# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1852 12 07_S62
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

62

Old Mnemonic Verses on the Sunday and Festival Gospels.

1st Advent  Draw near, Zion’s King, to me:
2nd Advent  Then no judgment frightens me!
3rd Advent  Thou Expected One! Thou art the only one,
4th Advent  Of whom the voice speaks.
Christmas  Welcome, God and Child of man,
Sunday after Christmas  The song of praise of the aged.
New Year (Circumcision)  O Jesus, the end of the Law
Epiphany  From the rising to the setting!
Sunday after New Year  He yields to the wrath of the tyrant;
1st after Epiphany  Is a teacher as a boy;
2nd „ „  Makes wine in the wedding house of Cana;
3rd „ „  Drives away gout and leprosy.
4th „ „  He sleeps and stills wind and sea;
5th „ „  Shows when the tares depart;
6th „ „  Shines on the mount like light and snow;
Septuagesima  Teaches who pays the penny.
Sexagesima  He speaks of the bad and the good land,
Estomihi  Of the cross; gives sight;
Invocavit  Drives the tempter from His hand;
Reminiscere  Scorns not the little dog.
Oculi  A dumb man speaks, he is greatly reviled;
Laetare  Five thousand He makes full;
Judica  Of Abraham’s joy He bears witness,
Palm Sunday  Enters into Salem’s city.
Easter  He breaks forth from death and grave;
Easter Monday  Joins himself to wanderers;
Quasimodogeniti  Brings peace, strengthens the band of disciples.
Misericordias Domini  Does what no hireling can.
Jubilate  He speaks of little sorrow,
Cantate  Of the Spirit’s comfort and discipline;
Rogate  Tells the children: Now is the time of prayer;
Ascension  Ascends; His work bears fruit.
Exaudi  His comfort sweetens the hatred of the world;
Whitsunday  His Spirit brings peace with it.
Whitsun Monday  God loves him well to whom the light is pleasing.
Trinity  Follow Nicodemus’ step!
1st after Trinity  He shows what hell and heaven are,
2nd „ „  How the feast is despised;
3rd „ „  The sheep, the penny comes home,
4th „ „  See where the beam stands!
5th „ „  His word makes a great draught,
6th „ „  And teaches righteousness.
7th „ „  Four thousand eat bread enough;
8th „ „  A wolf often comes disguised.
9th „ „  He shows what Mammon is good for,
10th „ „  Weeps, as He saw Salem;
11th „ „  Describes a proud and a lowly eye,
12th „ „  Then says He: Ephphatha!
13th „ „  Pronounces blessed, teaches how one loves;
14th „ „  And heals ten men thereupon,
15th „ „  Rejects the care that troubles,
16th „ „  Wakes the youth of Nain.
17th „ „  Heals the dropsy, teaches lowliness;
18th „ „  Teaches of the Law and the Son;
19th „ „  Heals the palsy and bestows righteousness;
20th „ „  A guest gets an evil reward.
21st „ „  The son of the nobleman lives;
22nd „ „  The servant forgets it too easily.
23rd „ „  Give to God, and give also to Caesar!
24th „ „  Death and the issue of blood depart.
25th „ „  Desolation comes upon the city;
26th „ „  Let us stand at the right hand!
27th „ „  Keep our lamps ever burning,
That we may go to the wedding!

Superstition and Idolatry in the Roman Church,
still recently confessed in the Cincinnati so-called “Wahrheitsfreund.”

Those among the Protestants who read no papistic periodicals and other papistic writings of the present day, but perhaps only such supposedly Protestant writings as, in unionistic religious indifference, pay nothing but compliments to the Roman Church, may well often not suspect what superstitious and blasphemous stuff is still being written out into the world by the Papists. Many a one who now reads in Luther’s writings of the abominations of the papacy may well think either that dear Luther exaggerated the matter, or that the Roman Church has probably improved by now. So much is indeed true, that it has certainly come to this through the Lutheran Reformation, that men have begun to be ashamed of the shames and vices which they formerly practiced openly without scruple; but as to the abominations of doctrine, especially of those doctrines which support the authority of the “clergy” and bring in money and goods, of these the antichristian church has cleansed itself as little as “the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots.”

Every number of the Cincinnati “Wahrheitsfreund” and of Oertel’s “Kirchenzeitung” furnishes proofs for our assertion. This time only one proof from the first-named paper. In it we read, namely (in the number of the 11th of last month), among other things the following:

I. Of Purgatory:

“Here I must remark that what a single saint says is by no means an article of faith, but again it is certain that purgatory involves dreadful pains, for in this all teachers of the Church and all saints of all centuries agree. The holy Cyrillus says that the pains of purgatory differ from the pains of hell only in so far as the pains of purgatory last only a time, those of hell however forever. One does not suffer in purgatory forever, but often quite long. Slight faults are punished there for several years, great sins which have not yet been fully atoned for here below are punished there sometimes for centuries.*)

*) One should think that with such a doctrine the papistic church would not retain many members, but it is not so. The unconverted man thinks, as a rule, that he is indeed not good enough for heaven, but also not bad enough for hell. The doctrine of purgatory therefore appears to him quite reasonable and gives him the hope that, with all his sins, he may still finally slip into heaven after all. The Catholic priests, however, follow the principle: Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur, that is, the world wants to be deceived, so let it be deceived.

In proof that the Church does not contradict this view serve the so-called eternal foundation masses, which are still read yearly, although the founders have been dead 600 years and longer. But however terrible the pains of purgatory are, they are yet not equal for all. But this holds of all poor souls, that (St. Jerome) ‘they can neither act justly nor sin,’ they can no longer help themselves, of these the word of Christ holds, that the servant will not be released from the prison until he has paid the last farthing, not without reason therefore are they called poor souls. Man, who readest this, be not insensible at all these words, as if all this would not concern thee. What I here write is thy future fate! Let 50 years run by, then there are other men in the world, and thou art then a poor soul in purgatory and hast to suffer all this which thou hast now read, and happy, if thou comest even into purgatory! Though the poor souls cannot help themselves, we can come to their help, as it stands in the book of the Maccabees . . We can come to the help of the poor souls in purgatory especially by the most holy sacrifice of the Mass. A single holy Mass helps the poor souls more than all good works and commandments taken together which were ever performed or will be performed in the world. Brethren, I beseech you, offer up all that you ever do of good in your life, every sigh, every Ave Maria, every good thought, offer up all for the comfort of the poor souls. . . With the same measure that ye mete out among the poor souls, it shall also be measured to you once in purgatory. Be merciful toward the poor souls, for your parents, relatives, brothers and sisters, children, benefactors are perhaps burning in purgatory! Be merciful toward the poor souls, for thereby God the Father becomes your debtor, in that ye satisfy His justice, what the poor souls can do only after long sufferings . . Be merciful toward the poor souls, hear their cry to you: ‘Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, at least ye my friends! for I suffer here in the flames great pain!’”—*

*) Let it be observed here, the Papists do not teach, perhaps, that the manifestly ungodly come into purgatory; the com-