The sermon you are about to hear comes from Saint John Chrysostom, one of the great Fathers of the Church and a preacher renowned for his clarity, courage, and pastoral realism. Speaking on marriage and family life, he draws directly from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians to present a vision that is demanding, countercultural, and deeply humane. Chrysostom does not offer sentimentality or abstraction. He speaks about husbands and wives as they truly are, with their weaknesses, fears, sacrifices, and daily struggles, and he places all of it under the model of Christ and His Church. In an age that often misunderstands authority, love, freedom, and sacrifice, his words remain strikingly fresh. What you will hear is not a theory of marriage, but a call to holiness lived out in ordinary life, where love is proved through patience, self-giving, and fidelity to God.

Welcome to the SSPX Podcast, and Happy New Year. This week, like last week, we’re offering a special presentation on the podcast, bringing together a sermon and a reflection for the great feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.

Today we are doing a special sermon presentation on the podcast. Instead of one of our priests of the Society of Saint Pius X, we’ll re-present a sermon by one of – if not the giant – of preaching in all of Christendom, St. Francis de Sales. And so it might help to know something about the preacher who gave it almost exactly 400 years ago today. St. Francis de Sales was one of the great bishops and spiritual teachers of the early seventeenth century, known not for fiery rhetoric, but for clarity, patience, and a deep pastoral charity. He believed that souls are won for God not by pressure or argument, but by gentleness and love. Even those who opposed him were often disarmed by the kindness and calm strength of his preaching. Saint Francis had a special devotion to the mystery of the Incarnation and to the feast of Christmas. He frequently returned in his sermons and writings to the humility of God made man, marveling that the eternal Word chose to come into the world as a helpless child. For him, Bethlehem was a school of confidence and simplicity, where the soul learns to trust God and to approach Him without fear. The sermon you are about to hear was preached at Midnight Mass on Christmas Day in 1622. The stillness of that hour held deep meaning for St. Francis. While the world slept, he saw heaven quietly at work, revealing a God who comes without spectacle, without force, and without demand, asking only to be welcomed. As you listen, allow these words to lead you to the crib at Bethlehem, and to encounter once again the Child who comes into the world tonight out of love for us.