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Originally Posted by Mr Quatro

Lutherans are better than Catholic's as far as I can discern from having worked as a janitor for a Catholic church right next door to a Lutheran church. They would sing louder and better is all I really know, but having one man pretend to be God is not a wise move.

Anyway what I really wanted to point out is a very real oddity about Martin Luther marrying a defrocked nun.



Hard to understand, but it is reported that Martin Luther had his wedding guest surround the bed as he did what grooms due to virgin brides consummate the marriage.

Strange, uh?

NOT STRANGE AT ALL IV'E DEFROCKED MANY A LUTHEREß AS THEY SHRIEKED "OH MY GOD" AND FOLLOWING A DIET OF WORMS, DECLARED "HERE I STAND I CAN DO NO OTHER"! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_of_Worms AS FOR WITNESSING THE WEDDING NIGHT : WEDDINGS WERE LEGAL AFFAIRS, NOT ROMANTIC MATTERS, AND LEGAL CONSUMATION WAS TO BE ASCERTAINED TO INSURE THE LEGALITY OF UNION.... https://www.quora.com/In-medieval-times-were-newlyweds-watched-as-they-consummated-their-marriage

The bedding ceremony refers to the wedding custom of putting the newlywed couple together in the marital bed before numerous witnesses, thereby completing the marriage. In most traditions the newlyweds were put in bed by their family, friends, and neighbors.
The purpose of the ritual was to establish the consummation of the marriage, either by actually witnessing the couple's first sexual intercourse or symbolically, by leaving before consummation. It symbolized the community's involvement in the marriage. The legally binding nature of the ceremony varied greatly from place to place and through time. Not until very recent times in Western cultures has this changed. Why? Because marriage has been considered since ancient times to be a contract between the families and the community (not the betrothed themseves). Love had nothing whatsoever to do with it.
Many times the man and woman had never met before their wedding day when the bride is “given away” by the head of her family to the husband’s family. In fact, a vestige of this custom lies in the present-day superstition that the husband should not see his wife-to-be in her bridal gown prior to the ceremony.
The reason for witnessing the conjugal act (and examining the virgin’s blood on the sheets) was that there needed to be witnesses who could attest to the fact if at some later date the marriage was contested by either party: a non-consummated marriage is null and void, and a non-virginal bride would make the marriage subject to annulment.
Point of interest: In the sacramental Churches of Christendom, marriage is the only sacrament of the Seven not performed by the clergy, as the bride and groom perform the marriage; the priest/minister is merely the witness who blesses the couple on behalf of the church.

NATURALLY THIS WAS FODDER FOR HUMOR AND SATIRE AS WELL...TWO THINGS TOTALLY FOREIGN TO MY OWN STERN PURITAN NATURE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedding_ceremony : < GEORGE III'S DAUGHTER, CHARLOTTE, ON HER WEDDING NIGHT- CONVEYED TO THE ROYAL BOUDOIR WITH POMP AND... CIRCUMCISION CA 1797.