Katharina von Bora Luther

The Fourth Sunday in Advent
Commemoration of Katharina von Bora Luther
December 20, 2009

The Lord be with you

Aside from being the Fourth Sunday in Advent, today is also set aside to remember Katharina von Bora Luther, the wife of Martin. Katharina von Bora (1499-1552) was placed in a convent while still a child and became a nun in 1515. In April 1523, she and eight other nuns were rescued from the convent and brought to Wittenberg. There Martin Luther helped return some of the women to their former homes and placed the rest in good families. Katharina and Martin were married on June 13, 1525. Their marriage was a happy one and was blessed with six children. Katharina skillfully managed the Luther household, which always seemed to grow because of the reformer's generous hospitality. After Luther's death in 1546, Katharina remained in Wittenberg but lived much of the time in poverty. She died as the result of injuries she received in an accident while traveling with her children to Torgau in order to escape the plague. In may ways Katharina, or Katie as Martin Luther lovingly called her, set the pattern for the modern parsonage. There are two biographies about her worth noting. Kitty, My Rib by E. Jane Mall is popularly written and an easy read. A Reformation Life Katharina Von Bora by Rudolf and Marilynn Markwald is also popularly written but cites more original sources and for someone with a little higher reading level.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert