Course XXXIII - Teaching 15: Preaching in the Christian Church. Its Orthodoxy

Preaching (pro aperto dicere) is a legitimate dispensation of the word of God. Also one has to understand it as the oral transmission of a doctrine through its authoritative ministers. So, the body of the doctrine responds to rules, precepts and principles that its agent will convey as a whole and with fidelity. The doctrine –the word is the link in the mystique of preaching– will be based on, and increased and kept through revelation.
In this sense, the Christian Church gave capital importance to preaching, which, as the necessary means conveying the doctrine, is set up by Jesus himself and trusted, as main mission, to apostles and successors, under the instruction of teaching it to the people, and under the order of preaching the gospel of which he confesses to be a preacher here on Earth, because just so as he was sent, so he sends his disciples.
The need of preaching was one of those things that led the apostles to create deacons so that the former can devote more intensely to preach. So, preaching is the main mission of the successors of the apostles, and they must not abandon it for the attention of other tasks. They can be assisted in this mission, but just as assistants, not as substitutes, except a legitimate impediment.
This was understood in this way since the establishment of the Roman Church, and the Fathers, Canons and Councils assign constantly to Bishops the ministry of preaching. Saint Hilary, Saint Hieronymus and Saint Augustine constitute this ministry. In Rome until the Pope Leo, in Africa until Saint Augustine, and in the East until Saint John Chrysostomos, preaching kept the character of that from the times of persecution, and consisted of talks, exhortations and family instructions, without preparation, previous writings or copies. Saint Gregory of Nyssa was one of the first whose sermons contained the art and beauty of the eloquence; so there were copyists that kept them.
In a letter to Maximus of Antioch and Theodorus of Cyrus, the Pope Leo states that the early authority to preach in that church is reserved to Bishops. Preaching remained the essential duty of Bishops for centuries henceforward.
In this sense, Cessareus of Alés is an outstanding figure: he discharges all temporal concerns on his deacons, and leads other Bishops to follow him. When in the wake of his old age he was unable to preach his own sermons, made them read by his priests and deacons, along with Saint Ambrose’s and Saint Augustine’s sermons.
This is so important in this church that laymen cannot preach at all since the beginning. Gregory IX decrees and orders this universal prohibition to the Bishop of Milan, on pain of excommunication to those who preach publicly or privately. A curious detail: some few kings have preached because they were supposedly learned, fervent Christians, anointed by the Lord , and also personally anointed by the Pope or his Bishops.
Preaching is always extremely important for the Catholic Church because several Councils have set up rules (for example, regulations of the Council of Trent and others; of Toledo; of Sens; and rules of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation of June 28th, 1917).
In the Orthodox Church, preaching responds to rules like those of the Catholic Church, and individual licenses given by a Bishop are required to preach.
According to Protestants, preaching is the most important part of their cult, and finally the Low Chamber of the Anglican Ecclesiastical Parliament, on February 14th, 1922, permitted the women to preach in gatherings. Except in England, ordination is not required to preach; it is sufficient certain knowledge and to be a pastor.
Everything regarding preaching as a whole. As for the specific “sacred preaching”, it is an oral teaching of revealed verities and an exhortation to practice virtues; its object is to persuade, that is, to enlighten the intelligence and move the will according to the latter.
Sacred oratory and sacred preaching are not the same. Sacred oratory contains rules as whole in order to preach eloquently, and sacred preaching is just the practice of the said rules. According to Saint Augustine, this type of sacred preaching comprises a double principle: divine and human. The divine principle implies three elements: mission, doctrine and assistance. The human principle is the preacher, who can carry out properly his mission should not forgets those rules that are the oratorical art; also he must know the sources of his own preaching. An illustration of this is the encyclical of Benedict XV to Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops and the rest of hierarchy on June 15th, 1917.