Mattheus Bernaerts.
A THANKSGIVING BEFORE AND AFTER EATING, WHICH MATTHEUS BERNAERTS, CALLED VAN LINCKEN, COMPOSED IN HIS PRISON AND SENT TO HIS CHILDREN.
Before eating.
O taste and see that the Lord is good, who has created these creatures, and given them to those that believe, to be used by them with thanksgiving, to the praise and glory of his holy name. (Ps. 34:8; 1 Tim. 4:3.) O dearest, most gracious, merciful, eternal Father do not forget thy poor, miserable children, that are persecuted for thy holy name’s sake.
After eating.
Let us now praise and thank the Lord, who has so graciously fed us in our bodies. Let us entreat the Father, to feed us now with the bread of eternal life, that we may with our spirits, souls and bodies that have been fed do his holy will. O dearest, most gracious, merciful, eternal Father do not forget thy poor, miserable children, that are persecuted for thy holy name’s sake. Amen.
Written by me in my prison.
Mattheus Bernaerts,
called van Lincken.
ADRIAN ROGIERS, BURNED FOR THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST, AT GHENT IN FLANDERS, THE 4TH OF DECEMBER, A. D. 1572.
Here follow three letters which Adrian Rogiers wrote from his prison.