Characteristics
A sermon focuses on an aspect of a selected theme (thema) taken from the Gospel reading of the day. The popular sermon began with a thema, a lesson based on the gospel of the day. The prothema or antethema, a statement and/or prayer by the preacher, followed the thema. Sometimes the preacher skipped the prothema and delivered a prelocution, proof of the thema, by citing sources of authority instead. The thema was then restated and followed by the process, a breakdown of multiple parts of the thema—the historical, allegorical (personified), tropological (moralized), and anagogical (the mystical). Finally, the sermon would close with a recitation (a quick review) and a benediction (blessing).
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