A Sermon Against Drunkenness, Preached to Catholics[1]

By the

Rev. W. B. Ullathorne, V.G., D.D.[2]

First published in 1834; reprinted in 1840[3]

“He that is temperate shall prolong life.”— Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 37:34 [DRB]

“Let us cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light: let us

walk honestly, as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness.”— Romans 13:12 (cf. Gal 5:19-21)

“Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and

drunkenness, and that day come upon you suddenly.” — Luke 21:34

What is a drunkard? A Christian is one who follows and practices the virtues of Christ. An angel is a pure creature that contemplates and enjoys God. A man is a creature that thinks and reasons. A brute is a creature that follows its appetite indeed, but never goes to excesses beyond the bounds of order. What is a drunkard? I have gone through the whole of creation that lives, and I find nothing in it like the drunkard. He enjoys no happiness, like the angels; he is not preparing himself for happiness, like the Christian; he does not think or reason, like a man; he keeps not his appetite within the bounds of nature, like the brute. What then is the drunkard? The drunkard is nothing but the drunkard. There is no other thing in nature to which he can be likened.

This is not a subject on which we can be allowed to soften down the truth in our words until it becomes falsehood.

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