Martyrs Mirror 827A letter by Adriaen Pan, written in prison, in the year 1559

Grace and peace from God our heavenly Father, through the merits of Jesus Christ His beloved Son, with the true illumination of the Holy Ghost, we wish all lovers of the eternal truth. Amen.

My dearly beloved and longed for brethren, whom we love from the bottom of our hearts, and bear in our hearts, as those with whom we are one soul and one body, though we are now apparently deprived of you, you are nevertheless the more in our hearts, and we entreat you, that no one will faint at our tribulations to which we are now subjected; for we hope that you will be rejoiced to hear it since we know for certain, that it is for the truth. II John 1 :1; Acts 4:32 ; Eph. 3:13 ; I Thess. 3:3 .

Peter says: "Let none of you suffer as an evildoer, or as a thief; but if you suffer as a Christian, happy are you; for the glory and Spirit of God rest upon you; but on their part he is evil spoken of." Paul says that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us; yea, that eye hath not seen, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. My dear brethren, how should we not be of good courage, when we hear such comforting words! My dear friends, the more tribulation there is to try us, the more we are comforted. This we experienced at the start, when we were apprehended, when they assailed the house, as though they meant to destroy it with all that was in it. Then was my heart strengthened, ,as though I was a different person. True, my wife was somewhat distressed before they laid hands on us; but when she saw that it had to be, fear left her, as a garment put off, and she began to sing.