SERMONS OF THE CURE OF ARS - EXCERPTS

 THE DREADFUL STATE OF THE LUKEWARM SOUL

 HAVE YOU RELIGION IN YOUR HEART?

 LOST WORKS

 WE ARE WRETCHED CREATURES

 ROUTINE FOLLOWERS

 THE WORLD IS EVERYTHING AND GOD IS NOTHING!

 FOLLOW ONE MASTER ONLY

 THEY ARE FOR THE WORLD

 WE ARE EXTRAORDINARILY BLIND

 NOT LIKE THE OTHERS

 THE EVIL TONGUES

 A PUBLIC PLAGUE

 YOUR HEART IS BUT A MASS OF PRIDE

 THE TONGUE OF THE SCANDAL-MONGER

 OH, EVERYONE SAYS SO!

 ST. NICHOLAS AND THE THREE GIRLS

 THE SEWER OF HELL

 A CURSE WILL FALL

 ARE YOUR AFFAIRS GOING BETTER?

 BAD COMPANY

 ANGER DOES NOT TRAVEL ALONE

 HOW DEATH WILL REVEAL THIEVES!

 IF YOU KNOW HOW TO GIVE, YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO PAY BACK

 WINE IS HIS GOD

 THE DUTIES OF THE PREGNANT WOMAN

 THE DUTIES OF THE MOTHER

 THE DUTIES OF PARENTS

 YOU WILL ANSWER FOR THEIR SOULS

 TO THEIR SHAME IT MUST BE SAID

 GETTING TO KNOW THE RIGHT PEOPLE

 YOU NO LONGER CONTROL THEM

 HE WILL HELP US

 WE MUST EXPECT TEMPTATION

 WE ARE NOTHING IN OURSELVES

 BEWARE IF YOU HAVE NO TEMPTATIONS

 THE BAD DEATH

 HIS PRAYER IS A LIE

 HOW BLIND THE SINNER IS!

 PRISONERS OF SIN

 YOU CAN BECOME A GOOD TREE

 WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

 ANNUAL CONFESSIONS

 REPAIRING THE WRONG DONE

 RENOUNCE SIN FOR GOOD AND ALL

 MERIT ABSOLUTION

 PRAYER COMMANDS ALL

 YOU HAVE NOT THE TIME

 I COME ON BEHALF OF GOD

 YOU SHOULD COME EARLIER

 IT IS NECESSARY TO BE CONVERTED

 HAVE A CLEAN FACE

 MODEL YOUR DEATH

 ON THAT OF JESUS CHRIST

 IF MAN KNEW HIS RELIGION

 THOUGHTS ON THE WAY TO CHURCH

 YOU ARE SURPRISED, BUT NOT I!

 WHEN YOU GO BACK HOME

 CLEAR YOUR MINDS

 WE ARE KEEPING A FEAST

 BE RELIGIOUS OR BE DAMNED!

 YOUR PRAYERS ARE ONLY AN INSULT

 PURITY IS NOT KNOWN

 THE SERVICE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

 OUR INCONSISTENCY

 LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR

 WHO HAS CHARITY?

 PRAYING, FASTING, AND PLEASING OURSELVES

 DO YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY?

 THE GIFT OF EVERY DAY

 THE PUBLIC CROSSES

 THE CROSSES WHICH ARE WORN

 HARVEST CROSSES

 THE ARMED CROSSES

 THE BELOVED CROSSES

HAVE A CLEAN FACE

I have told you that you should have neat and clean clothes. I do not mean expensive clothes, but only ones which are not soiled or torn. That is to say, the clothes should be washed and mended if one has no others. There are some who have nothing to change or who, through laziness, do not do so; they do not change their linen, that is, their shirts. For those who have no other clothes, there is nothing wrong in that.

But those who have, do wrong, for it is lacking in respect to our Lord, Who wishes to come into their hearts. Your hair should be combed and tidy and your face and hands clean. You should never come to the altar without stockings, good or bad.

One should not approve of those young people who, in going up to the altar, appear no differently at that moment than at the time when they are going to a ball or a dance. I do not know how they go to receive a God Who was humbled and despised by all, with such a parade of vanity and style. Dear Lord, what a contradiction this is! ....