The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-12-11
GREAT LOVE
STORIES
of HISTORY
Martin Luther and
Catherine Won Bora
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Catherine Won Bora
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The most.talked-of man in Europe
in 1925 fell in love with . nun. He
himself was . former monk. The man
vas Martin Luther. the famous re-
former. who had declared his indie
pendence OF the churchly customs Of
the day: and who not only placed the
Bible into the hands Of the plain peo-
pie. but was the founder Of the Protes-
tant creed in Germany.
Luther. after casting loose from the
established church. continued to
preach his doctrines (often At risk of
his lffe) and to gain new converts by
the thousands. Among these converts
was q pretty nun named Catherine
Won Bora. Catherine, while very young.
had entered a convent near Grimma.
Germany. News Of Luther's teachings
reached her and she was soon won
over to his way of thinking in regard
to religious matters. She went so far
as to convince eight other nuns that
Luthers opinions were right. Then
the nine women decided to give up
convent life. But to make such q de-
cision and to act upon it we're two
quite different things. In her perplex-
ity Catherine wrote to Luther for aid
Luther was touched by her appeal
Through the help of a friend he man
aged to get Catherine and her eight
friends out OF the convent one night
in 1923. The es-
a.. s cape Of the nine
freed from the convent, Luther did not
quite know how to dispose Of them.
He prevailed upon the relatives Of
some to take them into their homes.
and he advised others to marry But
Catherine was not SO easily settled in
life. She was pretty, and only -
years old. She was also what would
now be called new woman" She
did not relish the idea of being mar
ried out of hand to any man her rela-
tives might chance to select for her.
Moreover, she had secretly fallen in
love with Luther himself. Wise as the
reformer was. he had not the wit to
see this. So he proposed to her that
fused in disgust. He suggested an
other friend; then another She still
refused. At length in despair he
asked her to name some man she was
willing to marry. She calmly named
the astonished Luther himself.
Luther, though surprised, liked the
idea. He had cast on the monk
cOwl and felt he was no longer bound
by his former vows of celibacy. He
had written treatises advising former
priests to marry. Why not set the
example? So he accepted Catherine's
suggestion and on June IL, 1895, he
and the ex-nun were welded. She was
Is. he was AZ. Luther had the wed
ding ring made in the form Of q cruel
fix.
The union was very happy. and sir
children were born to the oddly-mated
couple. Luther was poor. Catherine
had no money at all. The husbands
meager pay as a professor kept them
alive, but they were never well-to-do
1t was a hard, ceaseless struggle
against poverty.
Catherine proved also to have q
rather unpleasant temper; and her
wrathful lectures concerning her hus
bands various shortcomings led Lu
Their once to remind her that he and
,-. not she was the
seo'di"s Wife. family He also
wrote to her, in playful vein. remind
ing her that the original Wits, Eve
had been formed of mans rib, and
adding:
my rib. Kit. thou most learned
dame. Catherine Luther! All, Kit
thou shouldst never preach. How
much these same ribs have to answer
for. >. If 1 were going to make love
again I would carve an obedient WON
an out Of marble. in despair of finding
one in any other way"
Luther, in spite of the cares ant
dangers that pressed upon him from
every side. had a merry disposition
and took his wife's RACES as q Joke
She. in spite Of her bad temper ant
scolding tongue. loved her HUSBAND
devotedly. When. after q years O
welded life. he died, she was incon
solable.
Luther left his family wretchedl,
poor. To support herself and her larg,
brood of children Catherine was force,
to keep a boarding house. But sh,
did not long survive the man she q,
deeply mourned. Six years after Lu
Tiers death she followed him to tn,
| grave.
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