The third prayed: The spirit is willing and ready to desire the suffering. O Lord, hear our prayers, through Jesus Christ thy Son. We also pray for our enemies, who, alas! are so ignorant, that they do not know what they are doing, and are not mindful of thy wrath.” John 15:16; Matt. 5:44; Luke 23:34.
The fourth prayed: “We beseech thee, O Father, and dear Lord, through Christ thy Son, increase thy little flock. Kindle in them and also in us thy divine life, and our hearts will rejoice; for after this our hearts do hunger and thirst.” Matt. 6:9; Luke 12:32; 2 Cor. 3:18; Matt. 5:6.
The fifth prayed: “O God, thou hast received us in grace, and made us thy ministers. Through thy divine assistance we have also willingly fullfilled thy ministry, in our weakness. Preserve us still further firm in thy word; we desire to obey thee also henceforth; come to our aid, and be our Comforter.” 1 Cor. 1:4.
The sixth prayed: “Thou Lord God art my Protector; we will cleave to thee, and then pain will not seem severe to us; though they deprive us of our life, thou hast prepared it for us forever in heaven, and though here we suffer reproach and pain, it shall not be in vain.”
The seventh said: “The body, life, soul, and all members we have received from thee, O God; these we will now offer up to thee, to the praise of thy holy name. It is only dust and ashes. We commend our spirits into thy hands. Amen.” Romans 12:1; Gen. I:7; Luke 23:46.
ANNA OF FREIBURG, A. D. 1529.
This Anna of Freiburg was zealous in the fear of the Lord and as she believed in Christ, and was baptized upon faith in him, and thus sought to arise with Christ; and walk in newness of life, the adversary could not endure it; therefore Anna was envied, accused, apprehended by his ministers, and after steadfastly suffering many torments, sentenced to death, and drowned in the water, and afterwards burned with fire. This happened at Freiburg, in the year 1529. When she was about to die, she spoke the following prayer to God, and left these admonitions to all descendants.
“Dear, Eternal, heavenly Father, I call upon thee, from the depths of my heart; do not let me turn from thee, but keep me in thy truth unto my end. O God, keep my heart and mouth; guard me, that I may never separate from thee, on account of impending sorrow and anguish, or any manner of distress; keep me cheerful and glad in my sufferings. Eternal God, my dear Father instruct and teach me, thy poor, unworthy child, that I may heed thy ways and paths. O Father, this is my sincere desire, that through thy power I may press even unto death, through all sorrows, sufferings, anguish and pain, and in this let me persevere, O God, that I may not be separated from thy love. There are many who now walk in this way; but the cup of suffering is given them to drink. We are also accused of false doctrine, in order to draw us from Christ our Lord. But O God, I lift up my soul unto thee and trust in thee in every adversity; do not let me be confounded, lest my enemy exalt himself over me in this earth. I am now imprisoned here by him, but, O God, I sincerely wait for thee with great desire, until thou wilt awaken, and deliver thy prisoners. O dear heavenly Father, make us prepared with the five wise virgins (Matt. 25:2), that we may prudently wait for the bridegroom with his heavenly hosts. O heavenly King, feed and refresh us according to the spirit with thy heavenly meats, which never perish but abide in life eternal; for if thou shouldest withdraw thy food from us, all that we do, would with ourselves be in vain and perish. But, through thy grace, we trust in thee, that we shall not fail. I do not doubt in the least, the power of God; for his judgments are honored. He will forsake no one who firmly holds to him in faith, and seeks to walk in his true ways. Heb. 13:5; Matt. 7:14. O ye Christians, rejoice (Phil. 3:1), and always be of good cheer in the Lord Jesus Christ; may he increase love and faith in us. God comfort us by his holy word, in which we may firmly trust. I commend myself to God and his church; may he be my Protector to-day, for his holy name’s sake. O my Father, let it be done through Jesus Christ, Amen.”
Thereupon she voluntarily submitted to death, and was drowned in the water, as mentioned above.