Martin Luther, Founder of the Reform,
Speaks on Mary
In his sermon of
August 15, 1522,
the last time Martin Luther preached on the Feast of the Assumption, he stated:
There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven.
How it happened we do not know.
And since the Holy Spirit has told us nothing about it,
we can make of it no article of faith . . .
It is enough to know that she lives in Christ.
The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of thehuman heart.
(Sermon, September 1, 1522).
•••
[She is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ . . .
She is nobility, wisdom,
and holiness personified.
We can never honor her enough.
Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures.
(Sermon, Christmas, 1531).
•••
No woman is like you.
You are more than Eve or Sarah,
blessed above all nobility, wisdom,and sanctity. (Sermon, Feast of theVisitation, 1537).
•••
One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat.
She praised God for his deeds.
How then can we praise her?
The true honor of Mary is the honor of God,
the praise of God's grace . . .
Mary is nothing for the sake of herself,
but for the sake of Christ . . .
Mary does not wish that we come to her,
but through her to God. (Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521).
•••
Luther gives the Blessed Virgin the exalted position of "Spiritual Mother"
for Christians:
It is the consolation and the superabundant goodness of God,
that man is able to exult in such a treasure.
Mary is his true Mother .. (Sermon, Christmas, 1522)
•••
Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who reposed on her knees . . .
If he is ours,
we ought to be in his situation; there where he is,
we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother.
(Sermon, Christmas, 1529).
•••
Martin Luther had the belief of Mary's Immaculate Conception,
Luther's words follow:
It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary's soul was effected without original sin;
so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God's gifts,
receiving a pure soul infused by God;
thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from allsin"
(Sermon: "On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God," 1527).
•••
She is full of grace,
proclaimed to be entirely without sin- something exceedingly great.
For God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil.
(Personal {"Little"} Prayer Book, 1522).
•••
Martin Luther on Mary's Perpetual Virginity
Here are some of the founders of refom commenting on Mary:
Christ, our Savior,
was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb . . .
This was without the cooperationof a man,
and she remained a virgin after that.
{Luther's Works, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan (vols. 1-30) & Helmut T. Lehmann (vols. 31-55), St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House (vols. 1-30); Philadelphia: Fortress Press (vols. 31-55), 1955, v.22:23 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }
•••
Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary,
and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . .
I am inclined to agree with those who declare that 'brothers' really mean 'cousins' here,
for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers.
{Pelikan, ibid., v.22:214-15 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }
•••
A new lie about me is being circulated.
I am supposed to have preached and written that Mary, the mother of God,
was not a virgin either before or after the birth of Christ . . .
{Pelikan, ibid.,v.45:199 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523) }
•••
Scripture does not say or indicate that she later lost her virginity . . .
When Matthew [1:25]
says that Joseph did not know Mary carnally until she had brought forth her son,
it does not follow that he knew her subsequently;
on the contrary,
it means that he never did know her . . .
This babble . . .
is without justification . . .
he has neither noticed nor paid any attention to either Scripture or the common idiom.
{Pelikan, ibid.,v.45:206, 212-3 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523) }
•••
Editor Jaroslav Pelikan (Lutheran) adds:
Luther . . . does not even consider the possibility that Mary might have had other children than Jesus.
This is consistent with his lifelong acceptance of the idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary.
{Pelikan, ibid.,v.22:214- 5}
•••
". . . she is full of grace, proclaimedto be entirely without sin. . . .
God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil. . . .
God is with her,
meaning that all she did or left undone is divine and the action ofGod in her.
Moreover, God guarded and protected her from all that might be hurtful to her."
Ref: Luther's Works, American edition, vol. 43, p. 40, ed. H. Lehmann, Fortress, 1968
•••
". . . she is rightly called not only the mother of the man, but also the Mother of God. . . .{In Hilda Graef, Mary: A history of Doctrine and Devotion, combined ed. of vols. 1 & 2, London: Sheed &Ward, 1965, vol.2, pp.14-5}
•••
John Wesley
(Founder of Methodism)
The Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as when she brought him forth,
continued a pure and unspotted virgin.
{"Letter to a Roman Catholic" / In This Rock, Nov. 1990, p.25}
•••
Lord Jesus,
let Your prayer of unity for Christians become a reality,
in Your way.
We have absolute confidence
that you can bring your people together,
we give you absolute permission to move.
Amen
Speaks on Mary
In his sermon of
August 15, 1522,
the last time Martin Luther preached on the Feast of the Assumption, he stated:
There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven.
How it happened we do not know.
And since the Holy Spirit has told us nothing about it,
we can make of it no article of faith . . .
It is enough to know that she lives in Christ.
The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of thehuman heart.
(Sermon, September 1, 1522).
•••
[She is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ . . .
She is nobility, wisdom,
and holiness personified.
We can never honor her enough.
Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures.
(Sermon, Christmas, 1531).
•••
No woman is like you.
You are more than Eve or Sarah,
blessed above all nobility, wisdom,and sanctity. (Sermon, Feast of theVisitation, 1537).
•••
One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat.
She praised God for his deeds.
How then can we praise her?
The true honor of Mary is the honor of God,
the praise of God's grace . . .
Mary is nothing for the sake of herself,
but for the sake of Christ . . .
Mary does not wish that we come to her,
but through her to God. (Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521).
•••
Luther gives the Blessed Virgin the exalted position of "Spiritual Mother"
for Christians:
It is the consolation and the superabundant goodness of God,
that man is able to exult in such a treasure.
Mary is his true Mother .. (Sermon, Christmas, 1522)
•••
Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who reposed on her knees . . .
If he is ours,
we ought to be in his situation; there where he is,
we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother.
(Sermon, Christmas, 1529).
•••
Martin Luther had the belief of Mary's Immaculate Conception,
Luther's words follow:
It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary's soul was effected without original sin;
so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God's gifts,
receiving a pure soul infused by God;
thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from allsin"
(Sermon: "On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God," 1527).
•••
She is full of grace,
proclaimed to be entirely without sin- something exceedingly great.
For God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil.
(Personal {"Little"} Prayer Book, 1522).
•••
Martin Luther on Mary's Perpetual Virginity
Here are some of the founders of refom commenting on Mary:
Christ, our Savior,
was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb . . .
This was without the cooperationof a man,
and she remained a virgin after that.
{Luther's Works, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan (vols. 1-30) & Helmut T. Lehmann (vols. 31-55), St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House (vols. 1-30); Philadelphia: Fortress Press (vols. 31-55), 1955, v.22:23 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }
•••
Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary,
and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . .
I am inclined to agree with those who declare that 'brothers' really mean 'cousins' here,
for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers.
{Pelikan, ibid., v.22:214-15 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }
•••
A new lie about me is being circulated.
I am supposed to have preached and written that Mary, the mother of God,
was not a virgin either before or after the birth of Christ . . .
{Pelikan, ibid.,v.45:199 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523) }
•••
Scripture does not say or indicate that she later lost her virginity . . .
When Matthew [1:25]
says that Joseph did not know Mary carnally until she had brought forth her son,
it does not follow that he knew her subsequently;
on the contrary,
it means that he never did know her . . .
This babble . . .
is without justification . . .
he has neither noticed nor paid any attention to either Scripture or the common idiom.
{Pelikan, ibid.,v.45:206, 212-3 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523) }
•••
Editor Jaroslav Pelikan (Lutheran) adds:
Luther . . . does not even consider the possibility that Mary might have had other children than Jesus.
This is consistent with his lifelong acceptance of the idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary.
{Pelikan, ibid.,v.22:214- 5}
•••
". . . she is full of grace, proclaimedto be entirely without sin. . . .
God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil. . . .
God is with her,
meaning that all she did or left undone is divine and the action ofGod in her.
Moreover, God guarded and protected her from all that might be hurtful to her."
Ref: Luther's Works, American edition, vol. 43, p. 40, ed. H. Lehmann, Fortress, 1968
•••
". . . she is rightly called not only the mother of the man, but also the Mother of God. . . .{In Hilda Graef, Mary: A history of Doctrine and Devotion, combined ed. of vols. 1 & 2, London: Sheed &Ward, 1965, vol.2, pp.14-5}
•••
John Wesley
(Founder of Methodism)
The Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as when she brought him forth,
continued a pure and unspotted virgin.
{"Letter to a Roman Catholic" / In This Rock, Nov. 1990, p.25}
•••
Lord Jesus,
let Your prayer of unity for Christians become a reality,
in Your way.
We have absolute confidence
that you can bring your people together,
we give you absolute permission to move.
Amen
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