Christian preaching during the seventeeth century had a variety of influences, among them late medieval thematic sermons and the revival of classical letters during the Renaissance. As an educated Jesuit, St. Claude La Colombiere used his rhetoric not only to instruct his audience from the pulpit, but to please them as well. This volume presents the first English translations of twelve of St. Claude's sermons, each addressing a different aspect of Christian conduct. In his commentary, William P. O'Brien examines St. Claude's dynamic vision of the human and considers what this might mean for Catholics, then and now.