Alphonsus Liguori

“ What moves and engages the attention of the hearers is, to speak at one time in a strong, at another time in a middle voice, and at another in a low voice, according as it suits the sentiment that is expressed, but without any sudden or violent fall or elevation; now to exclaim; now to pause; and now to resume with a sigh. This variety of tone and manner keeps the audience always attentive.
21. The preacher should avoid gesture that is affected, or oftentimes repeated in the same form, or too vehement, with much agitation of the body. ”

“ In delivering the exordium the preacher should remain stationery, and should not move from a middle position in the pulpit: in delivering the first sentence he should not use gesture; in the second, he should only commence to move the right hand, keeping the left resting on the pulpit or the breast. Let him take care not to keep the arms attached close to the sides, or to raise them both at the same time in form of a cross, or throw them behind the shoulders. He must rarely strike them against each other or against the pulpit: to stamp the feet is very unbecoming. ”

“ Let young preachers also take care to develop, and to commit to memory, their sermons, before they deliver them from the pulpit. To preach extempore is useful, inasmuch as the discourse becomes thus more natural and familiar; this, however, is not the case with young men, but only with those who have been in the habit of preaching for many years; otherwise, young men would contract a habit of speaking without preparation, and of preaching at random, saying whatever occurred to them, without any order or arrangement. ”

“ In a word, let the preacher endeavour, in his sermons, always to insinuate whatever he can that is practical that is, the remedies of the different vices; the means of persevering in a virtuous life; such as, to fly dangerous occasions and bad company; to offer violence to one’s self in motions of anger, so as not to break out into injurious actions or words; by suggesting to the hearers some form of expression, to avoid blasphemies or imprecations ”

“ Let him recommend the people to hear Mass every morning: to read every day some spiritual book; every morning to renew the resolutions of not offending God, and to ask the Divine assistance in order to persevere; to make each day a visit to the most holy sacrament and the Blessed Virgin, in some representation of her; each evening to make the examination of conscience, with an act of sorrow ”

“ IN the first place, the preacher, if he wishes that his preaching shall produce abundant fruit, should propose to himself the proper end - that is, to preach, not with a view to obtain honour, or applause, or any temporal advantage, but solely to gain souls to God ”

“ For example: "The person who is addicted to a bad habit is with difficulty saved, because the bad habit (1) darkens the understanding, (2) hardens the heart :" and these will be the two points of the discourse. Let the points be short and few, not exceeding two, or, at most, three; and sometimes a single point will be sufficient. For example: “Mortal sin is a great evil, because it is an injury done to God ;" ”

“ As to the moral exhortation, it may be observed, that oftentimes the principal fruit of the sermon consists, especially in discourses addressed to the people, in explaining the moral truths suitable to the subject of the discourse, with propriety and earnestness. The preacher, therefore, should take care to speak against the most prevalent vices, viz.: hatred, impurity, blasphemy; against evil occasions, wicked companions; against parents who allow their children to hold intercourse with persons of different sex ”

“ Muratori also observes, that, in preaching to the people, it is very useful to make frequent use of the figure called antiphora; by which a question is asked, and replied to by the speaker. For example: “Tell me why so many sinners relapse, after confession, into the same sins ?” I will tell you: because they do not remove the dangerous occasions of sin. It is also useful oftentimes to call on the auditory to attend to what is said, and especially to certain things that are more important. For example: ”O good God! you come to us in order to save us, and we fly from you to destroy ourselves. ”

“ The morals have their proper place, as we shall remark in the peroration. It is, however, occasionally allowed, after a satisfactory proof has been adduced, to address a short exhortation; and this is particularly the case in the sermons of the Mission, in which the audience is generally composed of rude, uneducated persons, on whom moral exhortation makes more impression; but these moral exhortations that are incidentally introduced should not be too long or too frequent, so as to render the discourse tedious or languid. ”

“ They may be of use to the learned, but not to the illiterate, who generally constitute the principal part of every audience. On the other hand, sermons composed in a familiar style are useful to the illiterate as well as to the learned. Muratori adds, that when the preacher addresses the humbler classes alone, or country people, he ought to make use of the most popular and familiar style possible, in order to accommodate himself to the gross understanding of such ignorant persons. ”

“ The preacher should likewise often speak against bad confessions, in which sins are concealed through shame. This is an evil not of rare occurrence, but frequent, especially in small country districts, which consigns innumerable souls to hell. ”

“ But, commonly speaking, the substantial parts of the exordium are three: 1 the general proposition; 2 the connection or the link by which it is connected with the particular proposition; 3 the particular proposition, or the principal one of the discourse, which includes the division of the points. For example: 1”We must work out our salvation, because there is no alternative: whosoever is not saved is damned: ”that is the general proposition. ”

“ And passing from one argument to another, you may say: “Besides, we should consider," etc., taking care, as far as it is possible, that the last part of the preceding argument has some connection with the following point or argument.
12. We have spoken of proofs. As far as regards the amplification of proofs, one is verbal, which consists in words; another is real, which may consist either in climax; for example: "It is a virtue to suffer tribulations with patience a greater virtue to desire them; it is a greater still to take delight in them;" ”

“ The motion of the head should correspond with that of the hand, accompanying it in the direction in which, it moves. It is a fault to twist the head, or move it too often or too violently, or to hold it always raised, or always inclined upon the breast. The eyes ought to accompany the motion of the head ”

“ The arms should be moved with moderation: ordinarily the right hand should be used; the left but seldom. The hands should not be raised above the head, nor too much extended sideways, nor held too confined. ”