Paleario

“On what do you rest the foundation of your faith?”

“Paleario, a man that was born about the year 1500, a man who was one of the greatest martyrs of his day. When he was asked the question, On what do you rest the foundation of your faith, three times he gave the three-fold answer, “On Christ; on Christ; on Christ.”

“He wrote against the darkness of his age until they said, “If you do not stop we will put you in prison.” Then that soldier in the town of France was condemned to death, and he wrote this letter to the judge. It seems to me it is one of the most striking letters I ever read, written from prison:

“At such a time as this, my Judge, no Christian should die in bed. To be accused, to be thrown into prison, to be whipped and scourged, to be hanged, to be sown into a sack and thrown to the wild animals to devour me is too small a punishment for me. If it will help spread the truth of Jesus Christ to the world I beg of you, sentence me to roast on the burning coals.”

From: Long, Simon Peter. The Eternal Epistle: Sermons on the Epistles for the Church Year. Columbus, Ohio: F. J. Heer. 1908. Lutheran Library Paperback and Ebook editions to be released October, 2019.