As many of you may know here at Peace, we subscribe to a website called Sundays and Seasons.  It gives us all the tools we need to plan worship. It includes digital copies of all the music, liturgy, and prayers for each week. It also lists a calendar with all the Sundays and holidays. Along the left margin of the home page there is also a list of commemorations or minor festivals that highlight different people throughout the history of the Church on significant days of the year.

Today’s commemoration is for a Roman Catholic priest names Jan Hus. He was born in 1370 to poor parents in Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic). He decided to study for the priesthood and was well known for his dedication to his studies. He spoke out against abuses in the church and eventually was excommunicated. However, the excommunication wasn’t enforced, and Jan continued to preach and serve the church. When a new pope was selected the Bohemian church convinced him to do something about Hus. They invited him to the Council of Constance and assured him free passage. However, when he arrived, he was arrested and put in prison. They brough him before the council and asked him to recant all the things he had said against the church. His answer was, "I would not for a chapel of gold retreat from the truth!" He was put back in prison and on July 6, 1415, he was executed by being burned at the stake. As he was burning, he was heard singing Psalms and declaring that another would come along and continue his work. That man would be Martin Luther who would be born 68 years later. Jan Hus had a great impact on Luther’s work and was considered a great influencer of the Reformation and the Protestant Church as we know it today.

See you Sunday!