Councils of priests condemned St Chrysostom as a heretic; but God made their lie manifest after the death of him who was surnamed St John of the Golden Mouth.
Knowing, therefore, these things, let not fear prevent you from reading my books, and do not deliver them up to my enemies to be burned. Remember that the Lord has said, Before the day of judgment there shall be a great desolation, such as has not been witnessed since the beginning of the world to this day; and such, if it were possible, the elect themselves might be led astray; but on account of them these days shall be shortened. Think of that, my well-beloved, and be firm. This Council of Constance will not extend to Bohemia; many of those who compose it will die before they have succeeded in forcing my books from you. The majority will be dispersed on every side like storks; and they will discover, on the approach of winter, what they shall have done in summer.[1] Consider that they have declared the Pope, their chief, worthy of death for his enormous crimes. Courage, and reply to these preachers who teach that the Pope is God on earth; that he can sell the sacraments, as the canonists declare; that he is the head of the Church in administering it purely; that he is the heart of the Church in vivifying it spiritually; that he is the source whence springs all virtue and all good; that he is the sun of the holy Church, the certain asylum, where it
- ↑ John Huss was burned to death in the month of July.
