Massillon, Jean Baptiste

mas'si-lon, Jean Baptiste (1663-1742), a distinguished French clergyman. He has been styled the Racine of the French pulpit, and is said by some to have been the greatest pulpit orator of France. During the latter years of Louis XIV, Massillon was the court preacher. At the time of his advancement at court, the aged king had already turned from a dissolute life to a life of asceticism. He is said to have declared that other preachers made him "pleased with them, but that Massillon made him displeased with himself." He was elected a member of the French academy. The last twenty years of his life were spent in retirement as Bishop of Clermont. His collected works, chiefly sermons, were published in twelve volumes.