Anna of Freiburg, in the Year 1529

This Anna of Freiburg was zealous in the fear of the Lord; and since she believed in Christ, and was baptized upon faith in Him, and so 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 You from the depths of my heart; do not let me turn from You, but keep me in Your truth to my end. O God, keep my heart and mouth; guard me, that I may never separate from You because of impending sorrow and anguish, or any kind of distress; keep me cheerful and glad in my sufferings. Eternal God, my dear Father, instruct and teach me, Your poor, unworthy child, that I may heed Your ways and paths. Father, this is my sincere desire, that through Your power I may press on even to death, through all sorrows, sufferings, anguish and pain, and in this let me persevere, O God, that I may not be separated from Your love. There are many who now walk in this way; but the cup of suffering is given them to drink. We also are accused of false doctrine, in order to draw us away from Christ our Lord. But O God, I lift up my soul to You and trust in You in every adversity; do not let me be put to shame, lest my enemy exalt himself over me on this earth. I am now imprisoned here by him, but, O God, I sincerely wait for You with great desire, until You will awaken and deliver Your prisoners. O dear heavenly Father, make us ready with the five wise virgins (Matthew 25, verse 2), that we may prudently wait for the bridegroom with His heavenly host. O heavenly King, feed and refresh us according to the spirit with Your heavenly food, which never perishes but remains in life eternal; for if You should withdraw Your food from us, all that we do would, with ourselves, be in vain and perish. [n604-1] But through Your grace we trust in You, that we shall not fail. I do not doubt the power of God in the least; 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. Hebrews 13, verse 5; Matthew 7, verse 14. You Christians, rejoice (Philippians 3, verse 1), and always be of good cheer in the Lord Jesus Christ; may He increase love and faith in us. May 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 today, for His holy name's sake. O my Father, let it be done through Jesus Christ, Amen."

Then she voluntarily submitted to death, and was drowned in the water, as mentioned above.