09 August 2006

Reformation Goodie

This remembrance of the dead, which was practiced of old and still exists in the catholic church, is an open testimony of charity and of faith in the glorious resurrection of the flesh. And since it is the fruit of faith that works through love, no one will reject it except for Epicureans and Sadducees. - Urbanus Rhegius, *Preaching the Reformation* p. 99, 101

[Note that Urbanus Rhegius was Reformer of Luneburg, a signer of the Smalcald Articles, and author of this little treatise which was often published with Chemnitz' Enchiridion as a complete pastor's "how to" manual. Note that in the above quote, he is including the churches of the Augsburg Confession under the designation "catholic church." It very much challenges the forgetfulness of the faithful departed that unfortunately prevails among Lutheran churches today. The LSB reminds us of the joy of remembering the faithful departed on pages xii and xiii.]

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