Michele Riquet, who after the upheavals of the Second World War took on the great commitment of the traditional French Conférences, setting them on the trilogy: truth, justice, charity, amid no few assents and dissents: his conferences on wealth and on poverty are noteworthy. To this traditional French sacred oratory must be added the pastoral-social preaching done by the bishops, among whom an eminent place belongs to Card. Suhard, archbishop of Paris. The great echo aroused by his pastoral letter of 1947, Agony of the Church, is well known. One may even affirm that it is precisely the pastoral letters, read every year in all the churches in preparation for Easter, that mark the new orientation of sacred oratory.
While the reform of the art of oratory was being carried out in France, a similar movement began in Italy through the work of Fr. Segneri ([v.] 1624-94) and Fr. Casini ([v.] 1648-1719). At this time, under the impulse of the Society of Jesus, a new form of preaching was born according to the method of the Spiritual Exercises. In this genre the following distinguished themselves: G. Agnelli (1621-1706) with his Parrocchiano istruttore, the Lenten Conzioni and the Esercizi; F. Fontana (1673-1713) and especially Segneri the younger (1673-1713), called the Segnerino. There also appeared the scriptural orators with their "scriptural lessons," such as Angelo Pancicchelli (d. 1600) and Francesco Donell (d. 1682).
In the eighteenth century sacred oratory, although not entirely free of certain seventeenth-century dross, increasingly assumed the character of sacred dignity. Worthy of note: the Capuchin Bernardo M. Ciacco (d. 1744), of whom 33 Orazioni are preserved, not free of artifices but of fervid imagination and close-knit dialectic, celebrated especially for his panegyrics; and, inferior to him, E. Mattioli of Bologna, Albani of Pesaro, Ponti of Ancona, Cagnoli, Vedova, Muti, Tutti and Card. Orsini, dense with doctrine but devoid of oratorical impetus. Better known are the Neapolitan Jesuit Venalesti (d. 1741), rich in images and descriptions; S. Paoli of Lucca (d. 1751) of the Regulars of the Mother of God, who preached at the court of Charles VI in Vienna and in the discourses of Advent and Lent, entitled Discorsi sacro-politici, recalls Casini; E. Manfredi, a follower of Segneri's style; A. Bassani, almost perfect in form; Girolamo Tornielli (1693-1752), a Jesuit, preacher and Arcadian poet, rich in great imagination. The first half of the eighteenth century closes with St. Leonard of Port Maurice (1676-1751): let the 23 lessons of F. Incontri, archbishop of Florence, be remembered. Furthermore, Bl. Antonio Baldinucci of Florence (d. 1717); G. A. Bordoni, of Turin; F. Zucconi for his excellent scriptural lessons; P. Sarnelli, Umberto di Conconato, C. Calino and Fr. De Nobili. Good are the homiletic explanations of P. L. Veggi of Piacenza (d. 1736), G. Musocco of Trent and F. A. Boschis.
With the attacks of the Encyclopedists, Italian sacred oratory, like the French, was colored, in many cases exaggeratedly, with apologetics and polemics in search of a point of fusion between religious arguments and philosophical and scientific ones. The Jesuits Q. Rossi (d. 1760), G. Granelli (d. 1770), E. Lucchesi (d. 1766), G. Trento (d. 1778) and I. Venini (d. 1778), esteemed as an emulator, if not superior, of Segneri, and called the Massillon of Italy, still preserve their balance. Perhaps he surpasses them — the Franciscan Pier Maria da Pederobba (d. 1785), called by Benedict XIV "the orator of orators." Also to be remembered are P. Paccioli (d. 1785) and G. B. Roberti (d. 1786), better known as writers, and St. Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori (1696-1787); furthermore the Dominican polemicist A. Valsecchi (d. 1791), F. Frassen (d. 1792) of the Minor Conventuals, the popular and combative A. S. Vanini (d. 1795), the refined G. L. Pellegrini (d. 1799), A. Turchi (d. 1803), a Capuchin, bishop of Parma, apologist. Good expositors of Holy Scripture were the Jesuit A. Nicolai (d. 1784), G. Lavino and G. Marchetti; good catechists Ildefonso da Bressanvido of the Friars Minor, considered the prince of catechists (d. 1777), and Agostino da Fusinato (d. 1803).
The sacred oratory of the nineteenth century is divided between classicism and romanticism. Following the example of the Frenchmen Ravignan, Frayssenou and Lacordaire, Italian orators too devoted themselves to polemics against rationalism, but they were often academic and, when they kept to a popular preaching, it lacked substance. Good orators, however, were the Piarist S. Canovai of Florence (d. 1811); the Carmelites V. Zanetti (d. 1812) and P. L. Grossi (d. 1812); the Franciscan P. Deani (d. 1824), philosopher, writer and effective orator; F. Donadoni (d. 1826), a dignified and robust orator; F. Nani of Loiano (d. 1828), known for his combative sacred oratory; A. Cesari ([v.] d. 1828), an Oratorian priest who for his Lezioni scritturistiche is considered a leader of the school but, a purist in language, lacks impetus and effect; he had as an imitator the Ligurian T. Buffa (d. 1837), a Dominican; the Veronese F. Villardi (d. 1833), a Minor Conventual, superior to Cesari himself in oratorical force; the Jesuit F. Finetti (d. 1842) of Voghera; P. Tonso, a Dominican, and the abbot C. Defendi. Discussed was the abbot G. Barbieri (1771-1852) of Bassano del Grappa, an academic orator for whom some considered him a reformer of sacred eloquence and others a corrupter of it.
The crisis of ideas in the second half of the nineteenth century could not fail to be reflected also in sacred oratory, developing a whole series of apologetic, polemical and social orators. For his special method, reminiscent of the French conference style, the Sicilian Theatine G. Ventura (1792-1863) stands out. He avoids mannerism and the forensic conduct of oratory in order to adhere to the sacred genre, with frankness of language, good use of Holy Scripture and the holy Fathers, and a solid and profound exposition. Forced into exile, he went to France, where he preached from the pulpit of Notre-Dame. Notable are his discourses on Philosophical reason and Catholic reason and those on Christian political power. He left Homilies and some funeral orations, such as that for Daniel O'Connell. Along with Ventura must be remembered G. B. Giordano, T. Gaudenzi, Stocchi and, above all, C. M. Curci (1809-81) for his Scriptural Lessons. To the history of nineteenth-century sacred oratory also belong Cardinals A. Capecelatro (d. 1912), an Oratorian, and G. Alimonda (d. 1891), E. Mauri (d. 1896) and A. Bausa (d. 1899), Dominicans; P. Schiaffino (d. 1889), an Olivetan Benedictine; Msgr. P. A. Del Corona (d. 1912), of Livorno, archbishop of Sardica; Msgr. E. Bindi (d. 1872), bishop of Pistoia and Prato; Msgr. G. Bonomelli (d. 1914), bishop of Cremona.
In contemporary sacred oratory too the apologetic-social tendency and the pastoral one predominate. To be remembered are the Jesuits A. Pasivich (d. 1913) and G. Zocchi (d. 1912), the Dominican V. G. Lombardo, the Franciscans Agostino da Montefeltro (d. 1921) and Teodosio da Sandetole di Val di Sieve (d. 1929), the canon D. Conti (d. 1910), the Capuchin Roberto da Nove (d. 1939), the Piarist Giovanni Giovannozzi (d. 1928), the Barnabite Giovanni Semeria (d. 1921), a conference speaker and apologist, and, among the most recent, the Franciscans Msgr. V. Facchinetti (d. 1950), who began radio preaching in Italy; the Jesuit R. Lombardi, the Augustinian A. Angelini, representatives of contemporary apologetic-social sacred oratory.
A source of information for the history of present-day spirituality and for knowledge of the Church's directive norms are the Pastoral Letters that bishops address to the clergy and the faithful at the beginning of every Lent, such as those of Cardinals L. M. Parocchi, G. Celesia, a Benedictine archbishop of Palermo, A. C. Ferrari (d. 1921), archbishop of Milan, P. Maffi (d. 1931), archbishop of Pisa,
A. Mistrangelo of Savona (d. 1930), of the priests of the Pious Schools, archbishop of Florence. Most intense in recent times has been papal sacred oratory, present at all theological, dogmatic, moral and social problems, from Pius IX to Blessed Pius X, down to the present pontiff Pius XII, whose Discourses and Messages are collected in 12 volumes published by the publishing house "Vita e pensiero" of Milan.
Orators of other nations in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. - Among the Spaniards and Portuguese: E. Naxera of Toledo and S. Aguilar; the Dominicans Salazar Cavallero, F. Herrera and A. de Lorea; the Augustinian Pietro da S. Giuseppe, all of whom lived between 1630 and 1690. In the 18th century: in Spain, Ronzon of Teragona (d. 1711); D. Lobato with his 5 volumes of Sermons; G. Alberite, with 52 orations, and F. Bono (d. 1740). Pietro Diaz (d. 1777), a priest of the Regular Congregation of St. Cajetan, printed 4 volumes of Panegyrics. Riesco le Grand, a Franciscan; G. Troncoso, preacher to His Majesty; G. Gonzales, with his 8 volumes of Sermons.
The Portuguese A. Vieira of Lisbon (d. 1697), a Jesuit, considered one of the greatest orators of that nation, and E. Reyz (d. 1699), another Jesuit; the Augustinian C. Almeida (d. 1679), an eminent preacher. E. Sylva (d. 1709), who composed the Sylva concionatoria; the Augustinian E. Figueiredo and E. De Lima, author of Las Ideas Sacradas of 1720. Emanuele De Gouven, a much acclaimed Augustinian.
Among the Germans, the Jesuits M. Faber of Bavaria (d. 1653), G. Mentrius of Mainz (d. 1672); F. Kiselius of Fulda (d. 1674), preacher and publicist; M. Radau, author of the Orator Extemporaneus; U. Dirheimer and F. Hartung, a Bohemian (d. 1682), a polemical preacher; G. Hayes, a missionary preacher and author of the question-and-answer version of Canisius's catechism. Also the Dominican R. De Lamenta, a Bohemian, who composed the Paradisius concionatorum; the Augustinian E. Knorr (d. 1701), author of very many panegyrics.
In Germany, the Jesuits C. Linek of Prague; the Rhenish C. Nagel and the Bohemian V. Scheffer (d. 1717) are known. Also very well known is G. Averhausen of Kempen (d. 1734), author of Flowers of examples, or historical catechism; B. Bassar of Locopol (Cartolia; d. 1738), called the Chrysostom of his country. Augustinians were Abraham of St. Clare (d. 1709), court preacher under Emperor Leopold I in Vienna; I. Ertl and B. Kogrin and D. Schouacher, the Bavarian F. Dorfner (d. 1719) and G. Hieber of Dunckelspil (Sweden), called the "Cicero redivivus" (d. 1731). Also most eloquent was G. Angerer of Vienna. The Jesuits G. Grill, who also preached in Hungarian; M. Krammer, a preacher in Prague; F. Schmitz of Cologne (d. 1781); L. Fischer of Vienna (d. 1787), preacher, rhetorician and mathematician; L. Mertz of Doresdorf, in Swabia (d. 1792), preacher for 21 years in the cathedral of Augsburg. A. Mager of Vienna, an Augustinian (d. 1751), published 99 discourses on the feasts of the year. The Polish Jesuits C. Erzozowski of Lithuania (d. 1756); G. Borner of Giczin, a missionary in the Polish language for 32 years. The Germans A. Augerer of Sigendorf (Austria; d. 1802), author of the Conciones matutinae, a Jesuit; G. M. Dailer, professor at the University of Dillingen and later bishop of Regensburg. G. E. Veith, a converted Jew, glory of the pulpit of St. Stephen's; his works are the Homilies and Sermons, published in Vienna in 1885. Also known are the Benedictine Beda Weber, Cardinal Melchior of Diepenbrach, bishop of Breslau (d. 1850). Missionary conference speakers are the Jesuits Hosslacher, De Lamezan, Schmude, Carme and Ambroise; the Redemptorists Pemiza and Zobel. Msgr. G. E. Ketteler, bishop of Mainz, most notable for the dissemination and application of the principles of Catholic sociology. A preacher and professor at the University of Bonn was F. S. Dieringer; A. Kerschbaumer, author of a Month of May printed in Vienna in 1864; G. E. Schmid, catechist of Salzburg. Among contemporaries worthy of note are Cardinal Innitzer of Vienna and Faulhaber for their pastoral letters. Msgr. Doders, the Franciscan D. Ortseifer, preacher of the cathedral of Cologne, the Capuchin D. Habers Brunner, the Jesuit Waldmann.
Among the English may be noted Scaribrik of Lancashire (d. 1709), who was preacher to James II; James Adams (d. 1802), orator of St. Patrick's in London; P. Goudolphy, publicist with 5 volumes of Sermons (d. 1831); the Oratorian F. G. Faber, more a writer and ascetic than an orator. Also very well known is the sacred oratory of Cardinal N. Wiseman and J. H. Newman, who are the most illustrious representatives of Anglo-Saxon sacred oratory. - See plate X.
