‘If this monk should marry, the whole world and even the devil would roar with laughter’, said Martin Luther’s enemies. But marry Catherine von Bora he did! She had escaped from a convent where she had been living as a nun since the age of ten. Together with eleven other young women, she was rescued and driven off, hiding among a pile of empty herring barrels.
Luther and his Katie, by Dolina MacCuish, was first published in 1983 and is reprinted for the third time this year to mark the 500th anniversary of that day in October 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 theses to the door of the church at Wittenberg — the spark which ignited that great period in church history known as the Reformation.
In this valuable little book we are given a brief account of the life of Martin Luther. In addition, we have the fascinating story of his wife, ‘my lord Katie’. Not only did Luther love his Katie dearly, he relied on her advice and companionship throughout his turbulent life.
Packed into this record, we have insights into Luther’s character: his boldness, his depressions, his family life and, most of all, his devotion to Katie. Addressing her on the outside of the envelope, ‘To my kind and dear Katie Luther at Wittenberg, grace and peace in the Lord’, Luther wrote long and loving letters when he was away from home. We learn of the joys and sorrows of their lives and of Katie’s intelligent interest in all the theological arguments of the day.
Read Luther and his Katie and it will give you a grasp of the life and influence of the great Reformer, and may well lead you on to more detailed books on Luther’s enormous contribution to the church in this special year.
Faith Cook
Breaston
