An Examination of Luther's Taufbüchlein and Deutsche Messe: Liturgical Reform in Moderation
by Rev. C. Pierson Shaw, Jr., BS, MDiv, STM, STL PhD Student (Faculty of Theology - St. Michael’s College)
Some of the most enduring elements of the liturgical reform are preserved both in Martin
Luther’s Baptismal rite, published in 1523 with a revision published in 1526, and the German
translation of the Mass or the Deutsche Messe of 1526. While these liturgies have themselves
undergone significant reform over the past five centuries, much of the liturgical and theological
thinking which inspired their development by the Augustinian Wittenberg Reformer have
profoundly impacted baptismal and Eucharistic Liturgies and practice across the Traditions of
the Western Church. While Luther redacted these liturgies from 16th medieval forms, none the
less, the revisions show a pattern of “reform in moderation”, more common to the Wittenberg
theologians. In other words, while these liturgies reveal a solidly evangelical character, they
remain at the same time strongly catholic.
