Letter number 7. To the same. The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the believers in Prague who sincerely love his holy gospel. I, John Huss, the servant of God, do supplicate and conjure you, my beloved, not to abandon the truth which God in his mercy has imparted to you. That power which has begun to operate in us, whom He has chosen out, will continue. I feel convinced still to do so, and will give us in our temptations, perseverance and strength. I myself only live by His mercy and grace. I can declare with St. Paul, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet, what I shall choose, I want not. For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidency, I know I shall abide and continue with you all, for your furtherancy and joy of faith." So did St. Paul write from his prison in Rome to the Philippians. I also say unto you, dearly beloved, that although I am not in prison, I would willingly die for Christ and be with Him. And I say also that I should be well pleased to preach to you again the word of God for your salvation. I do not know which of these would be for the best, for I have full confidence for myself in the mercy of God, and also fear that some evil may arise among you, which may occasion persecutions against the true believers, and be the cause of eternal perdition to those who believe not. These rejoice and desire most ardently not only to smother in me the word of God, but also to shut the Asylum of Bethlehem, where I have preached the gospel of Christ to you. But if God consent not their efforts to be vain, and if He permit it, such a misfortune will come to pass on account of the wicked, as Bethlehem, where the Lord was born, and Jerusalem, where He redeemed us, were seen to be overwhelmed to the lowest foundation. As to us, let us render thanks to God, submitting constantly to His divine power, which also assist those who love him, and set those who suffer for his sake, allotting their persecutors to eternal torments. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, not to let yourself be cast down. but rather to pray to our Lord Jesus Christ to give you consistency and perseverance in the faith to the end and be persuaded that he will accord you the free and unmolested preaching of his word and that he will augment your strength in order to defend you from the fear of the Antichrist against which he has prophesied in his holy scriptures. End of letter 7. The letters of John Huss to the Church of Prague. Letter number 8 Master John Haas, servant of God, to all who in Prague are the elect of God and who love our Lord Jesus Christ and His Word, wishes mercy and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Dearly beloved, I congratulate you on your listening assiduously to the Word of God and our merciful Savior who assuredly send you firm and faithful guides. May God through our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ grant you mercy, peace, and grace for all good things in order that you have well convinced in Him you may conclude in like manner and may persevere in doing so even unto the end. Acknowledge, therefore, and draw on you the mercy of God, who sent his Son into this world for our sakes, who allowed his Son to become man and to be humiliated, despised, and condemned by all, to such a point that when the people were called in by the priest to choose between two prisoners, they delivered, in preferences to Jesus Christ our Savior, a robber and murderer. and laughed to scorn our Lord, who said by the mouth of Jeremiah, Lend an ear and behold my anguish, and again, see if any pain is comparable to mine. He cried out to his father, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Such were his plaintive words, while suffering on the cross in an ignominious death, and exposed to the blasphemies of the priest who insulted him at the foot of the cross, examining. He put his confidence in God. Let God deliver him, if he can. thou who couldst destroy the temple, now come down from thy cross.' His cry was, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? And why did he utter that exclamation? In order that we may recognize and admire his immense mercy, and that, supporting with him the outrages of the wicked, we may look for our refuge in him alone, in order, in fine, that we may publicly show our gratitude for his divine compassion which has redeemed us from everlasting damnation. Such has been towards us the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ who recommended his disciples to say, into whatever house they entered, peace be with you. And when he raised up the dead, he said to them also, peace be with you. And before his death, when conversing with his disciples, I leave you my peace. Wherefore, dearly beloved, I implore him to accord you that same peace. May peace be with you from our Lord that you may live honestly and soberly, in calm, in justice, and in piety, and that you may conquer your enemies and those of God, the devil, the world, and the flesh. Peace be with you from the Lord that you may love each other. And your enemies also. Peace be with you that you may listen to his word with attention and humility. Peace be with you that you may speak wisely and well and that you may escape from your enemies. Peace be with you that you may learn how to be silent with advantage, for whoever listens with humility never disputes evil-mindedly with anyone. He who speaks prudently triumphs over the fool, and he who is silent in proper season rarely acts against his conscience. On account of all these things, may peace, grace, and mercy be with you. Peace that you may have a tranquil conscience, grace that your sins may be forgiven you, and mercy that you may be delivered from unquenchable fire. May then peace be with you all after this miserable life, in the bosom of eternal happiness from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Letter number 9. To the hearers of the word of God at Prague. He fortifies them and then spirits himself against the anathemons of the Pope. I, Master John Hoss, etc., etc., call on you, dearly beloved, not to allow yourselves to be disturbed on account of my absence or on account of the maledictions with which the enemies of God overwhelm me. I have faith in our Savior and I feel confident that all things will happen, both to you and to me, for our good. Only be aware of sin and pity the fate of those who, believing that they are acting well, oppose God and His Holy Word, like the Jews of old who crucified Jesus Christ and stoned Stephen and of whom both Christ and Stephen said, they know not what they do. They cannot hurt me, whether they prepare my cross with blasphemy or overwhelm me, like another Judas, with abuse which they shout out in public or in fine, flinging stones against the gate of the temple and overthrow it. In doing such things it is against themselves that they labor, and it is they who ought to tremble. They have imagined certain practices of worship in conformity with human ordinances in order to subject to their will men of simple minds and do such to follow them. But God will bestow on his believers the knowledge necessary to discern such practices and to recognize in them mere human traditions by means of which their inventions lead astray weak minds, separating them from the law of God and crushing them to the earth by terrifying them With the thunders of anathemas, God enjoins to pray for such men as we believe to be in error and to declare them condemned of God. But He has not ordered such snares to be laid in His temple against innocent men, perhaps to judge by their letters the active memory of the eternal damnation of Dathan and Abiram, who unworthily as they were had presumed to pretend to the priesthood. They designate, by those letters, all the priests to improperly usher the sacred little functions through love of riches, pleasure, dignities, and other gratifications of the flesh. They pour out anathetams and, um, vociferate. like senseless disciples of Judas, as Simeon and reprobates really are. Let us pray to God, dearly beloved, that He may deign to continue to us His blessings, knowing Athens will then be able to reach us with the sovereign palms of Jesus Christ. Well, bless us saying, Come ye, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which is prepared for you from the beginning of the world. Let us eagerly long for this blessing, dearly beloved. Let us seek for it and wait when it's coming, living piously in this world in order to enjoy eternal life in the regions of heaven by the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Blessed forever and ever. End of letter nine. The letters of John Huss, letter number ten. Huss, while remaining believer of all the benefits with which the Lord has loaded us in his first coming, elevates his soul to the expectation and hope of the second coming and final judgment. John Hust, servant of God, to all believers, peace and mercy from God the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ. Strengthen your hearts, dearly beloved, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is nigh. You know that Christ has come once already. Ponder on it, therefore, and fortify your hearts by grace and by the trial of affliction. Reflect, dearly beloved, that the Son of God, Himself God Eternal, became man and humbled Himself in order to help us. The immortal Physician came to heal our incurable sores. The all-powerful Lord came not to trouble the dead, but to vivify the living and redeem His elect from eternal death. The King of the world, the Supreme Pontiff, came to accomplish by His works the Law of God. He came into the world not to rule over the world, but to give His life for the redemption of a great number. He came not only as an usher to swallow up the riches of the world, but to redeem by His blood those whom sin had sold to the devil. He came, omnipotent as He is, to suffer a bloody and an enigmous death from the Pharisees under Pontius Pilate in order to free us from the power of Satan. He came not to destroy the elect, but to save them, as He Himself has said, I have come that they may have life. that they may have life here by his grace and still more abundantly in eternity. That everlasting life reserved for all the elect which is unobtainable to the proud, the luxurious, the violent, the ambitious, the intemperate, and the effeminate, all, in fact, who are opposed to his words, but which shall be enjoyed by the elect alone, who listen to his law, who accomplish it by their works, and who suffer persecution. Meditate, therefore, in your souls on these benefits which our Lord Jesus Christ has heaped on us by His first coming, and strengthen your hearts, dearly beloved, by grace and affliction, for the second coming of Jesus Christ is near, and with it the sentence of the great Judge, infinitely wise, infinitely just, infinitely formidable, from whom neither the great nor the learned of this world can escape. whom they can neither move by favor nor by gifts, and with whom will come the just, the preachers of his word, and all that have been unjustly persecuted in the world. Nye then draws the judgment of that severe and redoubtable judge, whose regard the wicked will not venture to encounter The judgment of him at whose word all iniquity will be laid open at his command, the bodies of evildoers shall be delivered to the flames and their souls shall dwell for all eternity with the devils after having heard from the mouth of God that just and terrible sentence. Depart to the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Meditate then, dearly beloved, on these two things, the benefits of the Savior at His first coming, and His justice and judgment at His second advent, and fortify your hearts by grace and the cross. And when you suffer, arouse yourselves, lift up your heads, that is to say, your minds, for your deliverance is nigh at hand, your deliverance from every misery, and from the eternal damnation in which we shall be saved from at the voice of that equitable judge who has said, Come to me, blessed of my Father, receive the heavenly kingdom that is prepared for you. Amen. End of letter number ten. The letters of John Hus. Letter number eleven. To the same. John Huss justifies himself by the example of Christ, for having quitted Bethlehem. Dearly Beloved, the birthday of the Son of God is near at hand. Purify therefore your drawing and let it be clean of all sin. Listen attentively and piously according to your opportunity to the word of God and pay no attention to the evil doers who forbid you to meet at Bethlehem. They have endeavored to lead you astray on account of me and now they no longer have that motive. As for those who declare that I took to flight, I can reply that I acted on my own free will in order to obey the divine word. And follow the example of him who had said, And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet as the testimony against it. And if you are persecuted in one city, flee to another. And when the Jews sought to put him to death before his hour was come, He often withdrew himself from their hands. St. John, in fact, has written, Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but went thus unto a country near to the wilderness, unto a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. But the Jews sought for him, and often asked among themselves, Why comes he not on a feast day? for the priests and Pharisees had observed whosoever shall discover his retreat to inform them of it in order that he might be followed. It is not therefore surprising that, in compliancy with such an example, I should have withdrawn and that the priest should ask where I am. Learn then, dearly beloved, that it is through the example and recommendation of Christ that I remove to a distance from you through fear of being to the wicked in occasion of eternal condemnation into the good a cause of sadness and mourning. I fled in order that if this priest might not prohibit the preaching of the word of God, and that you might not be deprived on my account of the divine truth, for which by the grace of God I am ready to die. Know also, dearly beloved, that it was necessary that Christ should suffer within the period prescribed by His Father. Be assured that whatsoever God may have determined in relation to me, His will shall be done, and should He deem me worthy to die for His name, He will summon me to martyrdom. But if, on the contrary, My life is to be prolonged for the preaching of his word in like manner that is also in his will. Undoubtedly some of your priests desire my return to Prague and would willingly see me there again in order to their chanting the offices of mass being dispensed with. It is they whom the holy preaching of the gospel offends on account of their adverse and their pride in their adulteries. But you, who love God's Word and who make every effort to unite yourself to Him, would be well pleased to see me and would gladly have me amongst you in a spirit of charity like one of your dear friends. For my part, I long to behold you again in order to be able to announce to you God's Word for the principal care of the ministers of the Church ought to be to announce in all sincerity and with fruit. the gospel of Christ, in order that the people may be acquainted with the will of God, may avoid many evils, and be allowed into the right path for living irreproachably, will then do such priests as neglect the Word of God. Woe to them who then, they can't announce it, live nevertheless in effeminacy and idleness. Woe to them who prevent the Word of God from being preached and listened to. Happy on the one hand are they who attend to it, who guard it in their heart and who preserve it in themselves by good works. Christ has blessed them, saying, Happy are they who hear the word of God and keep it. May Christ, blessed forevermore, augment for us all this great happiness. Amen. End of letter number 11. The letters of John Huss. Letter number 12. To the same. He celebrates the joys and blessings of our Lord's birthday. My very dear brother, although I am separated from you in body, not being perhaps worthy to preach to you any longer the word of God, nevertheless the love with which I yearn toward you constrains me to approach and address you in a few words. This is the day, dearly beloved, on which the angel of the Lord said to the shepherds, Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. And immediately a multitude of the heavenly hosts were heard to cry out, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace. Good will towards men. Knowing that, dearly beloved, rejoice for this a day a child is born of an estimable price, a man God, in order that glory may be to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill towards men. Rejoice for this day is born for us a mediator, that man may be reconciled with God and that this peace may be spread over the earth. Rejoice for to us is born a physician to make sinners pure from sin, to deliver them the power of Satan, to redeem them from eternal damnation, to impart to all a heavenly joy, that glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men. Rejoice, for to us is born a King to fill us with joy, a high priest to pour on believers the divine blessing, a Father to adopt us as his children for all eternity. To us is born a well-beloved brother, a master. and every kind of knowledge, a venerable chief, a judge of most perfect equity, that glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace could grow towards men. Rejoice sinners, for he who is born is the Son of God, the High Priest who absolves all that repent, in order that glory may be to God on high and on earth, peace, goodwill towards men. Rejoice for this day, the holy bread that is to say God has made himself food for men in order to satisfy with his body all that hunger. Rejoice, for this day is born the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of sinners. Rejoice, for this day is immortal. God is born in order that mortal men may live forever. Rejoice, for the Lord of the universe lay poor and unstable in order that our poverty might be changed into riches. Rejoice, dearly beloved, that the predictions of the prophets and of the saints have been fulfilled. Rejoice, for the Omnipotent Father and the Son abounding in wisdom and grace are given to us. The glory may be to God on high and on earth peace could build towards men. Rejoiced and dearly beloved for the angel said, Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy. And what was that joy? That a Savior was born who would deliver us from all our miseries and free us from sin. The Son of God has given us that great joy may be with us and Let us endeavor to ensure that this infant, which is born to us, may accord us that good will, that peace, and that joy, which lasts forever and ever. Amen. The Letters of John Huss. Letter Number Thirteen. He impresses on the believers of Prague the necessity of zeal, and the need for self-sacrifice. and of a desire to hear God's word, and recommends them not to renounce these things on account of the scandals arising from wicked preachers. I desire ardently, dearly beloved, that you may be delivered by Jesus Christ from all your sins, and that, despising the vanities of this world, you may overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. I am anxious that, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, you may suffer all things with patience, with a view of salvation, and that you may preserve, even unto the end, in your trials and afflictions. That is what I demand for you, dearly beloved, in my prayers, for God is my witness that I labored for upwards of twelve years in the vineyard of the Lord. and that my greatest consolation in my ministry was to perceive your zeal in listening to the divine word and the serious repentance of a great number. Wherefore, dearly beloved, I conjure you by the passion of Jesus Christ to hold firmly to his gospel and so to conduct yourselves that it may bring forth fruit in all your action Be not shaken in your faith and regard not those who, having placed only an uncertain foot in the path, have turned aside elsewhere and have become the most violent enemies of God and of His disciples. You know, dearly beloved, that Christ's disciples who held converse with Him withdrew and refused to follow Him further. Yet Christ came to separate men from one another, for He hath said, I have come to separate the son from his father and the daughter from her mother. And also, you shall deliver me up to men and persecute for my name's sake. And in order that we may not be shaken by this abandonment of his disciples or frightened by persecution or death, our Savior added, a hair of your heads shall not fall without the will of God. If then a single hair cannot perish, how can believers themselves perish? Wherefore, dearly beloved, preserve a real faith and a sure hope. Remain steadfast in the love of God's word. Listen with the most ardent affection to those whom the Savior has sent you, in order that you may preach his gospel with consistency. and resist the devouring wolves and false prophets of whom Christ has spoken. When he said, false prophets will come and will lead astray many, Christ teaches believers to beware of them and to recognize them by their works, which are avarice, simony, contempt of God's word, persecution of believers, calamity, zeal for human traditions, etc. These men, in fact, wear sheep's clothing They assume the externals of the Christian and, as they are, within devouring wolves, they render and devour Christ's flock. It is of such that Christ has said to his disciples, Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be then prudent as serpents and simple as doves. Let them be prudent, says he, that they may avoid, like serpents, to allow themselves to be crushed, and to permit the head of the Church of Christ to perish in them. Let them be simple as doves, in order to suffer with patience the cruelty of the wolves. And we, dearly beloved, already behold these wolves clearly before us. But let us not suffer them to lead us astray and turn from the path by which we are striving to arrive at heavenly joys. Preserve firmly faith-hooked charity. humility, mildness, justice, modesty, temperance, sobriety, patience, and other virtues adorning yourselves with good morals and good works. Rejoice that you will suffer persecution for Christ has said, Blessed are ye when men shall hate you and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day and leave for joy for behold your reward is great in heaven who then is there that possesses faith, hope, and charity, who will not support with patience, contempt, and ignorance for the love of the Savior, when He is well assured of receiving a hundredfold advantage in everlasting life. In the expectation of these things, remember this saying of Christ, that an affliction shall come such as never had been seen from the beginning of the world. And why? The Apostle tells us that a time shall come when men will not receive the sound doctrines, but will listen to false teachers with greedy ears. They will leave the truth and cling to fables. Thus is now accomplished the prophecy of St. Paul, who declares that all who desire to live purely in Christ will suffer persecution, and the impetuous will triumph in their room. Receive, therefore, dearly beloved, the exhortation of St. Peter. Beware of allowing yourselves to be led astray with others by the error of the wicked. Do not promote your mode of life to be disturbed, but increase in the grace of God in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and pray that God may graciously accord happy success to my preaching wherever A want of it may be felt in the towns and villages, fields and forests, and every place where I may be useful in order that the Word of God may not be stifled in my mouth. Uphold and console each other under the protection of God the Father, and of His well-beloved Son, and of the Holy Spirit, who can preserve you from all evil and procure for you eternal joy. To Him be praise and glory forever and ever. Amen. END OF LETTER NUMBER THIRTEEN THE LETTERS OF JOHN HUSS LETTER NUMBER FOURTEEN TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF LUNA John Huss recommends union and teaches them to endure insults rather than to avenge them. Master John Hust, an unworthy servant of God, to the believers residing in the town of Luna. Peace and the protection of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My very dear brethren, although I cannot see you externally with my eyes, but only with my mental vision, I am nevertheless acquainted with your charity and your constant faith in God and in his gospel. I know that the Savior has united you in faith, peace, charity, and attention to his words, so that I find among you, more than in any other town of Bohemia, that concord which so deeply rejoices my heart. I conjure you therefore, dearly beloved, I whose features are unknown to you, but who am attached to you sincerely in God, I conjure you, in the interest of your Savior, to love one another to remain united and to let no man come between and divide you. For this precious unity, which subsists between you by the true faith, will save you in the presence of God, and God, through his mercy, will, in return, give you strength to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. Meditate on these things, dearly beloved, and allow no schism or treachery or jealousy or violence to spring up among you. Should any obstinate disassembler of disturbance and discord arise among you, warn him like a brother, but do not enter into any disputes. before the judges or courts of law, for that would cause the destruction alike of your fortune, body, and soul. Study to avenge the insults offered to God rather than your own. Alas, it is in this point that the whole world is mistaken, for all men are more ready to avenge their own injuries than those of God. And that is the broad path opened by Antichrist, and above all, dangerous to us, who are priests and who desire to see the ordinances of men more rigorously observed than the commandments of God. Such, or such a priest, monk, or prelate, is a fornicator or adulterer. with impunity, and yet he insists on having his own ordinances observed under pain of excommunication. In like manner, they do not inflict punishment on the laity who sin against God, but should one of them presume to say, My brethren, you have unjustly condemned me. They at once strike with the sword because anyone has raised his voice against the injustice of his clerical judge. I have full confidence that the Lord will keep you free from these evils so that you may observe his word rather than the ordinances of men. As long as you observe his word, no one can do you harm. Wherefore, dearly beloved, meditate deeply on these two things, which are external and imperishable. condemnation, and everlasting life. The former will draw you into fire that lasts forever, dreadful torments, and devouring and endless sojourn with devils. But in eternal life, all will be perfect joy, absence of affliction and suffering, and a resistance with God himself and his angels. For as St. Paul says, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of men the things which God has prepared for them that love him. We shall therefore be indeed blessed when we enjoy this beatitude of which the delights will be perfect. and without drawback. And we shall then behold who shall be condemned. Therefore all sins hidden in the hearts of men shall be laid bare. There we shall reap the joy and consolation of which we shall never be deprived. There, in fine, we shall be happy if we suffer anything for Jesus Christ. For, as gold is tried by fire, so shall we be proved by the cross and by affliction under the hand of him that has produced the world from nothingness. We shall therefore be happy if we persevere to the end in well-doing. Let us bear in mind, dearly beloved, that the world is wasting away, that death is at hand, and that we are here only on a pilgrimage. Live, therefore, first of all, piously, renouncing your sins. Next, aspire to heavenly joys. And lastly, love God with all your heart, and have confidence in Him, that He may deck you out with His glory through the merits of Jesus Christ, and may make you sharers in His reign. Amen.