volubility of utterance often affected by them, wherewith they strike the ears and gain their hearers' admiration, but give them no lesson to carry home. How sadly are those preachers deceived! Granted that they receive the applause of the uneducated, which they seek with such great favor, and not without sacrilege, is it really worthwhile when we consider that they are condemned by every prudent man, and, what is worse, have reason to fear the stern judgment of Christ? Benedict XV recalls the Apostle Paul’s spiritual preparation for preaching mentioning three qualities. A preacher was a man who always fully conformed himself to God's will. For Christ's sake he was indifferent to poverty or wealth, praise or contempt, life or death. He would not avoid labour or trouble of any kind. And he was a man of prayer not of studious preparation. What gives a man's words life and vigor and makes them promote wonderfully the salvation of souls is Divine grace: "God gave the increase." [I Cor. iii:6] But the grace of God is not gained by study and practice: it is won by prayer. Therefore, he who is little given to prayer or neglects it altogether, vainly spends his time and labor in preaching, for in God's sight his sermons profit neither himself nor those who hear him. See also List of encyclicals of Pope Benedict XV References External links Full text of the encyclical Humani Generis Redemptionem of Benedict XV the on Vatican Website . 1917 in Christianity 1917 documents 20th-century Christian texts Holy See Latin words and phrases Motu proprio of Pope Benedict XV Papal encyclicals June 1917 events