Read the whole pamphlet here:And if and when the bishops and priests did preach, the quality of the sermons was very poor. There was preserved in the worship service a place for preaching. This was called the "homily," a brief sermon. But these homilies were for the most part nothing but borrowed sermons from the church fathers. The priests did not do any original work, nor was there any exposition of the Scriptures. The sermons were therefore not edifying but boring treatments of meaningless subjects of the Middle Ages. In addition, these sermons were filled with many absurd stories and fables. Besides, even where the sermons were of good quality and content, they were most often read in Latin, which most of the people could not understand. On the character of these sermons John Calvin wrote:
…What sermons in Europe then exhibited that simplicity with which Paul wishes christian people to be always occupied? Nay, what one sermon was there from which old wives might not carry off more whimsies than they could devise at their own fireside in a month? For, as sermons were then usually divided, the first half was devoted to those misty questions of the schools which might astonish the rude populace, while the second contained sweet stories, or not unamusing speculations, by which the hearers might be kept on the alert. Only a few expressions were thrown in from the Word of God, that by their majesty they might procure credit for these frivolities. (Selected Works of John Calvin, ed. & Trans. by H. Bevridge, vol. l, p.40).
http://www.prca.org/pamphlets/pamphlet_90.html
