The Last Letter from Raphel van den Velde

Grace and peace, love, patience, longsuffering, kindness, power and strength in your faith, this I, Raphel, wish you, my dear wife and sister in the Lord, beloved in God, as an affectionate adieu. May the Lord grant you and all of us grace, so that we may afterward see one another in eternal joy. My love, I thank you for your letter, which you sent me as a comfort in my last extremity. And I also thank Kestijntgen heartily; and her dear husband also thanks her, and now bids an affectionate adieu. May the Lord grant you grace, so that you may follow Him at the proper time. And he also thanks you that the last time you so cheered and gladdened his heart. Adieu, adieu. I wrote this after I had received the message that I must die, which was to me a joyful message, according to the spirit. But it seems that the flesh now and then is inclined to shrink back, which is not surprising, for it is touched by it.

With this, my love, I will commit and commend you and my dear son to the Lord. He will provide for you in soul and body; this is my confidence in God. My love, be resigned to my sufferings and death, for everyone must die once, and many a man loses his life in a shameful, dreadful and unhappy manner. But this is for the most glorious cause that one can find, and the most blessed work that one can do; though it comes with distress, the reward will make ample amends. O my love, be resigned and of good cheer, and Kestijntgen our sister too. And thank God that you had such husbands, who confessed the truth with all their might and great power, and with much labor. Thanks be to God, who has helped us to triumph. Second Corinthians 2, verse 14. We may now say with the apostle Paul: "The fight is fought, the course is finished, the faith is kept; the crown of life is now ready for us." Second Timothy 4, verses 7 and 8. O Lord, what a glorious comfort. O my love, remember often what I have written you for the building up and comfort of your mind; and forget me, for it is a settled fact that the dead will not return.

With this I bid you adieu, adieu, adieu, flesh and blood, adieu, adieu, farewell.

Written in my extremity, by me, your dear husband and brother in the Lord.

RAPHEL VAN DEN VELDE.