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Part II, Chapter VIII(*): Composition of the Sermon

Composition of the Sermon

IF THE PREACHER has studied the subject thoroughly, the words will come easily. At all costs, he must endeavor to be clear and simple, avoiding learned words and abstruse expressions that may not be understood.

The truly devoted priest, who is actuated only by the desire of preaching in the simplicity and spirit of Our Lord and His Apostles, sicut ex Deo, coram Deo, in Christo (2 Cor. 2, 17), will sedulously follow St. Paul's admonition to Timothy: "Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding the profane novelties of words, and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called" (i Tim. 6, 20).

The preacher should never use vulgarisms and improprieties; on the contrary, his language should be correct and precise. The discourse should never be over the heads of the people. Rather the sermon should be such that it will appeal to the hearts of the faithful, persuading and touching them in its simplicity. St. Paul refers to those who are fastidious about the choice of words, while sacrificing the sermon itself, as "adulterating the word of God" (2 COR. 2, 17). The Fathers of the Church and the saints avoided that type of discourse as more appropriate to worldlings and profane orators. Their aim was to preach Jesus Christ Crucified. In the words of St. Francis de Sales, non sectamur lenocinia rhetorum, sed veritates piscatorum.1 The following rules will be helpful for the composition of the sermon:

(*). In this chapter we have transposed and combined chapters 21 and 22 of the French edition, Oeuvres Complètes, Vol. IV, p. 65 ff. (1). Letter to the Archbishop of Bourges.

Composition of the Sermon 105

1. Choose with great care the subject to be treated, selecting a topic that will be useful and well - suited to the congregation

  1. Have in mind the aim of the particular sermon which is, of course, to make God loved, honored o r feared, or to destroy some vice and establish a particular virtue in its place. So dispose the sermon material that your discourse will make your purpose clear and rightly dispose the congregation to the results you have in mind.

3. Study the subject matter in prayerful meditation

  1. Make a clear plan and follow it carefully. There is nothing which can be of greater assistance to a preacher than a well-thought-out and well-divided discourse, which the faithful can follow easily. It i s well to state clearly the subject to be discussed and to enunciate the method which is to be used in treating it.

For example, if you choose humility for your subject, you will state that it is your intention to implant in the hearts of the faithful a great love for this virtue and an ardent desire of practising it. "It i s my intention to make you love and embrace humility. Consequently, I shall suggest to you three points which will be helpful: a. What is humility? What are its marks and how do we recognize it? b. What are the motives which should induce us to practise it? c. What means should be used to acquire humility?"

5. Let the discourse be full of sound doctrine, short scriptural texts, natural comparisons and short anecdotes

  1. Do not quote too many passages of Scripture, or give too many expository reasons, for it is better to elucidate a few than to confuse the faithful with a bewildering number of illustrations.

  2. Have the subject logically organized for what belongs to one part of the sermon may lose its value if introduced where it will be irrelevant.

  3. Place striking passages from Sacred Scripture or comparisons at the end of the sermon. Reserve speculative or general motives for the beginning.

  4. Do not pass from point to point without the proper transition or connective. Let there be smoothness and coherence in the composition, so that the whole discourse will hold the attention of the faithful.

10. Avoid monotony in diction and structure. Use variety in words and expressions

11. Make the introduction to the sermon fairly short, delving at once into the main body of the subject

12. Draw a moral lesson from each point. Let the conclusion be striking and moving

  1. This conclusion may be a summary or recapitulation. A text from Scripture makes avery effective ending; a prayer or aspiration may also be very apt.

  2. Having very carefully thought out the plan of the sermon, you should write it down. Some speakers write merely the principal points or headings. Some write the entire sermon and memorize i t . Others again make a skeleton outline, memorizing some portions, and relying on the various headings which they develop as they go along. There is another method which is particularly good. It consists in composing, ordering and possessing in the mind every part of the discourse, namely, exordium, division, various points, proofs, texts, stories and conclusion. After having studied, meditated upon and considered these points, one could even preach without writing a word, and the subject would be so imprinted upon the mind that the sermon could be used at any time in the future. 107-

Chapter 21 of 52