Page:Letters of John Huss Written During His Exile and Imprisonment.djvu/240

 established Peter in humility, poverty, and faith, and that it was by these virtues he elevated the Church which he governed. But to pretend, from these words, On this rock will I raise my Church, that Jesus Christ intended to found the entire Church in the person of Peter, is to believe what is contrary to faith and reason. St Peter never boasted of being the head of the whole Church, because he never governed the whole of it; yet there may be allowed to him, with some of the Fathers, a priority of order over the other Apostles, on account of the excellence of his virtues; and, in this sense, the words of the blessed St Denis are true: St Peter was the Chief of the Apostles, which does not mean the Chief of the Universal Church. The Bishop of Rome may be looked upon as the vicar of St Peter, and the first in the church which he governs, if he imitate the virtues of this Apostle; but if he follow an opposite path, he is only the forerunner of Antichrist.” Huss supports his opinion by citing several of the Fathers, and amongst others, St Bernard, St Jerome, St Gregory, and St Chrysostom. “It is not the post which he holds that makes the priest,” says the last named saint, “but the priest which makes the post; it is not the place which sanctifies man, but man that sanctifies the place.”

“Lastly, As relates to the power of priests, it is purely