Hus in the Thinking and Tradition of the Orthodox Church

The interpretation of Master Jan Hus has gone through significant changes in the Orthodox environment over the last 600 years. He was viewed as one of the initiators of the world's Reformation movement in the 16th and 17th centuries. He was strictly condemned for this reason during this period in the writings of Russian Orthodox authors (as well as Luther, Calvin and Zwingli). The first radical change to this opinion occurred in the 19th century. Hus is portrayed in the writings of Slavophile authors as completely or almost entirely Orthodox. This understanding was resumed in renewed Czech Orthodox Church. It even resulted in a request for the canonization of Hus sent to the Russian Holy Synod in 1903 although the Russian Holy Synod did not respond to the question concerning Hus' holiness. The Czech-Moravian Church of Saint Bishop Gorazd had a similarly ambiguous and cautious stance on Hus. This is also suggested by the liturgical texts for the feast day of 6th July and the prayer book entitled Lidový sborník. There are certain supporters of Hus' canonization at present although their position is not particularly strong.

Keywords: Jan Hus; the Orthodox Church; Hussitism; the Reformation; Slavophilia; the Czech Lands; Russia; St. Gorazd