Katie's Last Years

Today is the commemoration of Katherine Von Bora Luther, Martin Luther's famous "Katie".

Okay so we all know the story of her escape in the pickle cart.  (Although Father Anonymous is such a spoil sport about these stories he probably will refute them). I personally love the way she refused all the husbands Luther tried to throw her way and said she'd only have him.  

It's kind of a love story in a more real sense.  No great romance at the start, Luther married her more to set an example than anything else.  But they grew to love each other and faced life together, she bore six children, one died at birth and a daughter died at aged 13.  They also raised four orphans.  She cooked and cleaned, gardened, brewed beer and held her own against Luther himself.

But her last years are really sad.  When Luther died in 1546 she was left with no income and asked to move out of the abbey they lived in while she still had children at home.  Although she refused, she ended up having to flee the Smacaldic war.  When she was able to return her properties were ruined by the war and she and her children lived in poverty.  Then when the plague broke out she had to move again.  She was badly injured when a horse was injured in the move.  She died a few months later at the age of 53 on December 20, 1552.  Because of the war she could not even be buried by her husband in Wittenberg and was buried far away in Torgau.

I'm but a stranger here,
Heav'n is my home;
Earth is a desert dread,
Heav'n is my home.
Danger and sorrow stand
Round me on every hand;
Heav'n is my fatherland,
Heav'n is my home.

The Annunciation

Henry Ossawa Tanner,. The Annunciation, 1898. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

"She shut her eyes and trusted in God who could bring all things to pass, even though common sense were against it; and because she believed, God did to her as he said"

Martin Luther's Christmas Book
..

Joyeux Noel

Sleeping Virgin with Infant~Deborah Sorrentino

To me there is no greater consolation given to mankind than this, that Christ became man, a child, a babe, playing in the lap and at the breasts of his most gracious mother. Who is there whom this sight would not comfort? Now is overcome the power of sin, death, hell, conscience, and guilt, if you come to this gurgling Babe and believe that he is come, not to judge you, but to save.

~Martin Luther's Christmas Sermon

"He is not here"

   A Christian should be where Christ is. If Christ is not here, a Christian should not be here. That is why no one can find a Christ or a Christian in any particular set of rules…. He has left behind the grave clothes, namely, worldly justice, wisdom, piety, law and the like. …These are all grave clothes. He never puts on grave clothes nor can a Christian.

~Martin Luther

Other Artists commemorated this day

Lucas Cranach was a close friend of Luther and know as the portraitist of many of the reformers.  He did most of the portraits of Luther we are familiar with.

Matthias Gruenewald was an important German renaissance painter of religious works.  His most famous work is the Eisenheim Altarpiece,  painted for an altar in  a monastery in France.   

Molly 2009-2010

 

Be thou comforted, little dog, Thou too in Resurrection shall have a little golden tail.~

Martin Luther (died on this day 1546)

Some animals want and need to be wild.  Some animals want and need to be with people.  Molly was a feral cat who wanted to live with people.  

She showed up crying in my garage last winter.  It was so cold it took little coaxing to get her to come into my house.  She promptly made a beeline for the basement and found a cubby hole to hide in.  

Everyday I would come downstairs and sweet talk her.  She liked to be talked to.  She would come out of hiding to listen to me talk to her.  Pretty soon she was coming upstairs to eat with the other cats.   She made friends with Mr. Boots.  Well, I think she wanted something from Mr. Boots he was not physically capable of providing her but she seemed content with his affection.

While laying in the same bed with Mr. Boots she let me pet her.  And she realized she liked being pet.  She became one of the sweetest, most affectionate of all my kitties.  

I noticed last night she didn't come up to bed with me which was a little unusual.  Then this morning when she did not come to eat I knew something was wrong.  I found her sitting in the basement, lethargic and with labored breathing.  


By the time I got her to the vet she was having an extremely difficult time breathing and so we put her out of her pain.  She had fluid on the lungs.  Lots of reasons for that.  It was something of a shock since it came on so suddenly.  My pretty little Mollie.  I'm so glad I took her in and gave her the home she so obviously longed for.

Luther's Rose

From the stained glass window at First Evangelica Lutheran Church, Beaver Dam ,
Oakbrook Esser Studios

The Lutheran Rose, seen often as a symbol of the Lutheran Church was designed by Martin Luther and he explained his symbolism in a letter to his friend Herr Spengler, town clerk of Nuremberg. The Luther Rose:

• "The first thing expressed in my seal is a cross, black, within the heart, to put me in mind that faith in Christ crucified saves us. 'For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.' Now, although the cross is black, mortified, and intended to cause pain, yet it does nor change the color of the heart, does not destroy nature (i.e., does not kill, but keeps alive). 'For the just shall live by faith,' by faith in the Savior.
• But this heart is fixed upon the center of a white rose, to show that faith causes joy, consolation and peace.
• The rose is white, not red, because white is the ideal color of all angels and blessed spirits.
• This rose, moreover, is fixed in a sky-colored background, to denote that such joy of faith in the spirit is but an earnest beginning of heavenly joy to come, as anticipated and held by hope, though not yet revealed.
• And around this groundbase is a golden ring, to signify that such bliss in heaven is endless, and more precious than all joys and treasures, since gold is the best and most precious metal. Christ, our dear Lord, He will give grace unto eternal life."

Mary - Theotokos

Icon by Kenneth Dowdy

Men have crowded all her glory into a single phrase: The Mother of God. No one can say anything greater of her. ~ Martin Luther

Mary is the Mother of God.

Sometimes Protestants don't like to hear that. Even on our Lutheran Calendar, we call this day of her commemoration, "Mary, Mother of Our Lord" rather than "Mary, Mother of God"

But if you have any understanding of the Holy Trinity or even of the Incarnation, you have to confess Mary as Theotokos, or "God Bearer" as the Church did at the Third Ecumenical at Ephesus in 431.

Protestants sometimes veer off into ancient heresies with simplistic formulations like Mary was the mother of the human part of Jesus and God was the Father of the Divine part of Jesus. BUZZZ! WRONG!! Jesus is fully human and fully divine and Mary carried the whole Jesus, God in Flesh in her womb. If you don't get that , you need to go back and study your church history, Nestorius in particular, because he had the same problem. His side lost. The Church, in her wisdom, decreed that you cannot separate Jesus into a human and divine part.

Unfortunately I don't think today's problem with thinking of Mary has anything to do with confusion about the nature of Christ. People would actually have to have some theological background for that. I think it's partly our discomfort with the whole idea of Incarnation. Of God actually being in a womb and being born in blood and pain and messiness. We are always trying to keep God out of the messiness of our lives. Far better to keep God off far away - because then we can imagine we can leave the messiness of this world to get to God, rather than accept that God comes to us in our messiness.

There may be some sexism involved in the push to diminish Mary's role in our redemption. God forbid there be anything female about God or salvation. Although I haven't noticed that that either the Roman or Eastern church, both whom highly exalt Mary have been particularly respectful of the role of women who aren't both virgins and mothers.

I always enjoyed the way Sojourner Truth ended her famous "Ain't I a Woman" speech:

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

Martin Luther Prayer

Good Afternoon-

Today I share with you a prayer by Martin Luther. If it does not pertain to you today, hold on to it, I trust it won't be long before you need such a prayer:

My Lord Jesus Christ, my neighbor has injured me,hurt my honor by talking about me, and interfered with my rights. I cannot tolerate this and I wish to avoid any contact. O God, hear my complaint. I would gladly feel kindly toward my neighbor, but I cannot. How totally cold and insensible I am. O Lord, I am helpless and forsaken. If you change me, I will be sincere. Oh dear God, change me by your grace, or I must remain as I am. Amen.

From

Albrecht Dürer, Artist 1528

The Crucifixion
Woodcut, 1511

Albrecht Dürer, was born in Nuremberg, May 21, 1471. He was the first northern European artist to immerse himself in the art of the Italian
Renaissance and was greatly influenced by it. Durer was also influenced by Martin Luther and when he heard that Charles V had declared him "notorious heretic" and not knowing that Luther had taken refuge in Wartburg, he wrote in his dairy:

I know not whether he lives or is murdered, but in any case he has suffered for the Christian truth...if we lose this man, who has written more clearly than any other in centuries, may God grant his spirit to another...His books should be held in great honor and not burned as the emperor commands.....O God, if Luther is dead, who will henceforth explain to us the Gospel?

The most often reproduced and widely known work of the Albrecht Dürer is the gray and white brush drawing on blue-grounded paper, entitled the "Hands of the Apostle," generally known as "The Praying Hands"

A deeply religious man, he was affected both in his thought and in his work by the apocalyptic spirit of the time in the face of famine, plague, and social and religious upheaval. His paintings and woodcuts are a close examination of the splendor--as well as the potential terror--of creation: the human body, animals, grasses, and flowers.

Although he remained a Roman Catholic throughout his life, he was a warm admirer of Martin Luther, and expressed regret that he had never been able to paint him "as a lasting memorial to the Christian man who has helped me out of great anxiety." He died at Nuremberg on 6 April 1528. Luther wrote to a friend:

Affection bids us mourn for one who was the best of men, yet you may well consider him happy that he has made so good an end, and that Christ has taken him from the midst of this time of trouble.... May he rest in peace with his fathers. Amen.

Recommended Reading:
The New Book of Festivals and Commemorations: Toward a Common Calendar of Saints

Confirmation Tonight

So I didn't really have enough prepared tonight. We suspend classes for Lent - I find I get better attendance at worship and I'd rather see the family worshiping together than dropping the kid off for class.

I had a little power point prepared on Martin Luther which didn't last long. Then I just started my story telling. I'm a pretty good story teller. They like it when I tell them bible stories. I try to get them to read the bible "No you tell us the story, Pastor - we like to hear you tell it" Yup, feed my ego. I'll tell you a story.

So I told them the story of Martin helping Katie escape from the convent in a pickle barrel. And how Martin tried to get Katie to marry some of his friends and she wouldn't settle for anyone less than him. And how he reluctantly agreed to marry her because he was not setting a good example marrying off his monk friends but refusing to settle down himself. And I said how that wasn't a very romantic start but what a deep and lasting love they had and what a comfort Katie was to him in the difficult times and how they comforted one another when they lost their dear daughter.

"Wow," breathed one of the 15 year old boys. "That is a great story!"

Yes it is.

Luther's Sacristy Prayer

In honor of today's commemoration of Martin Luther, Renewer of the Church, 1483-1546


Luther’s Sacristy Prayer

Lord God, You have appointed me as a pastor in Your Church, but you see how unsuited I am to meet so great and difficult a task. If I had lacked Your help, I would have ruined everything long ago. Therefore, I call upon You: I wish to devote my mouth and my heart to you; I shall teach the people. I myself will learn and ponder diligently upon You Word. Use me as Your instrument -- but do not forsake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all.

This text was translated in 1999 for Project Wittenberg
by James Kellerman