Martyrdom of Michael Sattler

In 1527, Michael Sattler was arrested and tried in Rotterdam on charges that he violated Catholic doctrine and practice. He was sentenced: "Michael Sattler shall be committed to the hangman, who shall take him to the square and there first cut out his tongue, then chain him to a wagon, tear his body twice with hot tongs there and five times more before the gate, then burn his body to powder as an arch-heretic." Both in the town square and at the place of execution, Sattler prayed for his executioners. Leonard Cross reports, "Among the chagrined onlookers was 25-year-old Klaus von Grafeneck. He had been summoned there to protect the court while it was in session. To his amazement, through the condemned man's slurred speech, Grafeneck heard Sattler pray specifically for him . . . Sattler was thrown into the fire. When the ropes on his hands burned through, the dying man raised his hands in a sign of triumph, and prayed, 'Father, I commend my spirit into Thy hands.'"

Grafeneck left Rotterdam shaken. A condemned man had prayed for him. He decided that someone needed to tell the story of Michael Sattler, and it was Grafeneck who wrote the story. He concluded the biography with these words: "All this I saw with my own eyes. May God grant us also to testify of Him so bravely and patiently."