Anno 1539.
From the consecrated water.
The following ten benefits of consecrated water are from the Tractate of the Power of Consecrated Water of the Most Reverend Lord,
Mr. Johannis de Turre cremata, Cardinal, Doctor of the Holy Scriptures, Order of Preachers, drawn, which there was made together at the time of the Papal Concilii, and shall be
*) This letter is found in Latin in Aurifaber, Vol. II, Äl. 318; in Seckendorf, Nist. Imtü., Hb. I, p. 272, 8 152, Ill (2) and in De Wette, vol. Ill, p. 126. German in the Eisleben Collection, vol. I, p. 272; m the Altenburger, vol. Ill, p. 518 and in the Leipziger, vol. XXII, p. 551. We have retranslated according to De Wette. The dating of this letter will hardly be correct; we assume that it belongs to the year 1524. Compare the introduction.
**This writing first appeared in 1539 under the title we have placed above it. It is not found in the two oldest collections. It was first included in the Altenburg edition, vol. VII, p. 719; then in the Leipzig edition, vol. XXI, p. 340 and in the Erlangen edition, vol. 32, p. 59. We reproduce the text according to the old Walch edition.
said ten uses originally in spiritual rights, in the canone, aquam sale conspersam de con. dist. III, where Pope Alexander, the fifth after St. Peter, says: "We consecrate the water sprinkled with salt among the people, so that all may be sprinkled with it, sanctified and purified, which we command all priests to do. For as in the Old Testament the ashes of a calf sprinkled made the people holy and clean, much more the water sprinkled with salt and sanctified prayers. And if through the prophet Elishaeum, by sprinkling the salt, the barrenness of the water was taken away, how much more does it, consecrated with holy prayers, drive away the barrenness of human activity, sanctify and purify the defiled, also multiply all good works, avert the reenactment of the evil enemy, and protect men from fantastic cunning." Thus says the aforementioned pope in the aforementioned place. Therefore one should not disdain the consecrated water, by which sprinkling ten benefits, understood in the following rhymes, may be obtained.
Its first benefit is noticeable, for it is the false devil's cunning, even his temptation and wicked counsel bring no harm to man. The other benefit that makes free
The weak mind through deceitful fantasy. The third one brings the heart to itself from caring earthly things.
Daily sin the fourth eradicates you. The fifth sent makes you sheer,
You are also prepared for prayer with eagerness. The sixth of the sacrament prepares you to participate,
That 1) man shall desire daily.
The seventh may well avert barrenness of human matter.
Virtuous the eight can make and increase temporal good,
That no other water does.
For a powerful remedy the ninth is counted, Also for illness keeps you.
The tenth has the power in itself, that it protects you from the pestilence, and also from evil air,
Therefore, you shall sprinkle yourself often.
1) In the old edition "that"; Erlanger "that".
Followed by the indulgence of the consecrated water.
First of all, the man who sprinkles it on himself is a daily sin that he cancels out.
But whosoever shall be sprinkled by the hand of a priest, daily sins of a whole day shall be forgiven him.
But if a man is sprinkled by a priest on Sunday, all the daily sins he has done all week are forgiven.
But whoever is sprinkled with consecrated water by the priest on an apostolic day 2) has his daily sins blotted out, so that he will be blotted out in four weeks.
On the four high feasts you should take the consecrated water, for in it you may earn a quarter of a year.
Where there is a church consecration, you may be redeemed from a whole year of daily sins by the consecrated water.
You should also notice what a salutary teaching St. Bernard gives us about this. For so often as a man goes before the consecrated water and does not sprinkle himself, he says that the evil spirit is delighted with it, and mocks and ridicules the man, so that he despises the consecrated water. For if he had been able to use this meritoriously, he would not have had to burn so long and eternally in hell. Therefore, be often sprinkled with devotion, so that you, washed of your sins, may attain eternal blessedness, amen.
Martin Luther.
The letter should not be forgotten, which shows us the devil's pope full, how his book teaches vain heresy, even real sorcery.
The bad water gives the power
Much more than baptism creates for us.
Fills us with idolatry, and drives such great evil.
The canon with the pope at the same time belongs in the devil's kingdom, He always plays such a game With signs, herbs, images much.
From the Pabst's Agnus Dei.
This Agnus Dei property with all its virtuous working power was written by Pope Gregory in Latin to the great Emperor Carolus.
2) Thus the old Walch edition. Erlanger: "warten" instead of "besprenget".
1022 Erl. 32, SL f. SS, L54. VII Luther's writings on Christian freedom. Freiheit 2c. W. XIX, 1246-1248. 1023
From noble balsam and from pure wax, And also from cresam one makes this. It is given for a great gift, so it should be preserved.
From thunderstorms, hailstorms, thunder and lightning, And for all mischief it is useful.
Those who sail over water with it, It can preserve them by its power. Pregnant women, who have this with them, May give birth without any harm. For the destruction of sins it is good, Like the tender true blood of God. 1) Great grace is given by it, And no fire may strive against it.
It will protect you from sudden death, And also protect you from the powers of the devil, For everyone can overcome well, If he honors it without sin every day. The priests alone may attack it, if it is sanctified by the cresam. If it is broken and divided, the smallest as much as the greatest is kept in power.
1) Increpet te Dominus, Satan! Such we have to believe. - This note is in the old edition of Walch, but not in the Erlanger.
Prayer.
O innocent little lamb of God, I beseech thee, Have mercy on me always, Who has taken away all sin, Let us come to eternal joys. Amen.
Martin Luther.
The letter a Christian should keep, so that he will realize and grasp how blasphemously the evil spirit has attacked Christianity. We made God out of wax, with trust already honored more than the right true God, and higher than His own blood. Thus the Pope has taught Christianity the way to salvation; for this he has taken goods and money, and what the whole world has. God rewarded him from the kingdom of heaven in the hellish fire there eternally.