These eighteen persons, besides many others, were kindled with zeal in the fear of God, and had turned to God from the world and its idolatry, and been baptized upon faith in Christ, entering upon obedience towards His holy Gospel. This the adversaries could not endure; these eighteen were therefore apprehended, and finally, as they, under many tortures, piously adhered to their faith, were all sentenced to the fire, and burned, on the same day, at Salzburg, about the year 1528. They left the following as a memorial:
“O God of heaven, watch over Thy sheep: who are such a little flock, that they may not depart from thee, or be led astray. Keep them under Thy protection, and deliver them from this lamentable distress; for the beast pursues them even unto death, which they must suffer, for they are thrown into severe prisons, where they, in the death of the dungeon, sing praises unto the Lord, and magnify Him with heart and mouth. Acts 16:25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
See All.... O Lord, have compassion therefore, and let this our complaint come before Thee. Come quickly, and help us poor children, and sustain us in Thy will. They would drive us from Thee, and they beset us very hard with their great power and pomp. O God, grant us Thy divine power; we have no other Lord in heaven and earth, than Thee. 1Corinthians 8:6But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
See All.... Grant us what we desire of thee. The Lord Christ sends out His messengers, and through them offers us His heavenly kingdom, which is derided by the world: but we have accepted the Lord’s kingdom and His grace with great joy and satisfaction; therefore the priests roar and rage against us, and terribly hate us. They have greatly hid the truth for more than five hundred years, and seduced the multitude of men with false doctrine: they trample the Word of God under their feet, and it is despised by them. O Lord, grant that they may amend their steps and do Thy will.
“And is that which has been witnessed at Salzburg not a lamentable matter; namely, that eighteen persons were burned together on the same day, only for the doctrine of Christ, whom they confessed to be the only Lord? They would not honor the image, nor worship the beast. They would not receive their words, nor the mark of antichrist into their hand or on their forehead. Therefore they could neither buy or sell in the land; but they adhered to Christ, and received His mark, and their names are written in the book of life (Psalm 69:28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
See All...); as Christian soldiers they, through grace, obtained the crown.” 2 Timothy 4:8Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
See All....
Thus they were burned with fire, and are now awaiting everlasting joy.
Note: Taken from the book Martyrs Mirror. Content may or may not have been edited for clarity.