# Another Letter From Hendrick Verstralen To His Wife. · Page 3 of 3

[Previous page: ANOTHER LETTER FROM HENDRICK VERSTRALEN TO HIS WIFE.](/en/stories/mm-another-letter-from-hendrick-verstralen-to-his-wife/part-2/) · [Book contents](/en/sources/martyrs-mirror/#book-contents) · [Next page: A LETTER FROM HENDRICK VERSTRALEN, WRITTEN TO HIS BRETHREN AND SISTERS.](/en/stories/mm-a-letter-from-hendrick-verstralen-written-to-his-brethren-and-sisters/)

Hence, my dear lamb, I will commend you to
the Lord, our God and helper in distress, and
further to his holy church; may they together open
their fatherly heart over you, my poor widow and
young orphans. I further desire, my dear wife,
that wherever it is convenient you greet the godfearing
brethren and sisters much in my name with
the peace of the Lord; and tell them, that I greatly
desire of them all, that they remember us poor
prisoners as their fellow-brethren, and will help
pray and supplicate to God, that we may wage the
Lord’s war, and [that he may] also help us to gain
the victory, so that we may finish it to his praise
and to our salvation; and bid them all adieu in our
name, if perhaps I can write no more. And to you,
my dear wife, my flesh and my blood, I will also
say adieu; adieu, my helper in distress; adieu, my
faithful friend on earth. The Lord be praised, that
gave you to me; you, my lamb, who have always
comforted me in my tribulation. Adieu, my Susanneken,
my Abrahamken, my Isaaken; adieu, Janneken,
my dearest love upon earth, who have borne
me six children, with three of whom I hope soon
to be at rest.

The almighty God, to whom nothing is impossible,
but whose power is equal to everything, keep
you, my chosen wife, with the other three innocent
lambs, unto his eternal life. O my lamb, my Janneken
Verstralen, may the almighty God grant us,
my love, that we may with our children come to
the Lord, to rejoice together before the throne of
the Lamb and the Majesty of our God. Amen.

May God keep you, my dear wife, in the simplicity
of doves, the innocence of children, and the
prudence of serpents, and bring you to his eternal
inheritance. I commend you to the Lord, and to
the rich word of his grace. By me, your husband,
Hendrick Verstralen, bound for the eternal truth,
at Rijpermonde, with fetters on my legs.

Maeyken greets you and all the godfearing much
with the peace of the Lord. O greet the household
at D. much in our name; I very affectionately desire
to ask the old mother and her daughters, that they
immediately gird up their loins with the girdle of
truth, and put on the shoes of the Gospel, to enter
into the camp of God, to the church, where now
the Lord’s war is waged. Come immediately, my
dear old mother, with your young daughters, to
bear the baggage of the Captain of our faith,
namely, the knapsack of love, in which is the
helmet of salvation, with a beautiful plume called
faith and firm trust. Cover them with the mantle
of righteousness, so that the beautiful helmet of salvation
may not rust, and the plume not become
soiled, that is, that your faith and trust towards
God may not fail, and you remain behind with the
faint-hearted and fearful. Though you see that all
the tempests, storms and heavy rains fall upon the
righteous, remember, my dear lamb, that all the
godfearing must have themselves enlisted, and become
soldiers under the bloody banner which Christ
Jesus our chief Captain has borne in the midst of
his saints, and under whose banner I now stand by
the grace of God, and hope to fight valiantly together
with him, and to strive lawfully, as long as
I can stand on my feet, and there is breath in me.

Herewith I will bid you adieu, my dear friends
D. and P., and the daughters, and commend you
to God, and to the word of his grace, hoping that
you will follow. Adieu, my dear friends, at whose
table I ate bread with joy for the last time, and we
sang a hymn to the honor of God. Adieu, my dear
friends, in hope that we shall eat bread together in
the kingdom of God, and drink the oil of joy and
the new wine.

By me Hendrick Verstralen, in bonds for the testimony
of the truth, on Palm Sunday, A. D. 1571.

Hendrick Verstralen.



## Original source

[Read this passage on Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/65855/pg65855-images.html#Page_839)

[Edition details](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65855)

[Previous page: ANOTHER LETTER FROM HENDRICK VERSTRALEN TO HIS WIFE.](/en/stories/mm-another-letter-from-hendrick-verstralen-to-his-wife/part-2/) · [Book contents](/en/sources/martyrs-mirror/#book-contents) · [Next page: A LETTER FROM HENDRICK VERSTRALEN, WRITTEN TO HIS BRETHREN AND SISTERS.](/en/stories/mm-a-letter-from-hendrick-verstralen-written-to-his-brethren-and-sisters/)

---

Page: https://history.truechristian.church/en/stories/mm-another-letter-from-hendrick-verstralen-to-his-wife/part-3/

[Contribute a correction or addition](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/issues/new?title=Correction%3A+Another+Letter+From+Hendrick+Verstralen+To+His+Wife.+%C2%B7+Page+3+of+3&body=%23%23+Page+or+topic%0AAnother+Letter+From+Hendrick+Verstralen+To+His+Wife.+%C2%B7+Page+3+of+3%0A%0APage%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fhistory.truechristian.church%2Fen%2Fstories%2Fmm-another-letter-from-hendrick-verstralen-to-his-wife%2Fpart-3%2F%0A%0ARecord%3A+mm-another-letter-from-hendrick-verstralen-to-his-wife--b00009-o000000%0A%0ADate+currently+shown%3A+16th+century+%28source+section%29%0A%0A%23%23+Correction+or+addition%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Sources+and+evidence%0APlease+include+book%2Fpage+references%2C+archive+links%2C+or+first-hand+documentation.%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Image+credit+%28if+applicable%29%0ACreator%2C+source%2C+and+permission+or+public-domain+basis.%0A%0A%0A%0ASubmitted+for+review%3B+this+issue+does+not+publish+changes+automatically.)
