Daily Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: the Advent of the Nativity
Katharina von Bora Luther, renewer of the church, 1552 (Commemoration) W
Katharina (Katherine) Luther (born Katharina von Bora January 29, 1499 - December 20, 1552) was a German Catholic nun who became the wife of Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation, who often fondly called her "my lord Katie." Beyond what is found in the writings of Luther and some of his contemporaries, little is known about her. Despite this, Katharina is often considered one of the most important participants of the Reformation because of her role in helping to define Protestant family life and setting the tone for clergy marriages. She is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on December 20.
Portrait of Katharina von Bora by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1526 Oil on panel, Warburg-Stiftung, Eisenach, Germany
Born January 29, 1499
near Pegau, Germany
Died December 20, 1552 (aged 53)
Torgau, Germany
Spouse Martin Luther (m. 1525-1546)
1. Biography
1. 1. Childhood and life as a nun
Katharina von Bora was born to Anna von Bora, née von Haugwitz, and Hans der Jüngere von Bora on January 29, 1499 in Lippendorf (Kieritzsch), near Pegau, Germany. Katharina grew up in a family of impoverished Saxon nobles, probably with three brothers and a sister.
Her mother died when she was five and her father quickly remarried, after which he sent Katharina to the Benedictine cloister in Brehna (near Halle) in 1504 at the age of five. In 1508, her father transferred her to Marienthron (Mary's Throne), the Cistercian convent of Nimbschen, near Grimma. A paternal aunt, Magadalene ("Lena") von Bora, was a nun at the convent and a maternal aunt, Margarete von Haugwitz, was the Mother Superior. On October 8, 1515, at the age of sixteen, she took her vows as a nun. While at the convent, she learned reading, writing, and some Latin.
After several years of religious life, Katharina became interested in the growing reform movement and grew dissatisfied with her life at the convent. Conspiring with several other nuns to flee in secrecy, she contacted Luther and begged for his assistance.
On Easter eve 1523, Luther sent Leonhard Köppe, a city councilman of Torgau and merchant who regularly delivered herring to the convent. The nuns successfully escaped by hiding in Köppe's covered wagon among the fish barrels, and fled to Wittenberg. A local student wrote to a friend: 'A wagon load of vestal virgins has just come to town, all more eager for marriage than for life. God grant them husbands lest worse befall." [1] Within two years, Luther was able to arrange homes, marriages, or employment for all of the escaped nuns—except for Katharina. She first was housed with the family of Philipp Reichenbach, the city clerk of Wittenberg, and later went to the home of Lucas Cranach the Elder and his wife, Barbara. Katharina had a number of suitors, including Wittenberg University alumnus Jerome (Hieronymus) Baumgärtner (1498-1565) of Nuremberg and a pastor, Dr. Kaspar Glatz of Orlamünde, but none of the proposed matches resulted in marriage. Finally, she told Luther’s friend and fellow reformer, Nikolaus von Amsdorf, that she would be willing to marry only Dr. Luther or him.
1. 2. Marriage to Luther
Luther eventually married Katharina on June 13, 1525 before witnesses including Justus Jonas, Johannes Bugenhagen, and Barbara and Lucas Cranach. On June 27 of the same year, they held a public ceremony which was presided over by Bugenhagen. Katharina was 26 years old, Luther 42. The couple took up residence in "The Black Cloister" (Augusteum), the former dormitory and educational institution for studying Augustinian monks in Wittenberg, given as a wedding gift by the reform-minded John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, who was the son and nephew of Luther's protectors, John, Elector of Saxony and Frederick III, Elector of Saxony.
Katharina immediately took on the task of administering and managing the vast holdings of the monastery, breeding and selling cattle, and running a brewery in order to provide for their family and the steady stream of students who boarded with them and visitors seeking audiences with Luther. In times of widespread illness, Katharina operated a hospital on site, ministering to the sick alongside other nurses. Luther called her the "boss of Zulsdorf," after the name of the farm they owned, and the "morning star of Wittenberg" for her habit of rising at 4 a.m. to take care of her various responsibilities.
In addition to her busy life tending to the lands and grounds of the monastery, Katharina bore six children: Johannes (Hans) (1526-1575), Elizabeth (1527-28) who died at eight months, Magdalena (1529-42) who died at thirteen years, Martin Jr. (1531-1565), Paul (1533-1593), and Margarete (1534-70); in addition she suffered a miscarriage in 1539. The Luthers also raised four orphan children, including Katharina's nephew, Fabian. [2]
Throughout Luther's writings, one can obtain a sense of Katharina's wit and personality, as seen in this exchange:
Martin Luther said, "The time will come when a man will take more than one wife." [Katharina] responded, "Let the devil believe that!" The doctor said, "The reason, Katie, is that a woman can bear a child only once a year while her husband can beget many." Katie responded, "Paul said that each man should have his own wife." To this the doctor replied, "Yes, 'his own wife' and not 'only one wife,' for the latter isn't what Paul wrote." The doctor kidded for a long time and finally the doctor's wife said, "Before I put up with this, I'd rather go back to the convent and leave you and all our children." [3]
1. 3. After Luther's death
Katharina von Bora, 1546
When Martin Luther died in 1546, Katharina was left in difficult financial straits without Luther's salary as professor and pastor. She was asked to move out of the old abbey and into much more modest quarters with the children who remained at home, but she initially refused. Almost immediately thereafter, Katharina had to leave the Black Cloister on her own at the outbreak of the Schmalkaldic War, from which she fled to Magdeburg. After her return the approach of the war forced another flight in 1547, this time to Braunschweig. In July of that year, at the close of the war, she was at last able to return to Wittenberg. The buildings and lands of the monastery had been torn apart and laid waste. Economically, they could not remain there. Katharina was able to support herself thanks to the generosity of John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony and the princes of Anhalt.
She remained in Wittenberg in poverty until 1552, when an outbreak of the Black Plague and a harvest failure forced her to leave the city once again. She fled to Torgau where her cart was involved in a bad accident near the city gates, seriously injuring Katharina. She died in Torgau about three months later on December 20, 1552 at the age of fifty-three and was buried at Torgau's Saint Mary's Church, far from her husband's grave in Wittenberg. She is reported to have said on her deathbed, "I will stick to Christ as a burr to cloth."
By the time of Katharina's death, the surviving Luther children were adults. Hans studied law and became a court advisor. Martin studied theology, but never had a regular pastoral call. Paul became a physician. He fathered six children and the male line of the Luther family continued through him to John Ernest Luther, ending in 1759. Margareta Luther, born in Wittenberg on December 17, 1534, married into a noble, wealthy Prussian family, to Georg von Kunheim (Wehlau, July 1, 1523 - Mühlhausen, October 18, 1611, the son of Georg von Kunheim (1480 - 1543) and wife Margarethe, Truchsessin von Wetzhausen (1490 - 1527)) but died in Mühlhausen in 1570 at the age of thirty-six. However, her descendants have continued to the present time, including German President Paul von Hindenburg and the Counts zu Eulenburg and Princes zu Eulenburg und Hertefeld.
2. Bibliography
2. 1. Books
1.Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, New York: Penguin, 1995, c1950. 336 p. ISBN 0-452-01146-9.
2.Roland H. Bainton, Women of the Reformation in Germany and Italy, Augsburg Fortress Publishers (Hardcover), 1971. ISBN 0-8066-1116-2. Academic Renewal Press (Paperback), 2001. 279 p. ISBN 0-7880-9909-4.
3.Hans J. Hillerbrand, ed. The Reformation: A Narrative History Related by Contemporary Observers and Participants, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1979.
4.E. Jane Mall, Kitty, My Rib, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959. ISBN 0-570-03113-3.
5.Luther's Works, 55 volumes of lectures, commentaries and sermons, translated into English and published by Concordia Publishing House and Fortress Press, 1957; released on CD-ROM, 2001.
6.Heiko A. Oberman, Luther: Man Between God and the Devil, trans. Eileen Walliser-Schwarzbart (New York: Image, 1992).
7.Martin Brecht, Martin Luther: Shaping and Defining the Reformation, 1521-1532, trans. James L. Schaaf (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990); esp. chapter 4, "Marriage, Home, and Family (1525-30)."
3. Notes
1.Bainton, Here I Stand, p. 223.
2.Luther's Later Years (1538 - 1546)
3.Luther, Table Talk, no. 1461.
Scriptural Readings:
December 20th, 2010
Monday of Rorate coeli (Advent 4)
Katharina von Bora Luther
Read today's Higher Things Daily Reflection
December 20, 2010 - Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-19
Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 40:18-41:10; Revelation 8:1-13
" The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.' (Deuteronomy 18:15-16)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Do you really want to see God? Do you want to stand before Him in all His glory and majesty when you are just a poor, miserable sinner? Can you even do it? The Israelites were terrified at Mt. Sinai when they saw the smoke and fire and heard the thunder and knew the Lord was there, so they told Moses to go and talk to God. That way they didn't have to. And Moses tells them the Lord will raise up for them a prophet like that.
That Prophet is Jesus. Jesus is like Moses in that respect. He goes to the Father for us because we could not stand it in His presence. Jesus comes to us because we can't get to God, and even if we could, we'd be burned to cinders in the blink of an eye.
But if God puts on human flesh, if He becomes man, then we can face Him. After all, what is there to fear from a baby? A baby who needs His diapers changed and sleeps in a cow trough full of hay? What is there to fear from a man who stands in the Jordan and is baptized like all the other sinners? What is there to fear from a man who is so easily arrested, beaten, mocked, doesn't even defend Himself and then ends up on a cross?
Moses got near God. But, Jesus IS true God. Moses saw the awesomeness of God hidden in the clouds of Sinai. Jesus saw His glory in His cross and suffering and death for sinners. Now, because Jesus has gone through suffering and death and to life again, you can approach God,in Him.
In Christ, by Baptism and by His Body and Blood, you can get close to God, because you are in Jesus who is true God. Therefore, when you come before the Father it will only ever be as His beloved child—not for the purpose of judgment and punishment, but for blessing and eternal life. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
He comes to judge the nations, A terror to His foes, A light of consolations And blessed hope to those Who love the Lord's appearing. O glorious Sun, now come, Send forth Your beams so cheering, And guide us safely home. (LSB 334:6)
Questions or comments regarding the Reflections may be sent to the Rev. Mark Buetow, Reflectons Editor, reflections@higherthings.org.
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Collect
Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come and help us by Your might, that the sins which weigh us down may be quickly lifted by Your grace and mercy; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
First Reading: Is. 40:18-41:10
18(A) To whom then will you liken God,
(B) or what likeness compare with him? 19(C) An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains. 20(D) He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood[a] that will not rot;he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
21(E) Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are(F) like grasshoppers;(G) who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; 23(H) who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
24Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,when he blows on them, and they wither,
(I) and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25(J) To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One. 26Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?(K) He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.
27Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,(L) "My way is hidden from the LORD,
(M) and my right is disregarded by my God"? 28Have you not known? Have you not heard?The LORD is(N) the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.He does not faint or grow weary;
(O) his understanding is unsearchable. 29He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted; 31but(P) they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings(Q) like eagles;they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Fear Not, For I Am with You
1(R) Listen to me in silence,
(S) O coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength;let them approach, then let them speak;
let us together draw near for judgment.
2(T) Who stirred up one from the east
whom victory meets at every(U) step?[b](V) He gives up nations before him,
so that he tramples kings underfoot;he makes them like dust with his sword,
(W) like driven stubble with his bow. 3He pursues them and passes on safely,
by paths his feet have not trod. 4(X) Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?(Y) I, the LORD, the first,
and with the last; I am he.
5(Z) The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come. 6Everyone helps his neighbor
and says to his brother, "Be strong!" 7(AA) The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,saying of the soldering, "It is good";
and they strengthen it with nails(AB) so that it cannot be moved.
8But you, Israel,(AC) my servant,
Jacob,(AD) whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham,(AE) my friend; 9you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called(AF) from its farthest corners,saying to you, "You are(AG) my servant,
(AH) I have chosen you and not cast you off"; 10fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with(AI) my righteous right hand.
Footnotes:Isaiah 40:20 Or He chooses valuable wood Isaiah 41:2 Or whom righteousness calls to follow?
Cross references:Isaiah 40:18 : Isaiah 40:25; Isaiah 46:5; Acts 17:29 Isaiah 40:18 : Hos 13:2 Isaiah 40:19 : Isaiah 40:18 Isaiah 40:20 : Isaiah 46:6; Jer 10:3-5; Isaiah 44:9-15 Isaiah 40:21 : Isaiah 40:28; Acts 14:17; Rom 1:19, 20 Isaiah 40:22 : Num 13:33 Isaiah 40:22 : Job 9:8; Psalm 104:2 Isaiah 40:23 : Job 12:21; Psalm 107:40 Isaiah 40:24 : Isaiah 41:2; Psalm 83:13 Isaiah 40:25 : Isaiah 40:18 Isaiah 40:26 : Psalm 147:4 Isaiah 40:27 : Isaiah 49:14 Isaiah 40:27 : Isaiah 49:4 Isaiah 40:28 : Psalm 121:4 Isaiah 40:28 : Psalm 147:5 Isaiah 40:31 : Psalm 103:5 Isaiah 40:31 : Exodus 19:4 Isaiah 41:1 : Hab 2:20; Zech 2:13 Isaiah 41:1 : Isaiah 11:11 Isaiah 41:2 : Isaiah 46:11; Isaiah 45:1 Isaiah 41:2 : Judg 4:10 Isaiah 41:2 : 2 Chr 36:23 Isaiah 41:2 : Isaiah 40:24 Isaiah 41:4 : Isaiah 41:26 Isaiah 41:4 : Isaiah 43:10, 11; 44:6; 48:12; Rev 1:8, 17; 22:13 Isaiah 41:5 : Isaiah 11:11 Isaiah 41:7 : Isaiah 40:19 Isaiah 41:7 : Isaiah 40:20 Isaiah 41:8 : Isaiah 44:1, 2 Isaiah 41:8 : Deut 7:6; 10:15; 14:2; Psalm 135:4; 1 Pet 2:9 Isaiah 41:8 : 2 Chr 20:7; James 2:23 Isaiah 41:9 : Isaiah 43:5, 6 Isaiah 41:9 : Isaiah 41:8 Isaiah 41:9 : Isaiah 41:8 Isaiah 41:10 : Psalm 48:10
Second Reading: Rev. 8:1-13
The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
1When the Lamb opened(A) the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2Then I saw the seven angels(B) who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3And another angel came and stood(C) at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with(D) the prayers of all the saints on(E) the golden altar before the throne, 4and(F) the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5Then the angel took the censer and(G) filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and(H) there were peals of(I) thunder, rumblings,[a] flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
The Seven Trumpets
6Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
7The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed(J) hail and(K) fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a(L) third of the earth was burned up, and a third of(M) the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
8The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like(N) a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea(O) became blood. 9A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of(P) the ships were destroyed.
10The third angel blew his trumpet, and(Q) a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on(R) the springs of water. 11The name of the star is Wormwood.[b] A third of the waters(S) became wormwood, and many people died from the water,(T) because it had been made bitter.
12The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of(U) the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.
13Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead,(V) "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!"
Footnotes:Revelation 8:5 Or voices, or sounds Revelation 8:11 Wormwood is the name of a plant and of the bitter-tasting extract derived from it
Cross references:Revelation 8:1 : Revelation 5:1; 6:1 Revelation 8:2 : Luke 1:19 Revelation 8:3 : Amos 9:1 Revelation 8:3 : Revelation 5:8 Revelation 8:3 : Revelation 9:13; Exodus 30:1, 3 Revelation 8:4 : Psalm 141:2 Revelation 8:5 : Lev 16:12 Revelation 8:5 : Psalm 18:7, 8 Revelation 8:5 : Revelation 4:5 Revelation 8:7 : Exodus 9:23, 24; Psalm 18:13; Ezek 38:22 Revelation 8:7 : Joel 2:30 Revelation 8:7 : Revelation 8:8-12; Revelation 9:15, 18; 12:4; Zech 13:8, 9 Revelation 8:7 : Revelation 9:4; Isa 2:13 Revelation 8:8 : Jer 51:25; Mark 11:23 Revelation 8:8 : Revelation 11:6; Exodus 7:17, 19 Revelation 8:9 : Isa 2:16 Revelation 8:10 : Revelation 9:1; Isa 14:12 Revelation 8:10 : Revelation 14:7; 16:4 Revelation 8:11 : Deut 29:18; Jer 9:15; 23:15 Revelation 8:11 : Exodus 15:23 Revelation 8:12 : Exodus 10:21-23; Isa 13:10; 30:26 Revelation 8:13 : Revelation 9:12; 11:14
Monday Father Reading
"'They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of Your house; and You shall give them to drink of Your pleasure as from a river.' By these words we understand not only the stream of heavenly doctrine, but also the receiving of the Mystic Food." [Theodoret. Commentary on Psalm 36. 5th Century]
All Scripture Readings: English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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