death notice of Anna Rosina Conrad (from Muhlenberg's Journal)
Replies: 0
death notice of Anna Rosina Conrad (from Muhlenberg's Journal)
The Journals of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg , vol. 1, page 190 April 1748
April 20 . I had to bury the wife of a deacon from New Hanover. The woman had come up to Tulpehocken eight days before to visit her children who lived there, and had died. She had chosen Psalm 42 as her funeral text and the hymn “Ach Gott und Herr, wie gros”, etc, in order to show what had been her meditation in life and in death. She had lived in wedlock with the aged man, of whom I previously complained that he was given to excessive drinking and that he boasted of the fact that he had been one of the those who brought the preacher here. She bore him nine children, of whom eight are still living and give good promise, owing to her diligent instruction and admonition. Outwardly she was much afflicted with suffocatio uterina and also had not a little sorrow on account of her husband. This external tribulation drove the woman to prayer and the Word of God, and the faithful God granted that this should bring about in her a living faith and a godly life. Several times in recent years I have asked her about the state of her heart and she always replied that she was indeed a poor sinner, worthy of death and condemnation, but the Lord Jesus had blotted out her sins for His Name’s sake. She knew on whom she believed. She thanked the Lord that He had led and driven her to repentance through goodness and severity, and brought her through the means of grace into the fellowship of the sufferings and joys of the blessed Lord Jesus. She had indeed thereby been crucified unto the world, but, on the other hand, the world was also an abomination to her. I tested her with all sorts of Pennsylvania objections to see whether the tree really had roots, but she replied with joyful lips, “If I look upon myself only, I am a lost daughter , a publican, a Mary Magdalene, etc; but the Lord has clothed me with the garments of salvation and the cloak of righteousness, so that I cannot but sing his praise:
Beloved of my heart
I am no longer mine
For everything I am
Is altogether Thine.
My hatred and my love
I now have left to Thee
All this is done in me
By Thy heavenly Wine!
Just two weeks before she had visited me in Providence and, among other edifying remarks, expressed a desire to depart and be with Christ, which the Lord heard, indeed, and He took her home.
April 20 . I had to bury the wife of a deacon from New Hanover. The woman had come up to Tulpehocken eight days before to visit her children who lived there, and had died. She had chosen Psalm 42 as her funeral text and the hymn “Ach Gott und Herr, wie gros”, etc, in order to show what had been her meditation in life and in death. She had lived in wedlock with the aged man, of whom I previously complained that he was given to excessive drinking and that he boasted of the fact that he had been one of the those who brought the preacher here. She bore him nine children, of whom eight are still living and give good promise, owing to her diligent instruction and admonition. Outwardly she was much afflicted with suffocatio uterina and also had not a little sorrow on account of her husband. This external tribulation drove the woman to prayer and the Word of God, and the faithful God granted that this should bring about in her a living faith and a godly life. Several times in recent years I have asked her about the state of her heart and she always replied that she was indeed a poor sinner, worthy of death and condemnation, but the Lord Jesus had blotted out her sins for His Name’s sake. She knew on whom she believed. She thanked the Lord that He had led and driven her to repentance through goodness and severity, and brought her through the means of grace into the fellowship of the sufferings and joys of the blessed Lord Jesus. She had indeed thereby been crucified unto the world, but, on the other hand, the world was also an abomination to her. I tested her with all sorts of Pennsylvania objections to see whether the tree really had roots, but she replied with joyful lips, “If I look upon myself only, I am a lost daughter , a publican, a Mary Magdalene, etc; but the Lord has clothed me with the garments of salvation and the cloak of righteousness, so that I cannot but sing his praise:
Beloved of my heart
I am no longer mine
For everything I am
Is altogether Thine.
My hatred and my love
I now have left to Thee
All this is done in me
By Thy heavenly Wine!
Just two weeks before she had visited me in Providence and, among other edifying remarks, expressed a desire to depart and be with Christ, which the Lord heard, indeed, and He took her home.