Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/504

 HOMILETICS

446

HOMILETICS

are calculated to commend it to all earnestly seeking after truth.

BiBLIOGBAPHY 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" (Trepl ' lepurriivijs). Inasmuch as this contains only reflections on preach- ing, St. Augustine's "De doctrina Christiana" might be regarded as the first manual on the subject. It consists of four books. The first three deal with col- lecting the materials for preaching, " modus inveniendi quae intelligenda sunt ", and the last with the presenta- tion thereof, "modus proferendi qua! 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 doquentia (the best expression of it). Sapienlia without eloquentia will do no good; neither will eloquentia without sapi- entia, and it may do harm; the ideal is sapientia with eloquentia. He adapts Cicero's ut doceat, vt delectet, ut fiectat, changing them to id Veritas pateat, vt plaeeat, 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 (d. 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 PYnelon's "miist prove, must portray, must impress" (Second Dialogue). We might also mention St. Au- gustine's work "De rudibus catechizandis". St. Gregory the Great's work, "Liber regula; pastoralis", is still extant, but is inferior to St. Augustine's; it is rather a treatise on pastoral theology than on homi- letics. We have it on the testimony of Ilincmar that a copy used to be given to bishops at their consecra- tion. In the ninth century Rabanus Maurus (d. 856), Archbishop of Mainz, wrote a treati.se "De institu- tione clericoruni ", in which he depends much on St. Augustine. In the twelfth century Guibert, Abbot of Nogent (d. 1124), wrote a famous work on preaching entitled "Quo online sermo fieri deliet ". This is one of the historical landmarks in preaching. It is replete with judicious instruction; it recommends that preach- ing .sliould be preceded l)y prayer; it says that it is more important to preach altout morals than on faith, that for moral sermons the human heart must be studied, and that the best way of doing so is (as Mas- sillon recommended in later times) to look into one's own. It is more original and more independent than the work of Habanus Maurus, who, as has been said, drew largely from St. .\ugustine. Ciuibert's work was rccommciMled l)y 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 pra-dicatoria " by Alain de Lille. He gives a defini- tion of preaching: "Manifesta et pulilica instructio morum et fidei, informationi hominum <leserviens, ex rationum .semita et auctoritatum fonte provenicns". He lays stress on explanation and use of Scripture, and recommends the preacher to insert verba comnuitiva. Theremarksof Ca-sarius of Heist erbach (d. 1240) have been collected by Cruel; his sermons display skill in construction and considerable oratorical power. Conrad of Bnindelsheim (d. l.'?21), 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 Ger- many. Humbert of Uomans, General of the Domini- cans, in the second book of his work, " De eruditione pra^dicatorum ", claims that he can teach "a way of promptly producing a sermon for any set of men, and

for all variety of circumstances" (Neale, "Mediaeval Sermons ", Introd., xix). Linscnmayer, in his history of preaching, gives information about Humbert, who was a severe critic of the sermons of his time. Trithe- mius quotes a work by Albertus Magnus, "De arte proedicandi", 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. Ixvii, 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 disci- ples. There is a treatise entitled " De arte et vero modo pra>dicandi " attributed to him, but it is simply a compilation of his ideas al)out preaching that was made by another. Henry of Hesse is credited with a treafi.se, " De arte praedicandi ", which is probably not due to him. There is a monograph quoted by Hart- wig which is interesting for the classification of the forms of sermon: modus antiqjiissimus, i. e. postillatio, which is purely the exegctic homily; 7nodiis niodernus, the thematic style; modus atdiquus, 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 popu- lum .sacra seu de modo praedicandi " (1.513). 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" (l.'JO.S), in which he also rec- ommends Scripture. In his first book he gives for material of preaching the usual order — credenda, faeienda, fugienda, timenda, nppetenda. And he ends by .saying: "Congrua materia pra-dicationis est Sacra Scripiura." He u.ses 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 praedicandi) and Erasmus (Ec- clesiastes seu de ratione concionandi), the return is marked to Cicero and Quintilian. A masterwork on the art of preaching is the " Rhetorica Sacra " (Lisbon, 1.576) of Luis de Granada, for modern u.<e, 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 " Liber de modo concionandi "(1576). Valerio, in Italy, also wrote on the art of preaching. We next come to another of the landmarks on preaching, the "Instruc- tiones Pastorum" by St. Charles Borromeo (1.538- 84). At his request Valerio, Bishop of Verona, wrote a systematic treatise on homiletics entitled "Rhetorica Ecclesiastica " (1.575), in which he points out the difference between profane and .sacred elo- quence, and emphasizes the two principal objects of the preacher, to teach and to move {docerc el com- movcre). Laurentius a Villavicentio, in his work "De formandis sacris concionibus" (1.565), does not approve of transferring the ancient modes of speak- ing to preaching. He would treat the truths of the Go.spel according to I Tim., iii, 16. He also recom- mended moderation in fighting heresy. The same was the view of St. Francis Borgia, whose contribution to homiletics is the small but practical work: "Libel- lus de ratione concionandi". Claudius Acquaviva, Genera! of the .Jesuits, wrote, in 1635, " Instructio pro superioribus " (in " Epistola' pra'positoniin generalium ad patres et fiatres S.J. "). They were principally ascetic, and in Ihein he regulated the s|)iritual training necessary for the preacher. Caiolus Regius, S.J., deals, in his "Orator Christ ianus" (1613), with the whole field of homiletics under the grouping: "De