TO MY BELOVED FRIENDS AND COMPANIONS IN CHRIST JESUS OUR SAVIOR.

Next to God we are joined to our fellow-believers who have received the same faith with us; and we shall therefore address ourselves to them.

But most beloved, do not expect that we shall bring you into Grecian theatres, to gaze on merry comedies or gay performances. Here shall not be opened unto you the pleasant arbors and pleasure gardens of Atlas, Adonis or Semiramis, which are said to have been built in the air, and of which the ancients used to sing their merry lays; yet far be it from us to conduct you to places of sadness, surely not to such as can, in verity, be called places of sadness.

True enough, we shall lead you into dark valleys, even into the valleys of death (Ps. 23:4), where nothing will be seen but dry bones, skulls, and frightful skeletons of those who have been slain; these beheaded, those drowned, others strangled at the stake, some burnt, others broken on the wheel, many torn by wild beasts, half devoured, and put to death in manifold cruel ways; besides, a great multitude who having escaped death, bear the marks of Jesus, their Savior, on their bodies, wandering about over mountains and valleys, through forests and wildernesses, forsaken of friends and kindred, robbed and stripped of all their temporal possessions, and living in extreme poverty.

Yet to look upon all this will not cause real sadness, for though the aspect is dismal according to the body, the soul will nevertheless rejoice in it, seeing that not one of all those who were slain preferred life to death, since life often was proffered them on condition that they depart from the constancy of their faith. But this they did not desire; on the contrary, many of them went boldly onward to meet death; some even hastened to outstrip others, that they might be the first, who did not shrink from suffering anything the tyrants could devise, nay more than could be thought possible for a mortal man to endure.

Among a great number we perceived a godfearing hero and knight of Christ,3 who, advancing before others, went cheerfully unto suffering and death, in which he acquitted himself so well that he fought or pressed his way with such force through the strait gate, that he left his flesh on the posts.

When we had beheld this with the eyes of faith, and had meditated upon the matter, our spirit was kindled, and we almost seemed to welcome him, and to wish him everything good, in these words:

[Climb up your golden height, champion of the band of holy souls, who followed God’s red banner of blood, in oppression and in the midst of misery; where naught but the smoke and vapor of human burnt sacrifices ascended to the clouds; yet thou, hero, didst go before them, yea, didst fight thy way through the strait gate to the wide Heaven.]

Then followed a great multitude of very pious and virtuous people—men, women, youths and maidens, all clothed with the same armor of faith and walking in the same path. Some of these were, like their leader, deprived of life; the rest were led to different places of execution, where they beheld many of their fellow brethren and sisters whose lives had been taken by the most dreadful means—burned and roasted at the stake. They nevertheless were not terrified, though they had to expect to be put to death in the same manner; but were of good cheer, calling upon God for help, that they might not falter in their sufferings, but prove steadfast to the end; this done, they also were burned.

This seemed almost to break our heart; our soul was horrified, and filled with pity on account of their misery; but when we remembered their constancy, and that now, for the heat endured, they found refreshing with God, nay, could expect the blessed crown of immortal glory, our grief subsided and sweet consolation filled our soul, so that we, to their memory, wrote the following words for ourselves and our fellow brethren:

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[The dreadful sacrificial fire, the shining stakes, the shame which Zion suffers, could neither disturb nor hinder God’s chosen people, nor make them afraid to bear the name of Christ, as in a white cloud: Until a burning flame has consumed their bodies; whereby their souls found refreshing with God.]