Held at Wittenberg in 1519.
And on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee etc.
1 In the Gospel today it is customary to speak of marriage, because Christ was invited to the marriage, let us also speak of it. Marriage consists of two things, as man and woman are two bodies, one nature. Now if the conjugal life be unclean, there is nothing better than another life, unclean and abominable in the body; but if one look into the soul, it is much different.
2. when God created Adam, he slept, then God took a rib from his body and created Eve from it. When Adam awoke and saw Eve standing before him, he said, Genesis 2:23, 24: "This is flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bone. Therefore shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife." This is what Christ Himself expounds in the Gospel. Therefore what Adam said were the words of God, that a man should leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. There is not much that is pure in it. Therefore, I cannot speak much that is pure, unless the soul is purified first. Therefore let us speak of the soul, that it may become a true bride. It is in vain to make many rules, that they should be right together, husband and wife, unless the soul is purified first.
There are two kinds of love, a carnal love and a bridal love. There is no greater love that mothers and daughters have, or father and son, than bridal love. This is what Christ said, Matt. 19:5, "that a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife". Bride love was beautiful when Adam and Eve were not yet fallen, but when they fell, it never became pure. Still, one must work and do, so that they may
becomes pure. For since man is corrupted by the lust of the flesh, the love of the bride is lost. A bride's love, if it is right and pure, does not seek anything else in the person, but the person alone, and otherwise leaves all other things aside. It is a false love that I love one for money; for if he had no money, I would let him go. Again, that I love one for friendship, or that I love a woman because she is beautiful; for if she were hideous, I would not look at her. Therefore pieces always fall down; thus love is poisoned. But if it were true love, it would speak: I do not ask what you have, how you are, because I want you. For so it would come about that neither would pursue the other, which would not be right, the man the woman, and again the woman the man.
(4) Joseph and Mary had such love that neither would have suffered any harm from the other. Yet they remained chaste and virginal. One finds more of them, who lived in such a way. Thus one reads of Emperor Heinrich and Kunigunda, therefore he struck her in the mouth, because she sat with a horseman; he could not stand it from her. But not all have received such love. It is such a love that cannot be divided. That is where one should preach, that a man should attain a true bridal love, that one should bring it there. Yes, where do we want to get there? Nature has lost it; nature is completely corrupt, so that there is nothing in it but a lick, as a suitor would have it. The grace of God must come to it, if it is to become good. It has now come to this, that one has a disgrace from it, and is ashamed of it. The maids resist hostilely when it is said that they would like to have men, and yet they lie; nor would it be good for them to say that they would like to have men.
5. it would probably be a good thing that a
632 E. 16,51-53. o. Sermon on marital status, on 2nd Sunday, n. Epiph. W. x, 747-750. 633
Man would be contained in virginity. But you must not be ashamed, dear man, one knows well; and even if you want to hide it a lot, one knows that it is so. Therefore, pray to God to send you to a state that pleases Him and is blissful for you. Rather, thank God that He, the Most Pure, will not cast you out in such disgrace, but will graciously take you into it.
Therefore, if one feels that he cannot keep virginity, that he cannot stand in chastity - it is difficult if one has an inclination to chastity - he should think about it and not rely too much on himself, it is a shameful temptation, I have known it well, I mean, you should know it too, oh I know it well, when the devil comes and tempts the flesh and sets it on fire. Therefore, let a man consider beforehand and see if he can live in chastity. For when the flesh is inflamed (burned), I know well how it is, and the temptation comes, the eye is already blind. Therefore let a man pray unto his Lord Christ, saying, Behold, Lord, here am I; thou knowest that I am poisoned in my flesh, and need thy help: I beseech thee, give me a wife that shall please thee, and be blessed unto me. It is well known that the young flesh has no peace. I do not have so much of myself that I can abstain. Some have written whole books about it, so that one may abstain, as it is such an unclean thing about a woman, and muddy etc. Ovidius de remedio amoris (of the remedy of love) also serves well for this; but this excites one more. For when the temptation comes, and the flesh is inflamed, you are already blind, although the woman is not beautiful. One would take dung and put it out, if he had no water. But you will not confess it to God, and he knows it well. Therefore, complain freely on your own, and you will be all the better and happier for it. It is a thing for a man to confess his uncleanness before the pure God; yet one should ask God to help us.
Item 7: St. Paul was asked, "Should anyone take a wife? Answer
1 Cor. 7:25: I have no commandment to keep any man a virgin; it is well if any man can abstain, but I cannot give him any commandment. Let every man examine himself: if he cannot abstain, let him take a wife and remain with her. Marriage was instituted a long time ago for the sake of children alone, and when it is done for this reason, God sees through the fingers that something good also comes of it. Therefore I have said that one should take him a wife, lest the devil deceive him further. For this reason Augustine also says, "If anyone so tests himself that he cannot remain pure, he alone is free. For the apostles commanded the state, and not chastity. But I have said, lest we go too far into the flesh, if any man examine himself, so that he cannot fail, he is free, not for fruit alone. If it were only for the sake of fruit, a hundred wives would be useful to a man, but that he might avoid greater sin.
Therefore, doctors give three benefits to the sacrament. But one should abstain from it as much as one can, and be pure according to ability. First, that it is a sacrament, that is, a sign of a sacred thing, as when the priest pours water on the child in baptism, signifies that Christ pours his grace into the soul and washes it, which is much greater than the sign of water. So also the conjugal life is outwardly a sign that Christ, God, has taken mankind to Himself. Paul says, "There shall be two natures in one flesh." It is a great holy sign, which means that Christ is united with the flesh; how great is the union and much greater than the sign. Equal to the water, which signifies the grace of God, is much less than the grace of God; so much greater is the union of God with man. Let a man be joined to a woman as he wills, yet the man remains one person and the woman one: but there is such a union that God cannot divide the Son of man and the Son of God. The sign does not reach anywhere, this is the great meaning, how God and man
are united. This has become a cover of shame for the conjugal state, of which it must also enjoy that God does not want to punish sin in it, which would otherwise be deadly, be in it daily; that is a great freedom, that it is thereby signified by such a noble thing. For if the conjugal state were not thus covered, the filth would stink too much, and incense would have to be burned so that it would not stink so much. People should consider that their life is such a noble treasure, so that it does not become vain flesh.
The other benefit in marriage is a covenant of fidelity. The other cloak is that which is made so that one's wickedness is not known, so that one may be bound, lest he cross the city; so that carnal lust may be restrained, that it may be bound to one bond, that he may cleave to it alone, and to no one else. So God looks at the prison and grants that one is satisfied with one bedfellow, and desires no other; looks at the fidelity that husband and wife have joined together, which shall last their lifetime until death; that is hard. Fidelity is the essence of conjugal life, and is above all the whole of conjugal life, the fidelity which they have promised one another. So they talk about it. The conjugal life is not that they love one another, otherwise harlots and brats would also be conjugal; but in faithfulness that one says to the other: I am yours and you are mine. That is marriage.
(10) I should say so, if I were wise enough, what words and what made a true marriage. Therefore, the young fools should not catch themselves so soon, for afterward they will regret it; for all books are too few to bring them apart again. If one of them says, "I will take you," it is not a marriage, for it does not concern the present. One must say: I take thee; that is a true promise; and then divide from each other those who belong together for life. I did not like to judge. Where did they become so clever that they could have learned it from the Quarto Sententiarum (fourth book of the sayings of Lombardus)?
learned how they should speak? I am concerned that when they come together and heat up on each other, they do not ask what words they use, that only one makes its will known to the other. According to this, one should judge how faithful they are to each other. But who knows? It happens that one deceives the other, but it is not good that the young rags want to joke about it, and want to make a joke out of it and fool them. So the church closes and hangs it around his neck. Yes, even if you laugh at it, the church will not let its commandment be nullified for your sake, even if you do not mean it; it would be a good idea for someone to use words that are understood.
011 But this thinketh me best, If thou hast a desire for one, go and tell thy father and mother, saying, Father, I love the virgin; go and give her me. And do not betroth yourself secretly. So Samson did, as it is read in the book of Judges, Cap. 14, 1. ff: "He went into the city and saw a virgin, whom he liked. When he returned home, he said to his father, "I have seen a virgin whom I like; go and free her to me. A part draw the children thus, that the children are ashamed, if one speaks of it; but they shall do it. And that is what I mean, that it is also the cause that rarely now and then one comes to the other in bed a virgin, that is, they become whores and boys of it. One wants to be ashamed of the dirt and yet does not let oneself be ashamed; when they come together alone, they are not ashamed and hide nothing. It must be a nuisance! The essence is not shame. The laughter itself will probably go away before a year or three; it will probably drive it away. It all happens that one wants to be ashamed. This is faithfulness, that one man join himself to another, and not run to the end of the city. Therefore the adulterers and adulteresses are not worthy to receive it; they commit greater sin than before they were joined in marriage.
The third benefit is the fruit. With it the donkey bridle is owed, that also something good comes from it; but equal
not of all parents. No one should become a father unless he has learned to preach the commandments of God and the gospel to his children, so that he may raise up devout Christians. But many of them resort to the sacrament of holy matrimony, and can hardly pray an Our Father; they know nothing, so they can neither preach nor teach anything to their children. One should instruct the children in the fear of God; for if Christianity is to come into its power, one must truly start with children, then it will be a fine thing. I would like it well, that one starts in the cradle.
(13) This third gift seems to me to be the greatest: if a married man did nothing else good all his life, except to raise his child to the fear of God, I think he would have done enough for him and would not be allowed to go to St. James or to Rome. The greatest work you can do is just that, that you raise your child right; if you do not come to church on Sunday, hear no mass nor sermon, you only raise your child right - I do not mean that you sing at the cradle, that it is silent; but that it does not learn to curse or scold etc. - You would do well to pray a prayer to St. Barbara every Sunday, or fast every week for water and bread. It is much better for you to listen to the measuring, so that you can prevent your children from doing evil. Let me tell you, children learn to curse and fornicate before they know what it is.
(14) If these three things were considered, it would come about that a conjugal life would be rightly tuned and would bring back to the last what it had spilled. So parents think only of adorning their children and making them seen by the world; they make them rich, hang gold around the neck of the scumbag, he can hardly walk. In this way, parents do not want to be punished.
For natural love always wants to have its hands in the dirt, and the five corners of the sack, which it does not want to have, it also does not like that one chides the children. In the things that belong to God, a father should forget that he has a child. So Christ did with his mother in today's Gospel. When she said, "They have no wine," he answered, forgetting that she was his mother: "Woman, what is it to me and to thee? These words John Chrysostom deals fiercely with why Christ had thus snapped at his mother; and means precisely that Christ had also reserved for him that she should not know; for' she did not know everything that God. But because she desired to know what belongs to God alone, he forgot that she was his mother.
15 Parents do not do this. They take care of everything that concerns the body, but they completely forget about the poor soul; you don't want to look at it. It is natural for every father and mother to love and like everything their child does, everything that is beautiful about it, you must not accuse it, it is already well known; but you must break away from it, and not think that it is your child, if you want to raise it in the fear of God. Unfortunately, it is now ingrained that people everywhere pray for a blessed state of the Roman church, which they think they are, if they are not challenged by anyone, and the Turk comes and brings them all his goods and gold with other lords, so that they can feast more than Sodoma or Sybaris, which also danced with horses and had no number of whores; so it would be well. But one should ask for affliction; the more one has, the better it is. There is no tiled mountain to be made out of the Christian faith, for it costs the Son of God his raisin-colored blood.
6Z8 re, 57-61. B. Of the ten commandments in particular. Sixth commandment. W. x. 754-757. ßZ9