Martyrs 5e: Kaiser– Leonhard = Lionheart, Luther on Leonhard

This continues from Part 5d (Table of Contents in Part 1a and Part 1b) publishing the book of Pastor Hermann Fick on the martyrs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.  —  Part 5e concludes the account of Leonhard Kaiser.  —  When I began this short mini-series on Leonhard Kaiser, I thought to skip it because it required translating many more pages than the previous martyrs.  But as I continued, I became more excited, even at times shedding tears as did the sister and servant of Leonhard.  Then I reached the climax, this concluding blog post, where Luther himself practically shouted out this story of Kaiser.  Dear God, Thou hast blessed me so with this martyr's story!... perhaps the martyr closest to Martin Luther himself.

Do you have times when so-called depression sets in, when you are feeling isolated? ... where our modern world says that you need to use its tools to help your "mental health"?  Then our dear martyr Leonhard Kaiser has some counsel for us as he was being led to his death:

He began to speak powerfully in German, even with a fierce mind, turning his head from one side to the other, exclaiming: "Christ, you must suffer with me; Christ, you must get under me; you have to carry me; with me it is in vain and am lost. 

• Psalm 50:15 – Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
• Martin Luther: I teach and preach the Word, may speak and write with many words: but he has proven to be a truly powerful perpetrator of the same Word.

Even if no one else in the world ever reads these martyr accounts, I will likely come back to read them – for the strengthening of my Christian faith.  May all who read them so also be strengthened – God Grant It!  For Jesus sake! Amen!

Some highlighting added; hyperlinks added for reference.

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The Martyrs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church

by C.J. Hermann Fick [after Luther]
(tr. by BackToLuther)

V. (e)
Leonhard Kaiser (Kayser).

"Christ, you must suffer with me."

(Leonhard on the way to death by fire.)

Now he was led out.  With the heartiest seriousness and joyful fervor he walked on.  He raised his face heavenward, his chest up, his mouth was reciting Latin psalms so quickly that one word could hardly escape the other.  There appeared a papal priest yet came to him to convert him before his death.  But he took him by the shoulder and said, "Priest, you have nothing here to do."  Also Leonard’s servant came, took leave of his lord with many tears and kissed his hands.  Smiling, the steadfast confessor said:  "What is the flesh?"

As one comforted him in the Lord, he began to speak powerfully in German, even with a fierce mind, turning his head from one side to the other, exclaiming: "Christ, you must suffer with me; Christ, you must get under me; you have to carry me; with me it is in vain and am lost. "  So they came near the gravel [Griese], a free space at the river Inn [Innflusse].  Here the people stood well in crowded [page 28] clusters, waves of incalculable crowds upon crowds. Moved by the sight, he called out: "There should be harvesters there in the harvest.  Pray the Lord of the reapers, that He may send reapers into his harvest." [ref. Matt. 9:38]

But still an arm of the Inn separated him from the place on which was built the pyre.  He was therefore placed on a cart and brought over.  Once there, he made a speech: all those who had brought him there, he forgave from the heart, thus would also God forgive him.  At the same time, he also asked the people that had helped him to pray diligently for all his adversaries.  He also asked that if he had offended someone with his life or example, even as he formerly preached not right (in the papacy), that such would be forgiven him; also to pray for him, that he might die in a firm Christian faith. Then he prayed for those who were not yet enlightened.

Impatient at the delay, the district magistrate ordered the executioner to hurry up, and then the dear martyr was undressed quickly, and ascended the pyre.  While he was tied up, he asked the people to sing the song "Come Holy Ghost."  As once again that priest drew near and exhorted him to ask God for forgiveness if he had erred in any article.  However Leonhard was silent.  But when asked whether he wanted to die as a devout Christian, he joyfully exclaimed, "Yes!"

Then the fire was lighted. As the flames leaped up, he cried again with a loud voice, "Jesus, I am Thine, bless me!"  and gave up his spirit gently and blissfully back into the hands of his faithful God.  After the hands, feet, and head had burned down, so little was left of them, the executioner rolled the body with a bar and put more wood to the fire. Then he cut a gap into the body with a sword, put a rod in and raised it back on the grillage until he burned up.  So the faithful witness Leonhard Kaiser had sealed the Evangelical Lutheran doctrine with his blood the morning of August 16, 1527 at 8-9 o’clock.

In conclusion, let us listen to the beautiful commemoration which Luther dedicated to this blessed one in a letter to Magister Michael Stiefel [or Stifel – a mathematician!; ref. StL v. 21, col. 1025-1026, No. 1135]: "Oh, wretched man that I am, as even I am not equal to the dear lord Leonhard Kaiser.  I do not do more because I teach and preach the Word, may speak and write with many words: [page 29] but he has proven to be a truly powerful perpetrator of the same Word.

"Oh! that God regarded me worthy, that this spirit of Leonhard would not be twofold in me, but only that half, to overcome Satan, in which I would willingly and gladly give up this life.  Blessed be God in eternity, which has among so many monsters yet again proved us unworthy, and has let be seen such a glorious sight and splendor of His grace that by this blessed man, we however can indeed notice that He has not left us.  Pray for me, lord Peter Michael.

"Christ our dear Lord, grant that we become the successor of this dear blessed Leonhard.  He is named not only king [König], but justly Kaiser [Caesar], and carries such a name with honor; because he has overcome the violence that is so great, you will not find anything comparable to it on earth.

"He is not only a priest, but a true bishop, yes Pope, by sacrificing his body an offering, well-pleasing to God, living and holy.

"So also he is named rightly and properly Leonhard, that is Lionheart.  Because he has proven to be a strong, fearless lion.  His two names are foreknown by God; he is the first, thus he has fulfilled and confirmed the name of his family."

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =   The End   = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Leonhard, the Lionheart!

                                      — Martin Luther

I must repeat the quote from Luther used in the Der Lutheraner magazine issue quoted in Part 1a:

The most perilous tribulation is when there is no tribulation.  –  Luther

How perfectly Luther tells us of our modern age, our modern theology, here in America: the most perilous tribulation" is when we think "there is no tribulation".
In the next Part 6 is the martyress Widow Wendelmut.