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| The stained glass windows above the altar where Luther presided over his first Mass with a trembling hand. |
Güten Tag! Tiny Luther here!
First off, you can see pictures from today by clicking on palphotos.smugmug.com/Europe2017/June272017
This morning we departed for Erfurt, located in the heart of Thuringia, which Luther called “a new Bethlehem.” It was here on July 2, 1505, that he was struck down by lightning, made his vow to
become a monk, and entered the Augustinian Cloister.
Now here is it interesting to note that Martin Luther was not a monk but a friar. The Latin word for friar is "frater" and word for monk is "monachus". Friars were attached to an order, not a place, and served their vocation in the secular world. Monks were cloisered and were attached to a place (abbey) for life. They are two different vocations. Luther was a friar evidenced by the fact that he taught at University and traveled often to preach and teach.
We visited the Augustiner Church and the Augustinian Monastery. On an orientation tour, we saw the beautiful St. Severus Church, the 650-year-old Kraemer Bridge lined with houses and small shops, and St. Mary’s Cathedral where Luther was ordained.
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| This is the actual room where Luther took his vows to become a part of the Augustinian Monastery. Also, once a week monks would gather into this room to confess the ways that they had broken the monastery rules during the past week. If they did not remember something or purposefully omitted a transgression, fellow monks were permitted to call them out. |
Afterwards, we drove to Eisleben and visited Luther’s birthplace and the house where he died in 1546. We also visited St. Peter, and Paul’s Church where he was baptized. We then drove to Leipzig for dinner and an overnight stay.
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