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A course of forty sermons for Lent

The Lenten Sermons

by Fr. Paolo Segneri, S.J. (1624–1694)

Paolo Segneri was the most celebrated preacher of Catholic Italy. His Lenten course, the Quaresimale, set the standard for sacred oratory for a century: forty sermons, carried barefoot through the towns of Italy, unflinching on death, judgment, and sin, and tender on God’s friendship and mercy.

This is a fresh English translation, the first to carry Segneri’s cadence and fire into readable modern English, with every text of Scripture kept in its Douay-Rheims form. The first three sermons are free to read below; the complete course is reserved for the book.

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Free sample

You are reading a free sample: 3 of 40 sermons. The complete Lenten Sermonsgives you Segneri’s full course for Lent, every sermon with its Scripture, argument, synopsis, and notes.

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Front matter

The sermons · all forty, three free to read

  1. Sermon I. The Certainty and Suddenness of Death
  2. Sermon II. God, the Faithful Friend
  3. Sermon III. The Forgiveness of Enemies
  4. Sermon IV. Hunger for the Word of God
  5. Sermon V. Shame at the Last Judgment
  6. Sermon VI. The Madness of Sinning against God
  7. Sermon VII. The Neglect of Salvation
  8. Sermon VIII. Overcoming Human Respect
  9. Sermon IX. The Souls in Purgatory
  10. Sermon X. The Joys of Paradise
  11. Sermon XI. The Delusion of Deathbed Repentance
  12. Sermon XII. Public Sin and Scandal
  13. Sermon XIII. Ill-Gotten Riches
  14. Sermon XIV. The Pains of Hell
  15. Sermon XV. The Chastisements of God
  16. Sermon XVI. Fleeing the Occasions of Sin
  17. Sermon XVII. Ingratitude to God
  18. Sermon XVIII. The Duty of Fraternal Correction
  19. Sermon XIX. Detraction and Backbiting
  20. Sermon XX. The Truth of the Christian Faith
  21. Sermon XXI. The Moment of Grace
  22. Sermon XXII. Almsgiving and the Poor
  23. Sermon XXIII. Reverence in the Church
  24. Sermon XXIV. The Torment of a Bad Conscience
  25. Sermon XXV. The Education of Children
  26. Sermon XXVI. The Willing Acceptance of Death
  27. Sermon XXVII. Tribulation, God's Love in Disguise
  28. Sermon XXVIII. The Ruin of Mortal Sin
  29. Sermon XXIX. Bearing with the Wicked
  30. Sermon XXX. The World, a Traitor
  31. Sermon XXXI. Predestination and Free Will
  32. Sermon XXXII. God's Mercy to the Penitent
  33. Sermon XXXIII. The Folly of Worldly Policy
  34. Sermon XXXIV. Christ the Meek King
  35. Sermon XXXV. The Incomparable Sorrow of Christ
  36. Sermon XXXVI. The Glory of the Resurrection
  37. Sermon XXXVII. Perseverance and the Danger of Relapse
  38. Sermon XXXVIII. The Joy of the Spiritual Life
  39. Sermon XXXIX. The Holiest of Men after Mary
  40. Sermon XL. Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces

Sermons IV–XL are in the complete edition.