. St. Christopher's herb), Cyriacus,
Dionysius, Erasmus (Italian: San Elmo; cf. St. Elmo's fire),
Eustachius, George the Martyr (cf. St. George's herb), Margaret,
Pantaleon, and Vitus (cf. St. Vitus's dance). Luther's Sermons
on the First Commandment (1516) may be compared lot references to
some of these saints and to many others.

As over against these saints, Luther also invents fourteen
defenders or comforters, and arranges them in this writing in the
form of an altar tablet; but his is not a tablet such as those
found in the churches, representing the fourteen defenders, but
it is a spiritual tablet or painting, to uplift and strengthen
the pious heart of the Elector, and of all others who are weary
and heavy laden. The first division, or panel, of this figurative
altar-piece contains the images or paintings of seven evils
(_maia_); the second, those of seven blessings (_bona_). The
contemplation of the evils will comfort the weary and heavy laden
by showing them how small their evil is in comparison with the
evil that they have within themselves, namely, their sin; with
the evils they have suffered in the past, and will have to suffer
in the future; with the evils which others, their friends and
foes, suffer; and, above all, with those which Christ suffered on
the cross. Similarly, the contemplation of the blessings will
help them to forget their present sufferings; for they are as
nothing compared with the blessing within them, namely, their
faith; the blessings they enjoyed in the past, and those that
await them in the future, as well as those which arc enjoyed by
their friends and foes, and, finally, the highest blessing of
all, which is Jesus Christ, risen and glorified.

We can only conjecture as to the origin of this unique conception
of Luther's. Of course, the evils and blessings came to him from
the passage in Ecclesiasticus 11:26.[4] The order and arrangement
may follow some contemporary altar-picture of the "Fourteen
Saints." There was a famous altar-painting of the "Fourteen," by
Lucas Cranach, in St Mary's at Torgau, the residence of the
Elector. The fact is suggestive.[5]

3. The Tessaradecas was favorably received by the Elector, was
highly praised by Spalatin, who urged its publication, and must
have been dear to Luther's own heart, since he desired the return
of his manuscript for his own comfort. The little work soon
became very popular, and passed through numerous editions, both
in Latin an