September 14, 1531.
To the Sublime, Highborn Prince and Lord, Mr. George, Margrave of Brandenburg, Prussia, Pomerania, Duke of Szczecin, my gracious Lord!
Grace and peace in Christ, Amen. God bless E. F. G., Serene Highness
The prince, my gracious lord, for the evil that E. F. G. should have the angular masses re-established. So much the more may everything be restored and the gospel be abandoned. Because the Gospel has revealed to us that the angular masses are contrary to God's will.
*) This letter is from the original in the library at Helmstädt first in the Leipzig Supplement, p. 61, No. 92. Then in De Wette, Vol. Ill, p. 482 and in the Erlangen edition, Vol. 54, p. 90. After De Wette we give the text.
**) This letter is from the Ansbach Archives first in the Leipzig Supplement, p. 68, No. 115; then in Reinhard's Beitr., vol. I, p. 137; in De Wette, vol. IV, p. 307 and in the Erlangen edition, vol. 54, p. 253. According to De Wette we give the text.
If they blaspheme the commandment and the institution of Christ, selling themselves for a work and a sacrifice, even to atone for foreign sins against God, as they have been used until now, they are found to disturb the sacrament and the faith. Therefore, just as King Ezekiel was right to break the sacred bronze serpent of Moses, because the people made an idol out of it, regardless of the fact that many were offended by it and became hostile to it, so let E. F. G. also be firm and confident that they have done away with such ridiculous masses. Whether such things are much distorted, or become crude and loose to the right mephistopheles, F.F.G. must tolerate. It is a challenge to the devil, who wants to rebuild his previous abominations with it. But the rabble, so accustomed to the old nature, must thus drink away and rot, with time it will get better. It is also almost the fault of the preachers who do not diligently exhort the people to the sacrament, as I have asked them in my sermon. For here in Wittenberg, praise God, things are fine enough, and every Sunday we have a hundred communicants, always others and others, so that we are not overloaded. But where there are industrious pastors in the countryside, it also happens, as E. F. G. complains, in her country. But it must be stopped and driven, as St. Paul teaches, because the crowd has now gotten into carnal freedom, that one must let them atone for their lust for a while. Things must change when the visitation now comes to an end. It will soon be closed, as when one demolishes an old building, but the new one will not be closed so soon. Therefore, time itself must be suitable, as Ecclesiastes S[alomo] says: Tempus destruendi, tempus aedificandi Jerusalem was also rebuilt very slowly and with difficulty, therefore Johann Brenz advised E. F. G. correctly. For, where one should rebuild the masses to awaken the devotion of the people, it would be a godly thing to do so.
loose unchristian devotion, as it was before, that it would be better to hear no mass, than to hear with such devotion: also it would last just as long as it was new, and as long as it now loved the gospel anew. The world is weary, and it is its nature that it can suffer neither lack nor abundance. Under the pope we could not suffer the constraint and lack of the Word, now we cannot suffer the freedom and the superfluous treasure of the Gospel. It wants to be and remain: Omnia propter electos, et iterum, electorum fidem. If only the preachers are not lax, then the elect will find their way to the Word. Christ had to lose nine of the ten lepers and have the one Samaritan as his decem. It is enough if we do what is ours; those who do not want to, excuse us and accuse themselves. However, it would be fine if E. F. G., from secular authority, ordered both parish priests and parishioners that they all had to practice and learn the Catechism under penalty, so that, because they want to be and be called Christians, they would also be forced to learn and know what a Christian should know, God grant, he believes in it or not. A craftsman or farmer must know what he is doing, whether God gives, whether he is pious, or whether he needs it or not. This catechism would bring much good, as it has brought and still brings all the good that is now in our judgment, and no stronger art is better to keep the people in devotion and the church whole than the catechism, as we experience every day. May Christ our Lord strengthen and guide E. F. G. according to His gracious will with a right spirit, Amen. Thursday, Exaltationis Crucis 1531.
E. F. G.
Martinus Luther.