There is a famous quote from [sermon 23](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/360323.htm) on the Feast of the Nativity by [Leo the Great](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_I) , the bolded text among the paragraph context below: > Thus in the whole and perfect nature of true man was true God born, complete in what was His own, complete in what was ours. And by ours we mean what the Creator formed in us from the beginning, and what He undertook to repair. For what the deceiver brought in, and man deceived committed, had no trace in the Saviour; nor because He partook of man's weaknesses, did He therefore share our faults. **He took the form of a slave without stain of sin, increasing the human and not diminishing the divine: for that emptying of Himself, whereby the Invisible made Himself visible, was the bending down of pity, not the failing of power.** The section context (II. The Arians could not comprehend the union of God and man) is clearly an articulation for the proper meaning of Christ's "emptying himself" (Phil 2:7) from his pre-existence, against Arianism. But **what did he mean by "increasing the human"** (part of the bolded text above)? Does it simply mean God "adding human nature" during Incarnation instead of "relinquishing divine nature" (which is unorthodox)? Or does it refer to "healing humanity" (for example: by "taking the sins of the world", [John 1:29](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%201%3A29&version=CSB) , or by giving new life to us so we can "share in the divine nature", [2 Pet 1:4](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Peter%201%3A4&version=CSB)) since in the beginning of the paragraph he said something about "undertook to repair"? A good answer should try to do one or more of these: - shed light on possible translation issue from Latin to English - provide a link for a critical edition of the text - discuss how his original audience would have understood the meaning - include consideration that the language he used may not be precise if the sermon has been dated PRIOR to Chalcedon (since his papacy is from 440-461 AD) - include discussion on how the quote could have been cited in Patristic, Medieval, or post-Reformation theological text in discussing Christology. For example, if Aquinas quoted it, what's his understanding of "increasing the human"? - doctrines (maybe related to Eastern Orthodox *theosis*) that use it for support

Since God revealed the gospel to all nations through his Son for free, is any church justified to withhold certain sermons from some of its members citing *membership requirements* reasons, should any pre-recorded sermon sit behind *password protection*? Is this what Jesus urged the church to do?

I was said that some pope of last centuries wrote a document where he stated this idea: "A priest can say three heresies in a sermon but must not insist on them." I have a suspicion that I have seen that somewhere, but I cannot remember now where it was? Can you help my poor memory? :-) Thanks

What did Edwards mean when he penned the subject line of a sermon he preached in 1752: "No such experiences as the devils in hell are the subjects of are any sure sign of grace." I'm trying to unravel the point he was making in this sentence. ------ (Research added by @GratefulDisciple; many thanks to @depperm [who helped us discover](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/a/102722/10672) the Yale WJE Online archive) According to [WJE Vol. 25 Appendix pages](http://edwards.yale.edu/archive?path=aHR0cDovL2Vkd2FyZHMueWFsZS5lZHUvY2dpLWJpbi9uZXdwaGlsby9nZXRvYmplY3QucGw/Yy4yNDozOS53amVv) listing dated and undated sermons: > *James 2:19(b)*. "No such experiences as the devils in hell are the subjects of are any sure sign of grace." Dec. 1746. Repreached Sept. 28, 1752. New York. Published as *True Grace Distinguished from the Experience of Devils* (New York, 1753). The sermon manuscript's facsimile [can be viewed here](https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/10695957) (the entry from the collection itself is [here](https://findit-uat.library.yale.edu/catalog/digcoll:3888407)) , which is transcribed in WJE Vol. 25 as [*"True Grace Distinguished From the Experience of Devils"*](http://edwards.yale.edu/archive?path=aHR0cDovL2Vkd2FyZHMueWFsZS5lZHUvY2dpLWJpbi9uZXdwaGlsby9nZXRvYmplY3QucGw/Yy4yNDozMDoxLndqZW8=) . The volume also provides a [sermon background](http://edwards.yale.edu/archive?path=aHR0cDovL2Vkd2FyZHMueWFsZS5lZHUvY2dpLWJpbi9uZXdwaGlsby9nZXRvYmplY3QucGw/Yy4yNDozMC53amVv) .

I'm trying to locate a transcript of Jonathan Edwards's sermon from August 1740 that he delivered to the children of his congregation. I have already located [a facsimile of the handwritten manuscript](https://collections.library.yale.edu/pdfs/10719295.pdf) but it is fairly illegible and I don't want to have to buy the entire volume 22 of Jonathan Edwards' works in which the sermon transcript is located.

Does anyone know where I can find an English translation of a book containing Karl Barth's sermons from 1934 to 1948, [*Fürchte dich nicht! - Predigten aus den Jahren 1934 bis 1948*](https://archive.org/details/frchtedichnichtp0000bart/page/n5/mode/2up) , published in 1949?

I am a life-long Catholic. At almost all of the Catholic Churches I have attended over the years, the priests there have given sermons based on various Biblical passages/parables which have always been in line with the official teachings and dogmas of the Catholic Church. This is one particular priest, however, at one of the local Catholic Churches in my area who has for many years made it a point to often give his own take/interpretation on Biblical passages/parables. One of the favorite things he likes to say at the beginning of his sermons is, "I know what all of you have heard preached about this particular Biblical passage/parable since you were a little kid, but now I want all of you to consider this about it...". He then goes on to explain how the official/traditional Catholic teaching about a particular Biblical passage/parable has either been wrong or misinterpreted, and then explains what his take/his interpretation on the Biblical passage/parable is and why we should accept it. I personally consider this priest's many 'alternate' takes/interpretations on Biblical passages/parables to be cases of heresy and I am seriously thinking of contacting the local bishop in my area to request that he appoint someone to start investigating this priest for possible cases of heresy. I am wondering however if it is my religious duty to first confront him about it face-to-face, or if I have a religious duty to report it to the bishop, or if I have a religious duty to first form a church prayer group which will pray to Jesus each day asking Him to enlighten this priest’s mind to the heresy he has likely been committing. Our group could then wait and see if he starts to preach sermons that are in line with the official teachings and dogmas of the Catholic Church. Do Catholics have a religious duty to report possible cases of heresy committed by a priest to their local bishop?

In St. Alphonsus Liguori's *Dignity and Duties of the Priest,* it is written: > Empty words and sounding periods are, says St. Francis de Sales, the pest of sermons. (*De la Predic.* ch. 5, a. I.) First, because God does not cooperate with vain preaching.... Does anyone know what St. Francis may have meant by the expression, "sounding periods"? Also, what is the referenced work, *de la Predic.*?

From a sermon illustration: That quote was the last words of a young man in southern USA (18th century), who was sentenced to be hung for a crime, whose family had interceded with the governor. The governor took a pardon enclosed in a Bible to the young man. But the young man refused anything religious, the Bible, and his unknown visitor.

From Wikipedia: Hunolt's idea was to treat the entire field of morals in his sermons thoroughly and completely. Each of the six volumes contains seventy-two sermons, and the various divisions in each volume are indicated by sub-titles, such as "The Christian Attitude towards Life"; "The Wicked Christian"; "The Penitent Christian"; "The Good Christian"; "The Last End of Christians"; "The Christian's Model". This prodigious mass of material is distributed most appropriately over the entire ecclesiastical year. How popular, and at the same time profound, Hunolt's expositions are, is best proved by the fact that numerous excerpts are included in all anthologies and textbooks of religious rhetoric as standard. A competent critic *(Kraus)* has eulogized Hunolt's sermons in the following words: **"At a time when German pulpit oratory had degenerated into utter bad taste and brainless insipidity, these sermons are distinguished by noble simplicity, pure Christian sentiment, and genuine apostolic ideas no less than by the felicitous use of Holy Writ, abundance of thought and pregnant language."** The following provides 3 of the (apparently) 12 volumes: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Hunolt_Sermons QUESTION: Does anyone know of a more extensive (preferably complete) collection of Fr. Humolt's sermons (in English; German O.K.) that I may freely access online? Thank you.

I became aware of a homily by St. John Chrysostom entitled "On the Cemetery's Name and the Cross" from [a blog post](https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/05/st-john-chrysostoms-homily-on-cemetery.html) by John Sanidopoulos. In the post, Sanidopoulos indicates that this sermon "has yet to be translated into the English language...." He further states that >The actual title of the sermon could be something like, "Why A Cemetery Is Named Thus." This homily is traditionally read during the services for the Tuesday of St. Thomas because it was originally delivered on this day. Sanidopoulos is a Greek Orthodox Christian, and so is referring to this liturgical tradition in the above quote. The [a blog post](https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/05/st-john-chrysostoms-homily-on-cemetery.html) goes on to cite some excerpts from the homily, translated into English (presumably by Sanidopoulos). I received assistance from a Logos Library Specialist back in 2020 to find out if the work was available in Logos Bible Software, and she informed me that it is not (thanks again, Katy Smith!). She was able to find it translated into Russian in: "Sermon on the Cemetery and the Cross," *Works of our Holy Father John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, in Russian Translation*, Vol. II, Book I, p. 431. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg theological Academy, 1896. At that time, the book was available on eBay for purchase, but was cost-prohibitive for me and [the link](https://www.ebay.com/i/223558593081?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=223558593081&targetid=916015721030&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9033356&poi=&campaignid=9343998885&mkgroupid=103102746908&rlsatarget=pla-916015721030&abcId=1139336&merchantid=6296724&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvqiznaSv6gIVVh6tBh14OAeqEAYYASABEgK_wPD_BwE) is now dead (and was not archived on archive.org). I am looking for this sermon, ideally in Greek, but translated into any language is fine.

I am looking for a digital copy of any personally handwritten sermon of St. John Vianney. From what I have read, I am under the impression that 80 or so are extant, but I have not been able to locate any. There should be at least one available, as part of it has been placed on the cover of the following book: QUESTION: Does anyone know where I might find a (preferably) digital version of at least one full-length sermon of St. John Vianney? Or, at least a paper version of it? Thank you. REASON FOR THE REQUEST: If I can locate at least one of his full-length handwritten sermons, I could then explore the possibility of producing some gylphs in order to produce a "Curé of Ars" font for typography purposes.

I am looking for the complete English translation of St. John Vianney's sermon, "*Sermon sur la communion indigne*" ("Sermon on Unworthy Communion"). It is part of the *Sermons inédits* (Unpublished sermons) collection sometimes [tacked on to Volume 4](https://livres-mystiques.com/partieTEXTES/Ars/Sermons/table4.html) of his sermon collection [*Sermons du vénérable serviteur de Dieu Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney curé d'Ars*: *Sermons divers*](http://www.liberius.net/livre.php?id_livre=937) . Clean pdf scan of Volume 4 without the *Sermons inédits* section (1883) can be found [here](http://www.liberius.net/livres/Sermons_du_venerable_serviteur_de_Dieu_Jean-Baptiste-Marie_Vianney_cure_d_Ars_(tome_4)_000000937.pdf) . In French, the complete sermon can be found [here]( http://jesusmarie.free.fr/jean_marie_vianney_cure_d_ars_sermons_tome4.html) or [here](https://livres-mystiques.com/partieTEXTES/Ars/Sermons/tome4/20indigne.htm) . Various Internet sites have excerpts of the sermon in English (such as [here](https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2016/04/st-john-vianneys-preaching-on-unworthy.html)) , but I have yet to find the whole sermon in English.

This rather famous homily of the eighteenth century Franciscan is rather easy to come by on the internet; for example, see https://www.saintsbooks.net/books/St.%20Leonard%20of%20Port%20Maurice%20-%20The%20Little%20Number%20of%20Those%20Who%20Are%20Saved.pdf However, I have not been able to find a book from which this sermon was extracted; nor, have any of those that have posted this indicated the "ancient" source from which the sermon (now presented in modern English is derived.) After the end of the sermon, the above link, for example, indicates "This sermon by Saint Leonard of Port Maurice was preached during the reign of Pope Benedict XIV, who so loved the great missionary." QUESTION: Can anyone cite an original source (an archived old book, perhaps) which contains this sermon of St. Leonard of Port Maurice? Thank you.

**Background** During the 1800s, Americans expanded farther west into the territory of Native Americans, which led to many interactions between settlers and Native Americans. From my limited but increasing knowledge of these interactions, they could be peaceful, but they could also be brutal and deadly. **Question** How did pastors teach their congregations to interact with Native Americans during the 1800s? For example, did pastors teach their congregations not to deplete the herds of buffalo that tribes relied on for food, and to respect the boundaries the tribes had? Or how did pastors tell their congregations to respond if a tribe kept on stealing their horses, or kidnapping their children? I would be helped if you could provide some examples and tell me how you found them. *Note*: I looked at various Stack Exchange sites, and the *Christianity* site seemed like the best place to raise this question. Thank you for your help!

While I am a fan of Catholic theology particularly and religious sciences and philosophy of religion generally (For example, I am trying to read journals such as [Theological Studies](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/tsj) from cover to cover, though, I don't always have enough time for that.), I have always been a little bit suspicious about the homilies in my local parish church or in televised Masses celebrated by my metropolitan's bishop. Sometimes such homilies don't take into account the exegesis and philological and historical studies Testaments. Sometimes they take one position in issues that are scientifically contentious. To be honest, the homilies with only spiritual content are the best ones. They leave room for practical interpretation and implementation to individuals according to each one's life experience and wisdom. But Catholic homilies in Covid-19 times are too much for me - from local parishes up to the Pope. The talks are only about helplessness, about prayers, about discovery of meaning, about coming back to religion and so on, so on. What I would like to hear: - **More emphasis on what we can do.** E.g. Both these following articles: [Coronavirus treatment: Vaccines/drugs in the pipeline for Covid-19](https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/analysis/coronavirus-mers-cov-drugs/) and [Coronavirus Covid-19 outbreak: Latest news, information and updates](https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/special-focus/covid-19/coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak-latest-information-news-and-updates/) are a life list of vaccines and therapies developments. There are still open calls for more funding, especially by CEPI which focuses on worldwide availability of therapies (opposite to usual operation of commercial drug firms). If we have tools and if we (as a society) have the skills and funding capacity to fight the virus, then we are bound by the threat of sin to use our capabilities for the greater good. If we are not trying to see our capabilities and if we are not reflecting about our capabilities and our duty to use those capabilities, the this is sin. I think that such reflection gives some depth to spiritual life. It makes spiritual life live and there should be place in homilies about that; - **More emphasis of what we had to do.** The *Guardian* has articles about development of adaptable vaccines (including mRNA vaccines) and the stories are the same - they have been started during previous epidemics (Ebola, H1N1, MERS), but with the epidemics' ends funding dried out (from private investors, from government agencies) and progress has not been fast enough. So - due to lack of enough funding - we are having the first clinical tests of next-generation mRNA vaccines now although tests of similar mRNA vaccines could happen earlier. mRNA vaccines are adaptable and it would be far easier to adapt existing mRNA vaccine with existing experience. So - we should reflect about this sin of Humanity as well - we had money to build big villas and big yachts but we didn't have enough money to fund preparedness for new epidemics and to honor victims of previous epidemics in such a way. Great theme for a homily and for the spiritual growth and life, isn't it? - Current homilies are speaking **about finding new meaning.** Well - I am not having a happy enough life. I have seen hardships in the lives of working men and women. I am not ignoring news from developing countries. While it can be hard to bear this, it gives one nice ray of light in my life - I have meaning! I have hobbies (robotics and AI) that develop tools to ease working life, to accelerate the development of therapies and discoveries. I have no other meaning in life than to help us in an intelligent, meaningful, most optimal way. I have this outlook and homilies can not say anything new. I don't need to search for meaning. Caritas, help for others - what else can there be? But such caritas and help is very practical - some software, some tools in robotics, some software and molecular modelling code for the automatic discovery, some mathematical advancements for AI for automation of the service sector. So - maybe homilies should put more focus on the wider outlook what we as a society can do to help others in intelligent, effective way, using the appropriate tools from science and technology? - And the previous 3 points leads to the **issue of discovering/rediscovering faith**. The current paradigm is that people are feeling helpless and they are discovering faith in such a way. But - as I stated in the previous 3 points - there is no ground to be absolutely helpless. Yes, we can not be sure, but there is a mix of **helpless-uncertainties-accidence/capabilities-duties-faith_in_action-living_actionable_faith**, there is a mix of what we can definitely leave to the God and what we have to do as our duty, duty bound by conditions of sin. I think that is it very important to put any reflection of faith in such a context, otherwise - if absolute helplessness is the only precondition of the discovery of faith, the such faith will not be strong (even more, even the absoluteness of the physical death is not the fact anymore: [The Rejuvenation Roadmap](https://www.lifespan.io/road-maps/the-rejuvenation-roadmap/) . So - I have stated some issues which I would like to hear in homilies and which I would like to enliven in my life and my guess is that any knowledgeable and reasonable human being would do the same. My feeling is that priests and even bishops and the Pope are not informed enough about science. E.g. [Pontifical Academy of Life](http://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/en.html) does not mention the development of therapies. [Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS)](http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/events/2020/coronavirus.html) in contrast clearly states the need for science, basic science and for funding them. So, in theory, PAS has done at least something to inform the Pope and bishops and priests, but still - nothing from that has gone to the reflection and homilies in parish churches. So - my question is - **what is the most effective way to inform the parish priest and the local bishop (and maybe even the Congregations of the Holy See) about developments in science and about reasoning of the ordinary man. And in such a way to guide the priests and bishops in a more reasonable attitude against the Covid-19 pandemic?** So far I have tried to put some (quite short) Facebook comments under announcements made by priests or bishops, but all of them have been ignored. It was the opposite to the local Protestant community in which I suggested to pray for the development of vaccine and for everyone who aspires to become a scientist and develop vaccines, for their efforts - such a prayer suggestion was liked in the Protestant community.

Are there denominations that emphasize apologetic sermons?

I would like to know the differences, if any, seen in homilies offered at Mass during different liturgical seasons. For instance are both Marian and Rosary-based prayers included customarily or are they more secluded, for private piety?

I was reading a book about St. Francis and there is a mention about a "famous" speech he gave in the piazza of Bologna, the 15th of August of 1222. There are several descriptions around of this speech. For example, [this book](https://books.google.cl/books?id=yVG1oWcd1ScC&lpg=PA135&ots=EFy0P-Qmm_&dq=St%20francis%20preaching%20in%20bologna%2015%20august%201222&pg=PA135#v=onepage&q=St%20francis%20preaching%20in%20bologna%2015%20august%201222&f=false) mentions: Footnote 69 above mentions [this page](https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_29/index.htm#page/580/mode/1up) in Monumenta Germaniae Historica. The key passage is: This text was originally published in [Historia Salonitana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_Salonitana) and can be found [here](https://books.google.cl/books?id=B6xNIF-9PmgC&lpg=PA386&ots=60g4M_9nNQ&dq=Historia%20Salonitana&pg=PA178#v=onepage&q&f=false) , together with an English translation (page 178 and 179 respectively). I haven't however found the original sermon. [This blog entry](https://idlespeculations-terryprest.blogspot.com/2012/09/preaching-in-bologna-angels-people-and.html) seems to incorrectly state that the above document contains the full sermon. Anyone aware of where can such sermon be found?

[Richard Baxter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Baxter) , the famous Puritan writer, wrote: >In a word, that in all your neglects of duty, your **sticking at the supposed labor or cost of a godly life**, yea, in all your cold and lazy prayers and performances, conscience might tell you how unsuitable such endeavors are to the reward; and that Christ and salvation should not be so slighted. (Source ) What does he mean by this?