Leslie Alexander is a former Catholic.
Jules Mascaron -LRB- 1634 -- 1703 -RRB- was a popular French preacher .. French. France. preacher. preacher. He was born in Marseille as the son of a barrister at Aix-en-Provence .. Marseille. Marseille. Aix-en-Provence. Aix-en-Provence. He entered the Oratory of Jesus early and became reputed as a preacher .. preacher. preacher. Oratory of Jesus. Oratory of Jesus. Paris confirmed the judgment of the provinces ; in 1666 he was asked to preach before the court and became a favourite of Louis XIV , who said that his eloquence was one of the few things that never grew old .. Paris. Paris. Louis XIV. Louis XIV of France. In 1671 , he was appointed the bishop of Tulle ; eight years later he was transferred to the larger diocese of Agen .. bishop of Tulle. bishop of Tulle. diocese of Agen. diocese of Agen. He still continued to preach regularly at court , especially for funeral orations .. A panegyric on Turenne , delivered in 1675 , is considered to be his masterpiece .. panegyric. panegyric. Turenne. Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne. His style is strongly tinged with preciosite and his chief surviving interest is as a glaring example of the evils from which Jacques-Benigne Bossuet delivered the French pulpit .. French. France. Jacques-Benigne Bossuet. Jacques-Benigne Bossuet. During his later years , he devoted himself entirely to his pastoral duties at Agen where he died in 1703 .. Six of his most famous sermons were edited , with a biographical sketch of their author , by the Oratorian Borde in 1704 .