Johann von Staupitz

Johann von Staupitz, O.S.B., (ca. 1460, Motterwitz – 28 December 1524, St Peter's Archabbey, Salzburg) was a theologian, university preacher, and Vicar General of the Augustinian friars in Germany, who supervised Martin Luther during a critical period in his spiritual life. Martin Luther himself remarked, "If it had not been for Dr. Staupitz, I should have sunk in hell." Although he died as a Benedictine monk and had repudiated the Reformation, he is commemorated on 8 November as a priest in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.