Note 428 — Chapter XIII · (continued 2)

In a letter to Staupitz, February 20, 1519, “Briefwechsel,” 1, p. 431, Luther complains of “molestiæ,” which were not physical sufferings but the weight of his position and undertaking. In the letter to Melanchthon, July 13, 1519, “Briefwechsel,” 3, p. 189, he means by the “other molestia” which tormented him, the constipation which “together with temptations of the flesh had prevented him for a whole week from writing, praying, and studying.” Cp. “Briefwechsel,” 3, p. 171: “Malum auctum est, quo Vormaciæ laborabam: durissima patior excrementa, ut nunquam in vita, ut remedium desperaverim.” To Spalatin, June 10, 1521. Cp. above, p. 95.