The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Page 130

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130

Wonders of Transforming Grace.

MADAGASCAR.
The First Martyr.

The first native Christian martyr was the same
Rasalama who had unwittingly betrayed the names
of seven Christians hitherto unknown to the author-
ities. Of her it is said that she rejoiced to be

Queen Ranavalona II.

counted worthy to suffer affliction for Christ’s sake.
Before her execution she was so confined by her
hands, feet, knees, and neck that she suffered ex-
cruciating pains; but when she was led to the place
of execution, she sang hymns of praise. She fell
with the spears of her executioners buried in her
body while kneeling in prayer. Her whole behavior,
piety, and fearlessness was such that even her exe-
cutioners were compelled to say that there was some-
thing so charming about the Christian religion that
took away the fear of death.

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Rafaralahy, a young man, was the second Mala-
gasy to suffer martyrdom. Before his execution he
was tortured in every conceivable way in an attempt
to have him reveal the names of some of his fellow-
Christians. But all tortures inflicted were in vain,
for he refused to betray any of his fellow-believers.
When the executioners came to the prison, he calmly
arose and made ready to follow them. On the way
to the place of execution he preached Christ to them
all the way. When about to be executed, he prayed
for his country, his executioners, and his persecuted
brethren, commended his own soul into his Savior’s
hands, and then quietly lay down to be speared
to death.

See, How They Love One Another!

Upon a certain occasion a native Christian who
had been condemned to death was pardoned for some
reason. When the other Christians heard of this,

_ they showed their great delight in a public demon-

stration. It so happened that the bloody queen saw
the demonstration. She asked what it meant. One
of her officials told her, and then he added: “The
love these people have for one another is surprising.
When one of them is in trouble, they all sorrow, and
when one of them is happy, they all rejoice. When
any are poor and in need, they freely and willingly
assist them.” Instead of softening her heart towards
the Christians,these words of her courtier only in-
duced the queen to enter upon still more stringent
measures against them ; for she saw that death alone
would not check the spread of Christianity.

A Reign of Terror.

The queen decided to surround the executions in
future with all conceivable horrors. Spearing the
Christians to death was almost abandoned. Many
of them were thrown from precipices and dashed to
pieces. Others were thrown from rocks not high
enough to instantly kill them; and there they would
be left to lie mangled and bruised, suffering inde-
scribable agonies, till death finally came to their
relief. At other times the agony of the victims was
increased by their being suspended by means of
a rope, attached to a long pole, over a high precipice,
at the bottom of which lay the bodies of many pre-
vious victims. The pole would be dipped for a while,
till at last the stroke of a sword would cut the rope,
and then the dull thud of the body striking the
rocks far below would be heard. Often a number of
victims were thus executed at one time, and the fate
of each convert would be used to induce the others
to renounce. Some were placed in pits with their
heads downward, and boiling water was then poured