Everywhere
there was a stir in the cloisters. From the doors of almost all the
monasteries and convents monks and nuns stole out--at first singly and
in secret flight; then whole convents broke up. When Luther with
greater cares weighing upon him returned the next spring to
Wittenberg, the runaway monks and nuns gave him much to do. Secret
letters were sent to him from all quarters, often from excited nuns
who, the children of stern parents, had been put into convents, and
now, without money and without protection, sought aid from the great
reformer. It was not unnatural that they should throng to Wittenberg.
Once nine nuns came in a carriage from the aristocratic establishment
at Nimpfschen--among them a Staupitz, two Zeschaus, and Catherine von
Bora. At another time sixteen nuns were to be provided for, and so on.
He felt deep sympathy for these poor souls. He wrote in their behalf
and traveled to find them shelter in respectable families. Sometimes
indeed he felt it too much of a good thing, and the hordes of runaway
monks were an especial burden to him. He complains that "they wish to
marry immediately and are the most incompetent people for any kind of
work." Through his bold solution of a difficult question he gave great
offense. He himself had painful experiences; for among those who now
returned in tumult to civil life there were, to be sure, high-minded
men, but also those who were rude and worthless. Yet all this never
made him hesitate for a moment.
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