Page:Letters of John Huss Written During His Exile and Imprisonment.djvu/187

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TO THE LORD HAULIKON.
153

Christ Jesus, thou, and all those who love the name of our Lord.

Written in prison the Sunday after Saint Vitus.

John Huss, in hope, servant of God.

LETTER XXXIX.[1]

TO THE LORD HAULIKON.

[Huss invites him not to oppose administering the blood of Jesus Christ to laymen under the form of wine.]

As a preacher of the word of Christ, my very dear brother, do not oppose the administering of the Cup, it being a Sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ and his apostles. No text of Scripture is opposed to it, but only custom; and I think that this was established only through negligence and forgetfulness. But it is not custom which we should follow, but the example of Christ. The Council, alleging custom as a motive, has declared the Communion of the Cup by layman to be an error, and has ordained, that whosoever should practise it, shall

  1. Hist. et. Monum. Johann. Huss, Epist. xvi.
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