Elisabeth Cruciger, Poet and Hymnographer, 1535
The Collect:
Pour out your Spirit upon all of your sons and daughters, Almighty God, that like your servant Elisabeth Cruciger our lips may praise you, our lives may bless you, and our worship may give you glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Elisabeth Cruciger (c. 1500 - 2 May 1535) was the first female poet and hymn writer of the Protestant Reformation and a friend of Martin Luther.
She was born into a noble family in Meseritz in Farther Pomerania (now part of Poland), and while still a child entered Marienbusch Abbey, in Treptow an der Rega. She converted to Lutheranism, and in 1522 left the abbey to move to Wittenberg. Then in 1524 she married the theologian Caspar Cruciger the Elder, a student and assistant of Luther.
She is primarily known as the author of the hymn, Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn (Lord Christ, the only son of God). She died in Wittenberg. *
* The Lectionary, via Wikipedia, http://satucket.com/lectionary/elisabeth_cruciger.html
