Sixth, the holy Christian people are externally recognized by prayer, public praise, and thanksgiving to God. Where you see and hear the Lord’s Prayer prayed and taught; or psalms or other spiritual songs sung, in accordance with the word of God and the true faith; also the creed, the Ten Commandments, and the catechism used in public, you may rest assured that a holy Christian people of God are present. For prayer, too, is one of the precious holy possessions whereby everything is sanctified, as St. Paul says [I Tim. 4:5]. The psalms too are nothing but prayers in which we praise, thank, and glorify God. The creed and the Ten Commandments are also God’s word and belong to the holy possession, whereby the Holy Spirit sanctifies the holy people of Christ. However, we are now speaking of prayers and songs which are intelligible and from which we can learn and by means of which we can mend our ways. The clamor of monks and nuns and priests is not prayer, nor is it praise to God; for they do not understand it, nor do they learn anything from it; they do it like a donkey, only for the sake of the belly and not at all in quest of any reform or sanctification or of the will of God.  (Luther’s Works, v.41, p.164)

Picture:  Veronica window: The Face of Jesus

The pope condemns the marriage of bishops or priests; that is now plain enough. … St. Paul says (they say) in Ephesians 4 [5:31–32] that husband and wife are a great sacrament. I say, “Yes, in Christ and the church.” My dear man, can you gather from these words of St. Paul that marriage is the kind of a sacrament of which they speak? He says that husband and wife are one body, which is a great sacrament. Then he interprets himself, saying, “I speak of Christ and the church, not of husband and wife.” But they say that he is speaking of husband and wife. Paul envisages Christ and the church as a great sacrament or “mystery”; so they say that husband and wife are a great sacrament. Why then do they regard it as virtually the least of the sacraments, indeed, as sheer impurity and sin, in which one cannot serve God?…

Therefore do not worry (as was said) about the papists’ talk concerning the personal qualifications for an ecclesiastical office, for these asses do not understand St. Paul’s words, nor do they know what St. Paul’s language calls a sacrament. He says [Eph. 5:31–32] that Christ and the church are a sacrament, that is, Christ and the church are one body, as husband and wife are, and that this is a great mystery, to be apprehended by faith. It is not visible or tangible; therefore it is a sacrament, that is, something secret, a mystery, invisible, hidden. … Now wherever you find these offices or officers, you may be assured that the holy Christian people are there; for the church cannot be without these bishops, pastors, preachers, priests; and conversely, they cannot be without the church. Both must be together.  (Luther’s Works, v.41, p.156, 158-159, 163-164)

Picture: The Anchor