Page:The letters of Martin Luther.djvu/305

 ===CCLXVIII=== TO HIS MOTHER

Letter of consolation in her last illness.

May 20, 1531.

Grace and peace in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen.

My dearly loved mother, I have heard of your illness from my brother Jacob, and am much grieved that I cannot be with you in person, but am with you in spirit, along with the others.

Although I trust your heart has for long been richly supplied with the comforts of God’s Word, and with preachers and comforters, still I shall contribute my mite thereto, as is the duty of a child to his mother.

First, dear mother, you know well that your sickness is a proof of God’s fatherly love, and that the uplifted rod is a small punishment compared to that with which the godless are visited, nay, even that which He brings upon many of His dear children, one beaten, the other burned, and so on, so that all must cry, “For Thy sake we are killed all the day long.”

Therefore, all such suffering ought to be received as a mark of God’s favor, seeing it is a mere trifle compared to that of His dear Son, our Lord Jesus, which He endured for us.

And you, dear mother, know the foundation of your blessedness, Christ Jesus, the corner-stone, who will never fail us, for He is the Savior of all who in their deep need call upon His name. He says, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” And now that death and sin have been overcome, we may be full of joy, and when sin frightens us we may say, “I will not listen to thy alarms, but to my Saviour’s word of consolation, ‘Be of good cheer.’ This is my stay; upon it I will depend. It will not deceive me.” St. Paul also glories in it, defying the fear of death, exclaiming, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Occupy your heart, dear mother, solely with such thoughts, and be thankful that God has brought you to the knowledge of these things, not leaving you to trust in