A Lutheran Primer for Mother's Day

It has often been a great delight and wonder to me to see how the whole body of a woman is adapted and formed for the care of infants. How becomingly even little girls carry infants in their arms! And how appropriate are the gestures with which mothers dandle the little ones when they hush a crying infant or lay it in the middle of the cradle! Let a man do these things, and you will say he acts like a dancing camel, so awkward are all his motions if he has only to touch an infant with his finger. I say nothing of all the other duties which only mothers can do for their children.

The female sex is merciful by nature because it is born to show mercy and to cherish...just as a man is born to protect.

"There is nothing sweeter than the heart of a pious mother." -Martin Luther.

Martin Luther summarised his view of sex, marriage and motherhood in a letter he wrote to three nuns in 1524, 'A woman does not have complete mastery over herself. God created her body that she should be with a man and bear and raise children'.

"The Lord God has wanted three things made right again before the Last Day: the ministry of the Word, government, and marriage."

To fatherhood and motherhood God has given the special distinction, above all estates that are beneath it, that He commands us not simply to love our parents but also to honor them. With respect to brothers, sisters, and neighbors in general he commands nothing higher than that we love them. Thus he distinguishes father and mother above all other persons on earth, and places them next to himself. For it is a much greater thing to honor than to love . . . For anyone whom we are whole-heartily to honor, we must truly regard as high and great (Large Catechism; 105, 107).

Young people must therefore be taught to revere their parents as God's representatives, and to remember that, however, lowly, poor, feeble, and eccentric they may be, they are their own father and mother, given them by God. They are not to be deprived of their honor because of their ways or their failings (Large Catechism; 108).

Articles that deal with Luther and mothering:

Who Is Your Mother? by Rev. Rich Bledsoe
Luther: Sex, Marriage and Motherhood by Lyndal Roper
Luther on Mothers and Motherhood by Dr. Martin Luther

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