Talk:Jean Baptiste Massillon

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Massillon (mas'sil-lon or ma'se'yon'}, Jean Baptiste, one of the greatest of French clerics and modern orators, was born at Hyeres in Provence on June 24, 1663. He first preached before Louis XIV in 1699. It was to him that the king said: "I have heard great orators in my chapel and have felt satisfied with them, but every time I have heard you I have felt dissatisfied with myself"— a saying which shows the fearless eloquence of this great orator. In 1717 Massillon was made bishop of Clermont, and next year preached his famous series of ten short sermons for Lent before young King Louis XV. He died on Sept. 18, 1742. Bossuet and Bourdaloue rival him in oratory, but he was a greater preacher than either. Among his masterpieces are his sermons on the Prodigal Son, the Death of the Just and the Unjust and For Christmas.

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