Seelos delivers his first sermon on the feast of St. Joseph. He quickly becomes a popular preacher, speaking to the everyday spiritual needs of the people in a plain manner. This is not as popular with some members of the Congregation, one of whom calles him a “blockhead.” In true Seelos fashion he takes this reproof “very quietly and patiently,” says fellow Redemptorist Thaddeus Anwander. There was no denying, his sermons had an unusual power of bringing people to church and sinners to repentance.