Note 702 — Chapter XXXVII · LUTHER’S LATER EMBELLISHMENT OF HIS EARLY LIFE

To George Mascov, Provost of the Premonstratensian house at Leitzkau, end of 1516, “Briefwechsel,” 1, p. 76. At the close of the letter, of which only fragments have been preserved, we read: “Quam maxime rogo ut pro me Dominum ores; confiteor enim tibi, quod vita mea in dies appropinquet inferno, quia quotidie peior fio et miserior,” which must, of course, be understood of his moral, not his physical, condition. The “drawing nigh to hell” is an echo of Ps. lxxxvii., which was such a favourite of his, where we read: “repleta est malis anima mea et vita mea inferno appropinquavit” (v. 3), and: “In me transierunt iræ tuæ, et terrores tui conturbaverunt me” (v. 17).