# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1846 01 10_S37
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Der Lutheraner.

"God's Word and Luther's teaching shall pass away neither now nor ever."

Edited by C. F. W. Walther.

Volume 2.

St. Louis, Mo., January 10, 1846.

No. 10.

—

Terms: Der Lutheraner appears once every two weeks, for a subscription price of one dollar for out-of-town subscribers, who must pay half of this in advance and bear the postage. — In St. Louis, each individual issue is sold for 5 cents.

(Submitted by Pastor Keyl.)

The Memorial Observance of the Death-Day
of Dr. M. Luther.

February 18 of this newly begun year is a holy day of remembrance for the whole Lutheran Church; for it was on this day, three hundred years ago, that Dr. M. Luther died blessedly in the Lord. At his death many recognized far more clearly than during his life what a chosen instrument of God he had been above all others, what great help God had shown his Church through him in times of great distress, what high merit he had earned in the restoration of the whole wholesome doctrine, how irreplaceable his loss was, with what anxious expectation one had to look toward the future, and that in order to keep his memory in blessing and to preserve the fruits of his great labor in their full strength, nothing was more necessary than to walk, in doctrine, faith, and confession, on the path which he showed us so comprehensively and thoroughly from God's Word in his numerous writings; that all this was recognized at the time of his death is abundantly and incontrovertibly attested especially by the funeral sermons preached for him.

But even after that time, the memory of Luther's death-day has been renewed again and again in many places, through special sermons and writings, as well as through the arrangement of fitting memorial services.

One of the first to do this was Johann Mathesius, pastor in Joachimsthal, a longtime pupil of Luther's; on February 18, 1564, he preached a special funeral sermon for his dear teacher, which he appended to his fourteen sermons on the life of this man of God. Even then, eighteen years after Luther's death, Mathesius had to lament "that many people living today do not know how things stood fifty years ago in the oppressed and captive Church, and that many an ungrateful person all but wishes to forget this great man and his faithful diligence and labor."

In the years 1566–68, Cyriacus Spangenberg preached ten sermons in the Castle Church at Mansfeld on Luther's birth- and death-day. Unfortunately, this zealous defender of Lutheran doctrine later fell into errors himself.

In Wittenberg, especially in the period from 1576 to 1610, several sermons and Latin addresses were delivered in memory of Luther's death, for example by the famous theologians Friedrich Balduin, Aegidius Hunnius, and others.

In the year 1646, that is, 100 years after Luther's death, a special memorial observance was arranged in Wittenberg by order of the Elector. On February 18, the General Superintendent Dr. Röber delivered, in the great lecture hall where Luther had once given his lectures, a Latin address on the benefits which God had shown his Church through the ministry of the blessed Luther. The morning sermons preached on February 22, the anniversary of Luther's burial, treated this same subject. In the afternoon Dr. Hülsemann delivered a memorial address at Luther's grave in the Castle Church. In addition, several academic addresses on particular important subjects were delivered on this occasion, for example on Luther's admirable eloquence, as well as on his heroic courage and extraordinary strength of spirit.

Especially remarkable, too, is the memorial sermon which a courageous champion for the preservation of pure doctrine, Dr. J. Fr. Maier, delivered in Hamburg on February 18, 1698. In his introduction he takes as his basis the exclamation "He lives!"; with powerful eloquence he shows the manifold meaning of this word and how it applies to Luther, in keeping with his favorite verse: I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. Psalm 118:17. In the sermon itself, taking as his text Hebrews 13:7, "Remember them which have the rule over you," etc., he presents "the immortal Luther," showing how he does not die but lives: 1) as long as a true Church exists on earth, 2) as long as God's Word remains God's Word, and 3) as long as his death continues to be spoken of in the Church.

In the year 1746, that is, 200 years after Luther's death, the memorial observance of it was held in far more places than had previously been the case. Many sermons were preached in the churches, and many addresses were given at universities and learned schools, amid various solemnities. This took place notably in Wittenberg, on four days set apart for the purpose. On February 17, a preparatory sermon on Hebrews 13:7 was preached in the Castle Church by the Rector of the University, Dr. Weickhmann. Its subject was: the memory of Luther, well preserved in the hearts of all upright Lutherans, provided that one earnestly strives 1) to believe in Lutheran fashion, 2) to live in Lutheran fashion, and also 3) to die in Lutheran fashion. On February 18, the service began with the well-known hymn for the dying, O Jesus Christ, My Life's Light, etc., after which Luther's hymn In Peace and Joy I Now Depart, etc. was struck up. The memorial sermon was preached by the General Superintendent Dr. J. G. Hoffmann on Hebrews 13:7, on the edifying remembrance of Luther's death-day, both with regard to his great merits and to his blessed end. After the sermon, the usual litany was sung, and during Communion the hymn for the dying, Lord Jesus Christ, True Man and God, etc. In the afternoon, all the members of the university, the clergy, and the city council moved in procession, amid the ringing of bells, into the great academic lecture hall, which was hung with black cloth and lit by chandeliers and wall sconces. The exalted lectern from which Luther had expounded Holy Scripture for so many years shone with the light of a multitude of candles. After the performance of a funeral music, the Rector of the University, Dr. Weickhmann, delivered from that memorable lectern a memorial address on Luther's praiseworthy heroic virtues, a series which he had closed with his heroic death. Finally, a funeral cantata was also sung. On February 20, being the Sunday Estomihi, Provost Dr. Zeibich preached on the customary Gospel concerning Luther's final departure, and showed how he had pointed out to us the way to life and had opened our eyes so that we might see it. Finally, on February 22, an address was delivered at Luther's grave in the Castle Church, and a Latin treatise on his funeral procession and burial was delivered in his former lecture hall.

In this and similar ways, the exhortation
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