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THE

CHRISTIAN WITNESS,

AND

CONGREGATIONAL MAGAZINE.

JANUARY, 1868.

CATHARINE ZELL OF STRASBURG-THE FRIEND OF LUTHER.

Founded on German Memoirs.

CATHARINE Luther and Catharine Melancthon confined themselves within the quiet circle of home duties, while their husbands were labouring in the troublous world without. Their influence, though noiseless and unobtrusive, was not the less deep and real, and in them, we believe, was fulfilled woman's true mission. But other women differently endowed occupied a wider sphere, and devoted themselves to the furtherance of the blessed work of the Reformation with the same zeal which in the first age of Christianity was exhibited by such women as Phoebe and Priscilla, Persis and Tryphosa, whom the Apostle of the Gentiles called his helpers in Christ Jesus, and of whom he testified that "they laboured much in the Lord." Elizabeth, the Queen of Denmark, valued the Reformation far beyond any earthly possession or blessing; Mary, the widowed Queen of Hungary, the sister of the Emperor Charles V., gave her hearty recommendation to Luther's "Commentary on the Psalms," which he had presented to her. Argula of Grumbach, who has been called the Bavarian Deborah, rose above all the obstacles of her position, and the hindrance of a naturally timid and retiring disposition, and pressed in the spirit by that word of her Lord, "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven; but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven," she boldly addressed a letter to the University of Ingolstadt, calling them solemnly to account for their cruel persecution of a young man whose sole crime had been the avowal of some of Luther's opinions. Princess Ursula of Munster, and Flora of Upper Weimar, after they had effected their

VOL. IV.-NEW SERIES.

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escape from the Cloister, eagerly seized the pen in defence of their faith. Throughout the whole of Germany the study of the Word of God became common in ladies' boudoirs, and an intimate acquaintance with its pages was accounted a high honour.

Among the many remarkable women of that stirring period, there is, perhaps, none whose character possesses higher interest than the subject of our present notice, Catharine Zell, the friend and correspondent of Luther, and of many other famous men of her time. She was a woman of a vigorous and cultivated understanding, eloquent in the use of tongue and pen, and of a singularly bold and dauntless spirit. Her affections were ardent, and her charity not less than apostolic. Her enemies delighted to bring against her, as they had done against Argula of Grumbach, the reproach of transgressing the boundaries of womanly propriety by mingling in outward strife; they charged her also with an amount of self-esteem that bordered on selfsufficiency, and complained of her enlarged charity as a compromise with

error.

Catharine was born at Strasburg in the year 1497. Her father was a respectable and prosperous artisan-a master joiner. In the homely, Godfearing, household of her paternal home her mind early received a strong religious bias, while her remarkable talents were carefully developed by an excellent education. In a letter, written by her in her widowhood, she gives an interesting account of the way in which she was brought out of Romish bondage into the freedom of the Gospel :“Since my tenth year I was in great favour with the Church, and looked on as one of her ornaments; all my delight was in learned men, many of whom I was wont to visit and hold converse with my talk was never of dancing and the pleasures and amusements of the world, but of the kingdom of God; and on this account I was highly loved and honoured by father, mother, friends, and citizens, and many learned men who talked much with me. But though I laboured and suffered much for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake, yet, with all my painful and laborious works and religious exercises, and all my intercourse with learned men, I failed to find consolation and assurance of God's love and grace. I became at length sick and worn out in body and soul, and it happened to me as to the poor woman in the Gospels who had spent all her living on the physicians, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, and who, hearing at last of Jesus, came to Him and was cured. And so it was also with many troubled hearts besides me, who at that time passed through sore spiritual conflict, many noble ladies, old and young, who were my associates and playmates. For while we were with toil and anguish seeking after the grace of God and could yet find no rest for our souls in all our many works, exercises and sacraments, then had God pity on us, and on many others, and sent forth with word and writings our dear Dr. Martin Luther (who is now among the blessed); and so lovingly did he recommend to me and others the Lord Jesus Christ, that I felt as if I were being drawn from the kingdom of this world, yea, from the darkness and bitterness of death itself, into the sweet and lovely kingdom of God; and that word of the Lord Jesus, which He spake to Peter, was borne in upon

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my soul-Henceforth I will make thee a fisher of men.' Day and night have I laboured that I might fully lay hold of the way of God's truth, which is Christ the Son of God. What conflicts I have passed through before I truly learned the Gospel, and was able to help others to the same knowledge, God only knows."

On the 3rd of December, 1523, in her twenty-sixth year, Catharine married Matthias Zell, who had for five years filled the office of pastor and preacher in the St. Lorenzo Minster at Strasburg, and was the first evangelical pastor in that important imperial city. Zell was born at Alsace in the year 1477, and had been formerly professor and rector of the University of Freiburg. Martin Bucer, who had himself entered the married state a short time before, performed the wedding service, and at its close, husband and wife partook together of the communion of the Lord's Supper in both kinds. The wide space of the Minster was filled with people, who gave their joyful assent and testimony to this priestly marriage. Catharine was a truly pious, active, faithful, and intelligent wife, in mind and heart entirely at one with her husband in all things. She herself says:-" Often I have marvelled and thanked God for it, that my blessed husband and myself were so entirely of one mind and heart, not only in our views of Holy Scripture, but also in all external things, in small matters and occasional occurrences. Our whole domestic life and intercourse, during the four-and-twenty years and five weeks we lived together, showed that we were of one heart and one soul. When we were betrothed to each other there was no thought of dowry, wedding gifts, silver, or gold. We both had higher objects of concern; Christ was our aim. Our minds were directed to the baptism of fire and of water, and I specially recalled the words of the apostle which speak of the duties, not of widows only, but of all wives, that they should be well reported of for good works; that they should bring up children, lodge strangers, wash the feet of saints, relieve the afflicted, guide the house, be subject to their husbands, and diligently follow every good work."

Matthias Zell, with his friends, Bucer, Capito, and Hedio, had many sore conflicts to undergo, in all of which his wife stood heroically by him, and both among friends and foes played a more important part, and made a more marked impression than even her husband. The diffusion of the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ was the cause that lay nearest her heart, and was the main object of her laborious life. If in the prosecution of this great object her husband lagged somewhat behind his heroic helpmeet, so that his friend and colleague, Bucer, was wont to say of him, shrugging his shoulders, "Our good Matthias is somewhat under petticoat government," this is not to be wondered at, when we take into account the powerful elements of Catharine's character, and also reflect that she was twenty years his junior, and had youth on her side as well as an exhaustless fund of energy and hopefulness to sustain her efforts. was, moreover, not the kind of woman to attract Bucer, who though he could not withhold his testimony that "she was God-fearing, thoroughly cultivated, and courageous as a hero," yet added that there was a want of repose and quiet about her that pleased him not.

She

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Shortly after her marriage she became known to Luther, and the same year he addressed to her the following letter, very touching in its tenderness and simplicity: To the virtuous lady Catharine, the helper in Strasburg, my dear sister and friend in Christ; grace and peace in Christ. My dear ladyI congratulate thee that God has so richly bestowed His grace on thee, that not only hast thou seen and known His kingdom for thyself, but that He has given to thee a husband from whom thou mayest continually, day by day, hear and learn something good. I wish thee well; God grant thee still further grace and strength, that thou mayest with thankfulness hold fast what thou hast received until that day when, by God's mercy, we shall all see each other and rejoice together. I add no more at present. Pray to God for me, and greet thy husband affectionately from me. I commend you to God. Sunday evening, 1524."

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Besides Luther, Catharine corresponded with other learned and illustrious men, such as Zwingle and Bullinger; the Bishop of Strasburg received also some severe letters from her. With all her just self-appreciation, which, perhaps, occasionally degenerated into something like self-glorification, she yetwell knew her proper position and calling as a woman, and sought to be no more than the faithful helpmeet of her husband, or, as she playfully said, only a little rib of my blessed Matthias Zell." And how well she knew how to share the office of her husband as a true helper and deaconess after the apostolic type; with what unwearied love and beneficence she fulfilled her calling as a woman and a Christian in relieving the needy, and specially in succouring the oppressed and persecuted for conscience' sake, for whom at that time Strasburg, like the free cantons of Switzerland, offered a secure place of refuge; we learn best from her own words, written when it became necessary for her to write in self-defence:- "From the beginning of my married life I have received and sheltered in their flight many noble and learned persons. I have cheered them in their despondency, and given fresh courage to their hearts according to the Word of the Lord taught me by His prophets, 'Strengthen and confirm the feeble knees.' At one time fifteen good men were compelled to leave the Duchy of Baden for conscience' sake, among whom was an aged man of learning, Dr. Mantel. He, along with others from Baden, came to me seeking counsel and comfort, while with tears in his eyes he said, “I am, alas, an old man, with many young children.' But when I promised him shelter and support in my husband's house, how was his heart gladdened and his feeble knees strengthened! for he had passed through much anguish and dread, and for four years had been closely imprisoned. In the year 1524, in one night about a hundred citizens were compelled to make their escape from the little town of Kenzingen, in Bresgau, and take refuge in Strasburg of these eighty were the same night received into our house, and for four weeks we supplied never less than fifty or sixty with food, many benevolent gentlemen and citizens contributing to their support. In the year following, after the slaughter of the wretched peasants, when such numbers of miserable and terrified creatures took refuge in Strasburg, I, along with Mr. Hackport, the general dispenser of alms, and two honourable widow ladies, received them

all into the cloister of the barefooted friars, where many ladies and gentlemen ministered abundantly to their wants."

In labours like these Catharine's life was spent; wherever there was any good work to be done, she was always among the first to lend a helping hand, and never spared either her time or her money. In the year 1543, in consequence of the Reformation, a considerable number of poor students was collected in Strasburg, which in that day was an important place for education; Catharine was one of the most active in trying to find a suitable home for them. She succeeded in obtaining admission for them into one of the cloisters, and there she herself ministered to their necessities. Finally, by unwearied efforts, along with others, she succeeded in organizing the institution for students, called St. William's, which still exists.

But her loving activities were not confined to the poor and the fugitives. She had a special delight in intercourse with the learned and illustrious men who frequented her husband's house. The year 1529 was a very busy and happy period for her. It was in that year that the most celebrated Swiss and German theologians met together at the great religious conference held at Marburg, the object of which was to bring about a union, if possible, between the Swiss and German Reformers on the sorely-vexed question of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Zwingle and his dear friend Ecolampadius sailed from Zurich on the 6th of September, and in thirteen hours reached Strasburg, when they proceeded straight to the house of Matthias Zell. Here they remained till the 22nd, and Zwingle preached in the Minster to the great delight of the people of Strasburg. They then proceeded on their journey to Marburg, accompanied by the pastors Bucer and Hedio, and by the Town Sheriff of Strasburg. In one of her letters, referring to this time, Catharine says :—' "I was fourteen days waiting-maid and cook when the dear men Zwingle and Ecolampadius were here on their route to Marburg, where they journeyed along with many of our folks to meet Dr. Luther." The prolonged disputations on the subject of the Lord's Supper were very painful to the mild and conciliatory temper of Matthias Zell, and not less so to the thoroughly practical mind of his helpmeet. They mourned the injury done by them to the cause of the young Evangelical Church. Catharine Zell, whose mind dwelt constantly on the broad principles of Christian faith and practice, could have little sympathy with minute and elaborate dogmatic formulas, and gave frequent offence by her plain speaking in this matter, especially to the excellent Bucer, who strove to act as mediator between Zwingle and Luther. Bucer was a good deal annoyed by the little sympathy he received from her in his character of mediator, and characterised her in one of his letters," as a lady full of activity, ever ready with her tongue and pen, in life most blameless, but with rather too good an opinion of herself."

In the year 1536, after the conclusion of the great Wittenberg Conference, Matthias Zell, now an old man, undertook a journey to Wittenberg to visit Dr. Luther as a seal of peace and unity between their Churches. His wife accompanied him. She thus refers to this journey in one of the letters written in her own defence after her widowhood :—“I am a weak woman, and during my

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