St. Serra's Sermons During a Famine in Spain
Old Mission Santa Barbara statue of St. Francis receiving the stigmata. Photo by Gregg Garrison Four sermons are delivered by St. Serra in Mallorca, Spain in the middle of a devastating famine. Ten thousand people died in St. Serra’s hometown from famine and plague in 1744. Serra’s four sermons from this time of suffering reflect on Psalm 34: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” As of March 28, t he 2020 global death toll is rapidly approaching 30,000 deaths from the Coronavirus, equaling the 1744 loss in life in St. Serra’s lifetime. These sermons — then and now — are inspired by great suffering and speak compassionately to people in the midst of a plague. In these sermons, St. Serra speaks to us of the earthly and divine rungs of the ladder that lead to God. Equal parts of suffering, healing and pardoning lead to “the eternal weight of glory and risen life.” The first rung of the ladder: God is gentle in the sufferings He sends us. Secondly, God is a healer. From the sec