A History of Bohemian LiteratureLützow, Francis, hrabe
History
A History of Bohemian Literature
Lützow, Francis, hrabe
Czech literature -- History and criticism
The last of the great works of Hus, and also the last one which I
shall mention, is the _Postilla_, which Hus finished about the month
of September 1413. It may be considered more popular in manner than
his other Bohemian works, and, written so shortly before his death, it
was long revered as the testament, or the "last will," of the great
Bohemian divine. The book consists of expositions, or, as perhaps they
should rather be called, sermons, explaining the evangel of each Sunday
in the year. The Bible being then very scarce in Bohemia, the text from
the Bible which is referred to precedes in every case the exposition
or reading (Čteniė), as Hus himself worded it. The indignation against
the corruption of the Roman Church, which becomes more accentuated in
each successive work of Hus, finds here its strongest expression. "The
evil priests," he writes, "do not tell the people that Christ said,
'If you do not repent your sins you will all perish.' They have so
obscured the truth, which is Christ, that preachers mention the Pope
more than Christ, and they praise and defend the institution of papacy
more than the law of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore are His faithful
sons oppressed in the lands; for in Bohemia, in Moravia, in Meissen, in
England, and elsewhere there is much suffering, as I know. They murder,
torture, and curse faithful priests, and it is useless to appeal to
Rome; there indeed is the summit of the wickedness of Antichrist, that
is, pride, lewdness, avarice, and simony; thus has simony and avarice
poured from Rome into Bohemia."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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