Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/66

 54 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE sorrow and penance will be lost eternally, though he should have converted heathens and infidels, built hospitals, churches, convents, yea, suffered martyrdom. A thousand thousand masses and fasts could not save him — no, not the prayers of all the saints and angels, even of the mother of God, though continued through all time, can avail him.' Annexed to these catechisms and books of confession were scenes from the life of Christ taken from the four Evangelists and accompanied by short commentaries. In the ' Seele Eichtsteig,' published at Eostock in 1515, we read : ' Whoever wishes to lead a pious and holy life must keep ever before his eyes the life and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the quiet of his own home and when in pursuit of his worldly duties and avocations ; when he retires to rest, and on rising again in the morning to his work and to the service of God. He should write this life on the posts and sills of his door ; that is, it should possess his whole being in sanctity and holiness.' Great store was also set on the explanation of the Lord's Prayer, and several German expositions of the holy mass were also put into the hands of the people. From year to year the number of books of religious in- struction and of lives of the saints increased. ' Both to the learned and the unlearned,' wrote the Church reformer John Busch, ' it is very beneficial to possess and to read daily German books of devotion on virtues and vices : on the Incarnation ; on the lives and martyrdom of the Apostles, confessors, and virgins ; on the humility and virtues of the saints ; for they incite us to improve our own lives and to watch over our conduct, and they inspire us with love of the