The letters of John Hus/Letter 39, To the Faithful Bohemians

by Jan Hus

For other English-language translations of this work, see Letter of Jan Hus to the Faithful Bohemians (16 November 1414).

XXXIX. To the Faithful Bohemians^[1]

 

(Constance, November 16, 1414)

 

To all the faithful and beloved brethren and sisters in God, lovers of the truth of Jesus Christ! Peace be to you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ, so that ye may be kept free from sins, dwell in His grace, increase in good works and after death enter into eternal joy. Dear friends, I beseech you to live according to God's law and to give heed to your salvation, hearing the word of God with circumspectness, lest ye be deceived by the apostles of Antichrist, who make light of men's sins and afflict no chastisement upon sins, who flatter the priests and do not show the people their sins, who seek their own glory, boasting of their good works and extolling their power, but will not imitate Jesus Christ in His humility, poverty, patience, and tribulation. It was of these that our most gracious Saviour foretold when He said: False prophets shall rise and shall seduce many.^[2] Again warning His beloved beforehand He saith: Beware of false prophets who come to you in the clothing of sheep; but inwardly they are ravening wolves.^[3] Surely there is much need that faithful Christians should keep careful watch over themselves; for the Saviour saith that even the elect (if possible) shall be deceived.^[4] Therefore, dear friends, watch, lest the devil’s craftiness deceive you; and be the more cautious, the more Antichrist troubles you. For the day of judgment is approaching, death is laying many low, and the kingdom of heaven is drawing near to the sons of God. For the sake of obtaining this kingdom, keep your bodies under, lest ye be afraid of death, love one another, and in memory, reason and will abide steadfast in God. Let the terrible day of judgment live before your eyes, that ye sin not; and the eternal joy likewise that ye may seek after it. May the crucified Lord, the beloved Saviour, ever be in your thoughts, that with Him and for His sake we may gladly and patiently suffer all things; for if you will keep His crucifixion in your memory, you will gladly undergo all tribulations, revilings, insults, stripes, fetters, and if His dear will demand it, even death for the sake of His beloved truth.

Ye know, dear friends, that Antichrist hath attacked us with insults, and many so far he hath not hurt one whit, myself for example, although he hath set upon me sorely. Wherefore I entreat you to pray God earnestly that it may please Him to furnish me with wisdom, patience, humility, and energy, in order to stand firm in His truth. He hath brought me now to Constance without let or hindrance; for although I rode the whole way dressed as a priest without disguise, and in all the towns called out my name in a loud voice, I met no open enemy; in fact, I should not have many enemies in Constance if the Bohemian clergy, in their greed for livings and their bondage to avarice, had not been leading people astray on the journey.^[5] Yet I trust to the mercy of the Saviour and to your prayers that I shall stand firm in God’s truth unto death. Know that the sacrament hath not been interrupted on my account anywhere, not even at Constance, where the Pope himself administered it, though I was in the town.^[6] I commend you to the gracious Lord God, to the Lord Jesus, very God, the son of the chaste Virgin Mary, Who by His cruel and shameful death redeemed us without any merits of our own from everlasting tortures, from the devil's power and from sin. I write this at Constance, on the feast day of St. Othmar,^[7] a strenuous servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Master John Hus.
priest and servant of God, in hope.

 

1. This letter is written in Czech.
2. Matt. vii. 15.
3. Matt. xxiv. 11.
4. Matt. xxiv. 24.
5. Cf. p. 161, n. 2.
6. In the case of an excommunicated person under an interdict this should have been done until the said person had been surrendered. This was expressly provided in the excommunication of Hus in July 1412. See Doc. 462. The usual translation ‘when I was present’ is ruled out by p. 163 (the request of John himself).
7. Othmar, appointed by Pepin abbot of St. Gall, in 720, was forced to defend the independence of the monastery against the Bp. of Constance, and died a prisoner on an island near Constance, November 19, 759. Hence the allusion of Hus. For his life, see Pertz, Mon. Germ. ii. 40–58.