# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1849 05 11_S123
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

...divine majesty at the baptism of Christ. The hymn "What Fear You, Enemy Herod" also treats of this, which Dr. Luther translated from a church hymn composed by Sedulius in the fifth century. Now since the second of the named wonders is preached on the Second Sunday after Epiphany, there remain for that festival two further gospel pericopes, of which, according to Dr. Luther's advice, the one concerning the baptism of Christ should especially be treated on this festival, since indeed a particular time in the year must be appointed for it, as most Lutheran church orders have also done for various Sundays.

The Sundays after Epiphany, as well as Septuagesima and Sexagesima, have in all church orders, with very few exceptions, the pericopes still in use today.

The Feast of the Purification of Mary (February 2), which falls within this period, is uniformly observed as a full festival day, and in it special attention has been given to the Song of Simeon, through which Christ is likewise made manifest.

The Feast of the Annunciation of Mary (March 25), which usually falls within the season of the Passion, is, according to all purely Lutheran church orders, kept as a full festival day in honor of the article that Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit; but when it falls within Holy Week, it is celebrated on the Sunday before or after Easter, and indeed "according to old custom, so that during this same time the holy suffering and resurrection of Christ may be preached without hindrance."

The season of fasting, or Passiontide, begins with the Sunday Quinquagesima, or Estomihi (strictly speaking, only with the following Wednesday), and closes with the Saturday before Easter. Of the earlier regulations concerning fasting, the Lutheran Church retained, as with Advent, only the prohibition of weddings and public entertainments. In the Sunday morning services, preaching was only on the Gospels still customary today, which all present the Lord Christ as conqueror of the world and of the devil, as the prescribed fasting collects emphasize, to the praise of God and the comfort of believers, as likewise do the hymns appointed for this season, for example: "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" and "What Can Come Upon Us as Distress." In the weekday services, and in the country also in the Sunday afternoon services, preaching was on the compilation of the Passion history newly published by Dr. Bugenhagen, as it is found in the older agendas and hymnals.

With regard to the observance of Holy, or Silent, Week from Palm Sunday onward, the Lutheran church orders fall into two classes: the one, and the more numerous, has the whole Passion history repeated, either in sermons on the individual days, or, where this was not possible, through the reading of the Passion history in three sections.

On Maundy Thursday, which even in old Lutheran church orders occurs only as a half festival day, preaching was on the institution of the holy Lord's Supper, when Palm Sunday had not been appointed for this.

On Good Friday, which is for the most part designated as a full festival day, following the example of Christian antiquity, either the whole Passion history, or its last part, or Matthew 27:45–50 was taken as the Gospel.

Easter, in blessed memory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, is, as already noted above, originally observed with a three-day festival. In the arrangement of the pericopes no change has been made, except that for the second festival day Acts 2:14ff. also occurs as the Epistle.

The Sundays from Quasimodogeniti to Rogate are regarded as belonging to Eastertide, for most of the Gospels prescribed for them, which are taken from Christ's farewell discourses, are meant to show the fulfillment of what the Lord had foretold to his disciples concerning his death and resurrection. Besides this, during this season, according to the counsel and example of Dr. Luther, diligent preaching should especially be done from 1 Corinthians 15 on our own resurrection, without which the resurrection of Christ would bring us no complete benefit.

(To be continued.)

Political Correspondence from Germany.

(Conclusion.)

In the meantime the National Assembly had spent much time with deliberation over the basic rights, with many interpellations to the ministers, with much desire to govern, and with much wrangling, and found itself compelled, both by events and by the general mood of the people, to pass from the second deliberation on the basic rights to deliberation on the imperial constitution. But when the Left noticed that the work of unification, despite all obstacles, revolts, and intrigues, was nevertheless going to succeed, it — which had previously cried out with all its might for unity, for centralization, and for disregard of all the particular interests of the individual states and princes — suddenly threw itself onto the opposite side and declared, through one of its chief spokesmen, Robert Blum, freely and brazenly, that wherever a state defended its particular interests against the imperial government, it, the Left, stood on that side. For since the individual state governments now showed themselves willing to come to an agreement with the imperial government, and this government at the same time fulfilled its lawful calling of opposing not only the external but also the internal enemies of the Empire and of order, the men of the Left declared the imperial government reactionary, and the echo of the clubs repeated it. Indeed, Arnold Ruge withdrew from the National Assembly and betook himself to Berlin, where anarchy was beginning to flourish and where before long a Democratic Congress was to assemble, which intended nothing less than to break up the Parliament in Frankfurt and to constitute itself as the true and rightful representation of the people. Ruge meanwhile roamed about the country, agitating and raging, declaring Frankfurt a wretched village in which he could no longer bear to remain, because he had seen that nothing more could be done or gained there for the cause of the "people." Robert Blum, however, had gone to Vienna as a delegate of the Left, to convey thanks and applause to the Diet there for its resolutions friendly to Hungary and hostile to the Emperor, and there, in the Aula, had appeared among the students as a kind of Danton, and then became the leader of the barricade fighters.

In Vienna, namely, the so-called German party and the Slavic party stood opposed to one another, both within and outside the Diet. The numerous Slavic peoples of the Austrian state had made use of the general confusion and the powerlessness of the governments to rise up, and had already at the time of the parliamentary election to Frankfurt openly been dealing with a Slavic League, for which their delegates had assembled at Prague. Nothing indeed came of it there, since scarcely two of the delegates understood one another, but they had nevertheless prevented the elections almost throughout all Bohemia, thrown the Germans into mortal terror, and overturned all order, until Prince Windisch-Grätz, the commandant of Prague, brought them back to peace and order by means of his cannons and his calm, firm bearing. The Vienna Diet, however, showed the prince little thanks for this, and when the Ban Jellachich of Croatia, empowered by the Emperor, marched against the Magyars — that is, the proper Hungarians, who had long begrudged all the other peoples of Hungary equal rights with themselves, and had even sought to rob them of their national language, and who had now also risen up completely against the Emperor, had torn his envoy Count Lamberg out of his carriage in the open street in Pest, murdered him, dragged his corpse through the streets, and in beastly fury had almost licked his blood — while at the same time constantly making the Viennese believe that they held with the Germans and only did not wish to let Slavic domination arise; then all Vienna again flared up against Jellachich and against the "Camarilla," which was said to have induced the Emperor to such steps. Now several Viennese regiments were to march out against the rebellious Hungarians, but, incited by agitators, bribed with Hungarian gold, and befuddled with German beer and brandy, they refused to march. The furious mob sought out the war minister Latour, a man long and greatly deserving in military affairs, from whom that order to march had proceeded, in his palace, dragged him out of his hiding place, drove him down into the street, and as he tried to step in among the people, one of them thrust an iron bar through his throat...