# The First Letter Of Hans Bret, Written On Monday After Whitsuntide, A. D. 1576, At Antwerp, In Prison, To His Dear And Beloved Mother.

1576 · Historical source

Source: Martyrs’ Mirror. Original heading: THE FIRST LETTER OF HANS BRET, WRITTEN ON MONDAY AFTER WHITSUNTIDE, A. D. 1576, AT ANTWERP, IN PRISON, TO HIS DEAR AND BELOVED MOTHER.

Source heading; not independently verified

Grace and peace from God our heavenly Father,
through his only Son Christ Jesus, and the comfort
of the Holy Ghost, for the increase of your faith,
and to the salvation of your soul, this I wish you,
my heartily beloved mother, from the very depth
of my soul. Amen.

Most dearly beloved mother, let me please inform
you, that I am well according to the flesh, thanks
to the good God; but according to the spirit, I
thank the Lord, and praise him for his unspeakable
grace, that he gives me strength by his Holy Spirit,
so that my mind is unchanged, the Lord be
thanked. And I trust in the Lord that he will
give me strength by his Holy Spirit, even as
he through grace has hitherto done to this hour,
to me poor man, for which the Lord be praised
forever. For from him alone we expect our
strength, to withstand these cruel wolves, so that
they can have no power over our souls, for they are
more cruel than wolves—they are not satisfied with
our body, that they tear that; but they seek to devour
and kill our souls, as I told three priests.
Is. 40:29; Zeph. 3:3. However, according to the
words of Christ, they cannot harm our souls; for
when they have done all that they can (however not
without the Lord’s permission), they can but kill
our body, which I gladly suffer for the name of
Christ, and have a desire to be delivered from this
flesh, and to be in joy with Christ, who has prepared
for us a dwelling not made with hands, but
which is eternal in the heavens. Rom. 7:24; 2 Peter
1:14; Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:1. We now look not at
the things which are seen, but hope in the things
which are not seen—in the imperishable, to be
crowned with the crown of eternal life, yea, to be
clothed in fine, white linen, and to rest with the
souls that are under the altar, that were slain for
the word of God, until the number of our brethren
is fulfilled, who shall also be killed, according to
the testimony of John in his Revelation. 2 Esdras
2:43; Rev. 19:8; 6:9,11.

Therefore I long, dear mother, from one Saturday
to another, to offer up my sacrifice. I had so
fondly hoped, that I should this day offer up my
sacrifice, but it has not pleased the Lord; hence I
hope to offer up my sacrifice next Saturday, if it
please the Lord, and to have with the Lord that joy
and gladness which ear has never heard, and of
which the heart of man cannot conceive, yea, which is
prepared for the righteous, who were not ashamed
to confess the name of the Lord before this adulterous
generation, as long as they had breath to speak,
in their bodies, yea, until they were deprived of
speech. 1 Pet. 1:8; 1 Cor. 2:9; Mark 8:38. Therefore,
my dearest mother, rejoice, and thank the
Lord, that he counts me, your son, an unworthy
man, worthy to suffer for his name, and to offer up
my body to him, to the praise of his holy name.
Acts 5:41; Rom. 12:1.

For, my dear mother, there happens to me nothing
but what has happened to all God’s righteous
ones, from the beginning of the world until this
present day. If they killed Christ, the Author of
faith, in whom was no sin, what shall they do to
the servants? for the disciple is not above his master,
says Christ. Hence console yourself, my dear
mother, and rejoice therein; for they can do no
more to me, than the Lord permits them. For the
Lord says: That the very hairs of our head are all
numbered. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without
his will; but of how much greater value are we
than the sparrows. Matt. 10:29–31. Yea, he
says that we are not to fear them that kill the body,
for they have no power over the soul. Hence be
resigned, and pray the Lord for me and my fellow
prisoners.

My mother, I would write you more for your
consolation, but I hope that you are better comforted
of the Lord, than I should be able to comfort
you with my writing; and I also forbear so that you
may learn something about how it goes with our
imprisonment, for otherwise my paper would not
suffice. For I presume that you greatly desire to
hear it, even as I desire to hear from you, as to
how you are. I hope that you, as also all of you,
are well, both according to body and soul, for
which I pray the Lord, and remember all of you in
my prayer to the Lord. Remember also, in your
prayers, us poor prisoners according to the flesh,
but rich according to the spirit, as I also hope to remember
you, for James says that the prayer of the
righteous avails much (James 5:16); that we may
finish our conflict with joy, for we have to strive
not only against flesh and blood, or the priests of
Jezebel, but against invisible spirits, namely the
enemy, who always seeks to hinder and quench
that which is good, with deception and lies; yea, I
fear that you will hear, or have already heard,
through the great falsehoods which the enemy of
the truth is spreading, that I wanted to listen to the
priests. Yes, they do not hesitate to tell great falsehoods
here in this prison, for they went twice in one
day to N., and told her that I wanted to listen to
the priests; yea, the great priest, the Dean, was not
ashamed to speak abominable falsehoods to N., in
order to rob her, by deception and lies, of her salvation,
with these words: “Your servant wants to
hearken to us, and to repent;” and other like
words which Satan (who was a liar from the beginning)
knows how to use; so that she has to endure
no small conflict, from the priests, as well as
from her brother, who causes her great conflict.
As regards N., her friends exert themselves very
greatly to procure her release; but in what manner,
I do not know. I have exhorted her that she should
take heed, which to rehearse here would be too long.
She has told me, that her mind is unchanged, and
that she does not want to be ashamed of the truth.

Touching N., I know so far nothing but good,
and that her mind is all right, the Lord be thanked;
for she longs with me only for the day of our deliverance
from this flesh, and to offer up our sacrifice.
For yesterday evening, which was Whitsuntide-evening,
about eleven o’clock I spoke with N.;
987
then she was somewhat grieved, because she had
said to the priests, that she would listen to them in
whatever agreed with the word of God; because
she thought that the priests had thereby gotten
some occasion to say of her that she wanted to
hearken to them. Hence I comforted her about
this, and told her that I myself should say it, and
that there was nothing evil in it, since their abominable
idolatry is contrary to the word of God, and
can never agree with it, for there is a great difference
between darkness and light. Is. 5:20; 2 Corinthians
6:14. And as regards myself, I thank the
good God, who beholds me, unworthy man, with
his eyes of mercy, and gives me strength by his
Holy Spirit, to confess his word and truth before
this adulterous generation; yea, who counts me,
poor miserable man, worthy that I am to offer up
my body to him, to the praise of his holy name.
Phil. 2:17. O my mother, thank and praise, with
me, the good God, who looks upon me, unworthy
man, with his eyes of mercy, through his Son
Christ Jesus; who shows me so many benefits. How
shall I be able sufficiently to praise and glorify him
for the unspeakable grace and mercy that he is
showing to meward, here in this lions’ den. Thank
now the Lord with me for his goodness which he
shows us through his Son Christ Jesus, for which
praise be to him now and forever. Amen.

I hope now to write you a little, relating very
briefly how my examination by the priests passed off.

The first time that I spoke with the priests, which
according to my recollection, was about eight days
before Whitsuntide, there came the Dean, that
great, large priest, with another priest, whom we
are wont to call the inquisitor (my master knows
him well), and who cries and storms the most. We
talked for a long time, and I reproved their idolatry,
as much as the Lord by his Holy Spirit gave
me utterance. Hence this priest began to speak of
the Supper, and asked me, whether that was not
the real body which Christ gave to his disciples, and
his blood. I said: “No.” Then the priest began
to clamor and to rave, and talked very abusively,
saying that it were better if I had concerned myself
with making my confectionery, or selling groceries,
than with the Scriptures. I said: “I may concern
myself with reading the Scriptures, for Christ says:
Search the Scriptures; for they are they which testify
of me.” John 5:39. Then the Dean said: “Hear
those who have studied the Scriptures all their life.”
“Yes,” said I, “they study amiss.” “I ask you,”
I said, “where did Paul study or go to college?
show me this with the Scriptures.” “Did he not?”
“No.” “Did he not go to Ananias?” said the
Dean. “Yes; but he did not study there.” Then
he began again to talk abusively, and they said that
the devil had me by the throat. Matt. 12:24.

While we were thus talking, there came another
priest, a Jesuit, so that there were three of them
sitting there. Then the priest again commenced to
speak of the Supper. Therefore I asked them:
When Christ gave the bread to his disciples, and
said: Take, eat; this is my body: this do in remembrance
of me; whether Christ himself remained sitting
there? He said: “Yes.” I said: “Hence it is
not to be understood so” (as you say); and I told
him that he did not understand the Scriptures. I
said that a carnal man cannot understand that which
is spiritual, for, says Paul, it is foolishness unto
him. 1 Cor. 2:14. Then he cried: “What can you
say about me, am I a drunkard?” Ans. “Your
idolatries bear witness what you are, and also the
Scriptures reveal your horrible idolatry, which is
an abomination in the sight of God; yes, I am sorry
that you are so in error.” They cried: “You err.”
The Jesuit cried every time, that the devil had me
by the throat, and that I was a proud fool; and
other like words. I said: “I rejoice that I am thus
despised for Christ’s sake.” They clamored so
loudly, that one could scarcely utter a sentence.
The Dean cried to the others: “Domine, Domine;343
let him go, we shall gain no laurels with him.”
But the priest commenced again to talk of the Supper.
I told him that he had to understand it spiritually,
and proved it to him with several Scriptures,
as, John 1:29: “Behold the Lamb of God.” Again,
15:1: “I am the true vine.”

If I were to relate all, though I had much more
paper, I should cover it with writing. We then
spoke of baptism; he asked me why children might
not be baptized. [I replied]: Because Christ did not
command it, nor the apostles teach it.

Then he adduced several Scriptures that were
quite to the contrary, John 3, and others. I showed
him, that Christ there did not teach water baptism,
but that he had taught it in Matt. 28 and Mark 16;
and I stated what baptism signified; to whom it
pertains, and that it is horrible to hear that they
want to save children by baptism, whereby they
deprive Christ of the honor. Rom. 6:3; John 3:16;
Acts 4:12. When we had talked thus for a long
time, the Dean cried to the priest: “Hear, hear,
Lord; Audi, audi, Domine; let him go; we waste
our time with him, and he remains as obstinate as
ever.” I said: “I am sorry that you will not listen
to the truth; it is all in vain, it is only casting
pearls before swine.” Matt. 7:6.

Then the Dean became very angry, so that I soon
parted from them, for it was getting late. I must be
brief, for my paper is giving out. Afterwards I
talked yet with a priest alone, on Whitsuntide evening;
so that the priest went away from me, when I
told that he should show to me, that Christ and his
apostles, in this manner, went about the street with
an idol, with torches, lanterns and bells. Ps. 112:4;
Bar. 6:4. He would not talk with me long; we
talked a little about the Supper and baptism, but
not long, for the priest went away, and I began to
admonish him a little. But I must be brief. Though
you hear much said that I wanted to hearken to the
priests, believe it not; but be fervent in prayer, for
in the end it shall be made manifest.

Mother, I pray you, that you will send the letter
herewith enclosed, which I have written to my
brother D. in England, to him; and if there be
anything written in it that is not suitable, erase it.
And I pray you, write him my faith. I would write
it myself, but through want of paper I cannot.
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Write him that he may know for what I deliver up
my body to the burning; for I presume that many
will write that which is not the truth. Thus, dear
mother, it is time to stop, for want of paper. I greet
you, my mother, and also all my dear sisters, with
a holy kiss of peace; and greet also from me those
whom you well know, also my master, yea, and
all the friends. G. and my sister K., the Lord be
with you and us all, and keep you. Thus, my
dearest mother, farewell, and the Lord be with
you; for I think that you will see my face no more
in this life, nor do I know whether I shall have
another opportunity to write. Thus, the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob be with you all. Amen.

By me your son, imprisoned for the testimony
of Jesus Christ.

Hans Bret.





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