Katie Luther Monologue

Guten morgen! Vie Gehts? Gut? Ja? Ich heisse Katherina Von Bora-O! I see not all of you speak German. Well then, I would be happy to speak English with you! To begin again, my name is Katherine Von Bora. You may know me better by my married name: Katie Luther: Frau Martin Luther. Yes, I was married to the man whom the world credits with or blames for the Reformation! A! I see that you know of him. Well, I thought it would be nice to stop in today and tell you a little bit about myself, and a bit about my husband as well.

I was born in 1499 to a noble, but poor family. When I was little, my mother died, and when my father remarried, I was sent, at age 10, to live with the nuns at a Cistercian convent. When I was 16, I took my final vows, and became a nun, too, just like two of my aunts before me.

And if you are wondering, no I did not really have a choice: well-bred young women in the 1500's were able to do only 2 things which were honorable: marry well, or join a convent. You who have so many choices about careers and family life may think this was an oppressive or offensive practice, but please keep in mind that it was considered not only an honorable, but a HOLY calling. Even if the call came from one's family, and not from God directly to take holy orders.

Besides, in the convent, I had the rare opportunity to learn many things. Not only the accepted womanly arts of cooking, gardening, household management and basic medicine. I also had opportunity to learn to READ! Not German only, but even Latin! Believe me, this was most unusual for women at the time. Reading was considered a waste of time for someone whose entire life would consist of having babies and keeping house.

Well, anyway, even though we nuns and novices had much work to do to keep the abbey running smoothly (we tried to be as self sufficient as possible) as well as time spent in prayer and doing good works-we did also have time to read! Not only scripture, which is such a treasure, but also things which learned men were writing about the goings on in the church at the time. And were there goings on in the church at the time! People were saying politically dangerous and religiously heretical things in those days.

There was no real distinction between church and state in those days: the Pope, the head of the entire western Christian church had much power and say in governmental affairs. So when a priest, or even a prince disagreed publicly with the pope, things got really interesting!

So, you can imagine that when we nuns were able to read smuggled copies of pamphlets written by these men-whom some called heretics, and others called reformers-we were captivated. There were several of them: There was Calvin, and Zwinglii, and a German monk from the order of St. Augustine. HIS name was Father Martin Luther. He was a teacher at Wittenberg College, and a priest. He had so many things to say which upset the pope, as well as some other powerful men in the church.

One thing which had folks very upset was that Father Luther condemned the church's practice of raising money by selling indulgences (these were "guarantees" from the Church that a family could secure for their deceased loved ones, time off of their stay in Purgatory, so they could get to heaven sooner) The good Father said that people were better off giving their money to the poor!

Martin Luther also made the audacious claim that there was nothing inherently more holy about being a priest or a monk or a nun than any other vocation in the world. He said that ALL baptized Christians were members of "the priesthood of all believers." He meant that housewives, and bankers, and merchants and farmers and servants who lived honorable lives were also living holy callings and lives of discipleship. Just like those men called to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments. Just like the women who took vows of purity and who lived in convents praying and doing good works.

In fact, this Father Luther said the most remarkable thing of all: That all of our Good Works had nothing to do with making God love us. Nor did they secure a place in heaven for us. HE said we are "justified" (that is one of those fancy words church scholars use-it means made right with God) We are justified ONLY by faith in Jesus Christ! He even said that our faith itself is a gift from God, given to us by his grace!

It was statements like these, which Martin Luther nailed to the door of the church in Wittenberg on Oct. 31, 1517. These statements came to be know as the "95 Theses" because there were 95 points on which he was inviting people to join in public, formal debate. The funny thing is that there was no response to the specific invitation. But the 95 theses had people talking, even arguing for years to come.

When some of my sister nuns and I read of these things, we recognized that WE were free in Christ to live as disciples OUTSIDE the convent. So we smuggled out a request to Martin Luther asking for his help in escaping the cloister. We couldn't just walk out plain as day, you know. Running away from the convent was punishable by death.

So a friend of Luther's, a merchant from Torgau, named Herr Koppe, smuggled us out of the convent after making a delivery. Twelve of us left -----hidden in HERRING BARRELS! Phew! What a night that was, Easter Eve of 1523! But we spent Easter morning as free women. Three of the women went home and were welcomed by their families. A few stayed with other families sympathetic to the movement. For the rest, Father Luther found husbands.

Except for me. Maybe it was because I was too choosy. Perhaps men who were willing in general to marry a former nun weren't willing to marry ME. I wasn't overly plain, but I WAS head strong and outspoken! I told a mutual friend I would consider marrying Martin.

AT first, he was opposed to marrying anyone, primarily because he had a price on his head. He was actually under a sentence of death by a prince loyal to the pope. He believed he was a bad marriage prospect. But finally, because even though we weren't "in love," we did have a mutual regard--- he proposed, and 2 weeks later, we were married. Martin thought it was a great way to "irk the pope and the devil." Besides, he said, "marriage was a school for character."

In the 21 years we were married, we did grow to love each other through all of the ups and downs which life has to offer: serving God outside the convent was certainly no easier than serving him on the inside! We had 6 children, 2 of whom died. My husband, a busy man before we married did not slow down afterward. He continued teaching, arguing with the pope, preaching, writing-including the Small Catechism which was for fathers to teach their children at home about the basics of Christian faith, and he translated the scriptures into German.

All of this left ME responsible for the running of the household: We lived in a 40 room former monastery which served not only as our home, but as a boarding house for students. Not only were there our own children, but my aunt who had also left the convent, various nieces and nephews, and as many as 12 students who lived with us at any given time.

Martin once described me as "Doctor, preacher, brewer, pig breeder, and whatever else she may be." It was I who kept a close watch on the money. Martin was perhaps overly generous to those in need. I even saved enough to buy a small farm outside of Wittenberg. I tended livestock, raised a garden, looked after an orchard, and fed anyone who happened to be at our table. I even developed a reputation for my excellent beer making-don't look so shocked, we certainly couldn't drink the water in the city in the 1520's!

Like most hausfraus, I was also the family herbalist and nurse-especially for poor Martin, who suffered from gout, kidney stones, and other, less delicate digestive disorders! I even helped nurse people during outbreaks of the plague, which thanks be to God in heaven, our family never contracted.

So you can see that like my dear Martin, I was very busy. Once, my well-meaning husband was encouraging me to read the Bible more. I replied: "I pretty much mastered READING of the Bible in the convent. Now I needed to figure out how to LIVE the Bible." It was enough theology for me to listen to and sometimes participate in the lively discussions around the table with all of those Bible students.

Martin had such a heart for the Bible: He said that "the true treasure of the church is the most holy Gospel of the Glory & Grace of God." He referred to the Bible as the "cradle" of Christ. He often reminded us that our "faith is constantly refreshed by the Word of God."

Of course, Martin was not perfect by any means! He would be the first to say so. He was not often thought of as being meek or a peace maker! He could have a vile temper. He held a grudge for a very long time. He said some terrible things about the Jews (for which I am glad to hear that the Lutheran church has recently apologized.) But Martin knew what it meant to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness. He also knew that, like all humans, he had sinned and fallen short of God's glory. But, he knew and trusted the Good News: That Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected for our sake for the forgiveness of sins, a gift of grace from a God who loves us. He used to say that we were both sinner and saint. But he knew that we are saints, NOT because we are good, but because God is good! His faith in this gospel was what gave him strength and courage in the hard times.

Martin never wanted to leave the Roman Catholic Church! He never wanted there to be Lutherans and Catholics and Calvinists, or anything but CHRISTIANS! He merely wanted to call the church to repentance-A turning back to the gospel truths which set us free in Christ.

Martin knew that in order for us to be God's faithful people, we must be made new from the inside out. He also knew that we cannot change ourselves: we are too weak, too stubborn, too proud. That change is the work of the Holy Spirit. Only God can make us good. The promise of the gospel is that God not only can, but will if we only trust him. To Martin, Reformation was a Process and a promise: totally accomplished by God. He used to say that God reformed the church, while he, Luther, drank Wittenberg beer.

When he was young, Martin hungered to find a gracious God. The world is still hungering for that love and grace. Lutherans, of course do not have a copyright on grace, so now, when the church celebrates Reformation Day and the Feast of All Saints, it should be a celebration of God's reforming work among God's people-his saints-past and present:

The gospel is still God's power to reform, reshape and renew us -in the church, and individually today. On October 31, 1999, representatives from the Lutheran World Federation, and from the church in Rome signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. In it, people of God agree that we do not get to heaven by our own merit, but by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. So, fellow saints, let us rejoice that through the power of the Holy Spirit, some of the pain of the old divisions is overcome, and that through the BLOOD of Christ, there can be healing in the BODY of Christ here on earth.

Well-one thing I heard my Martin tell his students over and over is that a good preacher should not only know the gospel, but also know when to stop preaching. So, I'll thank you for your kind welcome, and bid you auf weidersein.

God's Peace to you all! (sources used and drama tips for preacher follow)SOURCES USEDI pulled many of my historical facts from a few sources on line, primarily articles from "The Lutheran" magazine, and from Dr. Timothy Lull's book, "My Conversations with Martin Luther." Of course, I also incorporated much of my college and seminary history as well.

This monologue would easily work well with several scripture texts, including: Matt 5-Beatitudes from Sermon on the Mt. (Thanks, Tim Lull) Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36, and passages from Galatians about salvation through grace alone.

I invite anyone to use or adapt this who would find it useful. It is not copyrighted. The sources I used to put it together ARE copyrighted, however, so I claim no credit for originality, and in the interests of integrity, neither should anyone else. Please do not use this for a profit making enterprise. If you pass this along to anyone else, please be sure that the resource note is attached so that we do not violate copyrights, intentionally or in advertently. Thank you and God's Peace.Pastor Mary SandersShepherd of the Valley Lutheran ChurchGalt, CA

STAGING AND PRESENTATION IDEAS

German accent: Obviously, I did not type this in an "accent," but if someone would like to do this in a German accent, it makes it even more fun. For those who haven't tried, these ideas helped me:In place of English YES, use German JA (ya)In place of English MY, use German MEIN (mine)In place of English AND, use German UND (unt) .

English "s" should be "hard"----"sss"English "v" (like "victory") would sound like "factory"English "j's" sound like "Y" (just=yust)English D's sound like T's, especially at the end of a word. W's sound like "v" in German (wife="vife")There is no "th" sound in German, so it would sound like and English "d" as in "dis" for "this." (or Luder for Luther)

Costuming: "Medieval" : somber, high necked, probably dark, although not necessarily black. Head covered entirely-well bred married women kept their hair for their husbands alone! Katie was upper middle class in status, but far from rich. Nothing in velvets or satins. Woolen and linen would be more realistic probably, according to my Renaissance Fair friends, who really know their stuff.