Letter Vii
LETTER
I AND LETTER
VII I am satisfied to record the end of my present story.
Evagrius seeks a special interview with the Emperor : wearies him with his prayers, secures his sympathy by the merits of his case, and finally by anxious care wins the day.
The Emperor restored to freedom the woman who had been thus restored to life.
LETTER VII To Chromatius, Jovinus and Eusebius 1 Family affairs Those whom mutual love has joined together ought not to be separated on a w rritten page.
Therefore I must not divide between you individually the words that I owe to you all.
Two of you, as brothers, are already natural partners, but so strong is the love which you feel for one another that affection unites the three in a bond that is equally close.
Indeed, if actual conditions allowed, I would make one abbreviation include all your names without division
; for your letter challenged me to regard you as three in one and one in three.
That letter was handed to me by the saintly Evagrius in that part of the desert which forms a broad boundary line between the Syrians and the Saracens, and it filled me with joy, a joy surpassing even the exultation felt at Rome over the victory of Marcellus at Nola, when for the first time after Cannae Hannibal's proud hosts were defeated.
The above-named brother often pays me a visit, and cherishes me in Christ like his own flesh ; but he is separated from me writer's sister, whose name is unknown, and of the condition of the church in Dalmatia.
Cf. p. 308, note 2.
SELECT LETTERS OF
ST. JEROME
non minus mihi dereliquit abeundo desiderium, quam adtulerat veniendo laetitiam.
2. Nunc cum vestris litteris fabulor, illas amplexor, illae rnecum loquuntur, illae hie tantum Latine sciunt.
Hie enim aut barbarus seni sermo discendus est aut tacendum est.
Quotiensque carissimos mihi vultus notae manus referunt inpressa vestigia, totiens aut ego hie non sum aut vos hie estis.
Credite amori vera dicenti : et cum has scriberem, vos videbam.
Quibus hoc primum queror, cur tot interiacentibus spatiis maris et terrarum tarn parvam epistulam miseritis, nisi quod ita merui, qui vobis, ut scribitis, ante non scripsi.
Chartam defuisse non puto Aegypto ministrante commercia.
Et si aliqui Ptolomaeus maria clausisset, tamen rex Attalus membranas e Pergamo miserat, ut penuria chartae pellibus pensaretur ; unde pergamenarum nomen ad hanc usque diem tradente sibi invicem posteritate servatum est.
Quid igitur ?
Arbitrer baiulum festinasse ?
Quamvis longae epistulae una nox sufficit.
An vos aliqua occupatione detentos ?
Nulla necessitas maior est caritate.
Restant duo, ut aut vos piguerit aut ego non meruerim.
E quibus malo vos incessere tarditatis, quam me condemnare non meriti.
Facilius enim negligentia emendari potest, quam amor nasci.
3. Bonosus, ut scribitis, quasi filius lyOvos aquosa petit, nos pristina contagione sordentes quasi reguli
1 l.e. has been baptized.
Ixdvs = 'Itjoovs Xptoros 0eou Ytos 2cjott/p .
Bonosus, Jerome's foster-brother, studied with him at Rome, joined his band of ascetics at Aquileia, and when this broke up retired to live as a hermit on a small island near Aquileia.
LETTER VII by a great distance, and his departure always causes me as much regret as his coming has brought delight.
Now I talk to your letter, I embrace it, it carries on a conversation with me, it is the only thing here that knows Latin.
In this place an old man has either to learn a barbarous jargon, or else to hold his tongue.
The handwriting I know so well brings your dear faces before my eyes ; and then either I am no longer here or else you are here with me.
Believe love when it tells you the truth : as I write this letter I see you before me.
However, I have one complaint to make first.
Why is it that with such stretches of sea and land between us you sent me so short a letter ?
Perhaps I deserved it ; for as you say, I did not write first.
Paper, I imagine, cannot have failed you now that Egypt supplies the market.
Even if some Ptolemy had closed the seas, King Attalus was there to send you skins from Pergamum, and by parchment you could have made up for lack of paper.
The very word parchment as it exists to-day, handed down from generation to generation, reveals its origin.
Well, am I to suppose that your messenger was pressed for time ?
One night is sufficient to write a letter in, however long the letter be.
Were you prevented by some urgent business ?
Nothing has a greater claim on you than affection.
Two reasons are left ; either you felt disinclined, or else I was not deserving.
I prefer to accuse you of sloth rather than condemn myself as unworthy.
The correction of carelessness is an easier matter than the birth of love.
You tell me that Bonosus, like a true son of the Fish, makes for watery places . 1
For myself, I am
SELECT LETTERS OF
ST. JEROME
et scorpiones arentia quaeque sectamur.
Ille iam calcat super colubri caput, nos serpenti terram ex divina sententia comedenti adhuc cibo sumus.
Ille potest summum graduum psalmum scandere, nobis adhuc in primo ascensu flentibus nescio an dicere aliquando contingat :
Levavi oculos meos in montes, unde veniat auxilium mihi.'
Ille inter minaces saeculi fluctus in tuto insulae, hoc est ecclesiae gremio, sedens ad exemplum Iohannis librum forte iam devorat, ego in scelerum meorum sepulchro iacens et peccatorum vinculis conligatus dominicum de evangelio expecto clamorem :
' Hieronyme, veni '
Bonosus, inquam,—quia secundum prophetam omnis diaboli virtus in lumbo est—trans Euphraten foras. tulit lumbare suum ibi illud in foramine petrae abscondens et postea scissum repperiens cecinit ' Domine, tu possedisti renes meos ; disrupisti vincula mea; tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis,' me verus Nabuchodonosor ad Babylonem, id est confusionem mentis meae, catenatum duxit ; ibi mihi captivitatis iugum inposuit, ibi ferri circulum innectens de canticis Sion cantare praecepit.
Cui ego dixi :
' Dominus solvit conpeditos, dominus inluminat caecos '
; et, ut breviter coeptam dissimilitudinem finiam, ego veniam deprecor, ille expectat coronam.
4. Soror mea sancti Iuliani in Christo fructus est 1 Psalm cxxi.
The so-called "Psalms of degrees," cxxcxxxiv, chanted on the steps of the Temple, are taken as & type of the Christian's progress.
2 Revelation, x. 9, 10.
3 Jeremiah, xiii. 4-5.
4 Psalm cxxxix. 13.
6 Psalm cxxxvii. 3.
6 Psalm cxlvi.
7, 8.
18. n.
: her conversion is again referred to in
LETTER VII still foul with my ancient stains, and like the basilisk and scorpion I seek out any place that is dry.
Bonosus to-day treads the serpent's head beneath his heel ; I am still food for the creeping monster who by God's decree devours the earth.
Bonosus can climb to the highest step in the psalms of degrees; I am still weeping at the beginning of the ascent, and scarcely know whether it will ever be my lot to say 1
' I lifted up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.'
Bonosus amid the threatening billows of the world sits in the safe retreat of his island, the bosom of the Church, and perhaps, like
John, he is even now eating God's book ;
I lie in the tomb of my sins, bound in the chains of iniquity, and wait for the Lord's gospel cry:
'Jerome, come forth.'
Bonosus, I say—for according to the prophet all the devil's strength is in the loins—has carried his loin-cloth across the Euphrates 3 to hide it in a hole of the rock, and after he found it torn he has sung :
' O Lord, thou hast possessed my reins.
Thou hast broken my bonds in sunder.
I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving .' 4
As forme, a real Nebuchadnezzar has led me in chains to Babylon, that is, to the babel of a distracted mind.
There he has laid upon me the yoke of captivity, there he has fastened an iron ring upon me and bidden me sing one of the songs of Sion . 5
To him I have made reply :
' The Lord looseth the prisoners ; the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind.' 6
In fact, to complete this comparison of differences in a simple sentence, I pray for mercy, Bonosus awaits a crown.
My sister 7 is the fruit in Christ of the saintly Letter VI, addressed to this same Julian, a deacon of the Church at Aquileia.
SELECT LETTERS OF
ST. JEROME
ille plantavit, vos rigate, dominus incrementum dabit.
Hanc mihi Iesus pro eo vulnere, quod diabolus inflixerat, praestitit vivam reddendo pro mortua.
Huic ego, ut ait gentilis poeta, omnia etiam tuta timeo.
Scitis ipsi lubricum adolescentiae iter, in quo et ego lapsus sum et vos non sine timoris transitis.
Hoc ilia cum maxime ingrediens omnium fulcienda praeceptis, omnium est sustentanda solaciis, id est crebris vestrae sanctitudinis epistulis roboranda, et quia caritas omnia sustinet, obsecro ut etiam a papa Valeriano ad earn c'onfortandam litteras exigatis.
Nostis puellares animos his rebus plerumque solidari, si se intellegant curae esse maioribus.
5. In mea enim patria rusticitatis vernacula deus venter est et de die vivitur: sanctior est ille, qui ditior est.
Accessit huic patellae iuxta tritum populi proverbium dignum operculum, Lupicinus sacerdos—secundum illud quoque, de quo semel in ' Similem habent labra lactucam asino card us comedente vita Crassum ait risisse Lucilius :
'—videlicet ut perforatam navem debilis gubernator regat et caecus caecos ducat in foveam talisque sit rector, quales illi qui reguntur.
6. Matrem communem, quae, cum vobis sanctitate
Virgil, Aeneid, IV. 298.
2 For the term " Pope " cf. p. 308, note 2.
3 A priest or bishop of Stridon, a Spaniard by birth, who was at variance with Jerome probably because he opposed monasticism.
Cicero, De Fin. v. 30.
6 For this proverb (the precise point of which is not clear) cf. also Eugenius, Carm. 89 (Migne, Patrolog. Lai., LXXXVII,
II. Carm. 50, p. 393) : Carduus et spina, cum pastum praebet asello, lactuca labris compar est.
LETTER VII Julian.
He planted, you must water, the Lord will give the increase.
Jesus has given her to me as compensation for the wound which the devil inflicted.
He has brought her back from death to life.
But, as the heathen poet says, for her ' All things, though safe in semblance, I do fear .' 1
You know yourselves how treacherous is the path of youth, a path where I fell and which you are now traversing not without fear.
At this moment, when she is entering upon it, she needs to be supported by all men's encouragement, confirmed by all men's advice ; in other words, strengthened by such frequent letters as your saintliness will suggest.
Love endureth all things ; and I therefore beg you to get a letter from Pope Valerian 2 also, so that her courage may be increased.
You know that a girl's spirit is often fortified by the thought that her elders are interested in her.
As for my own country, it is enslaved to barbarism, and men's family God is their belly.
People live only for the day, and the richer you are the more saintly you are held to be.
Furthermore, to use a well-worn popular saying, the cover there is worthy of the dish; for Lupicinus 3 is their priest.
It bears out the proverb which, as Lucilius tells us, made Crassus laugh for the only time in his life 4 ' When an ass eats thistles up, his lips have lettuce like themselves .' 5
I mean that in my country a crippled helmsman steers a leaking ship, a blind man leads the blind into a pit ; as the ruler is, so are the : ruled.
I send my greetings to your mother, who is a
SELECT LETTERS OF
ST. JEROME
societur, in eo vos praevenit, quia tales genuit, cuius vere venter aureus potest dici, eo salutamus honore, quo nostis ; una quoque suspiciendas cunctis sorores, quae sexum vicere cum saeculo, quae oleo ad lampadas largiter preparato sponsi opperiuntur adventum.
O beata domus, in qua morantur Anna vidua, virgines prophetissae, geminus Samuhel nutritus in templo ! O tecta felicia, in quibus cernimus Macchabaeorum martyrum coronis cinctam martyrem matrem ! Nam licet cotidie Christum confiteamini, dum eius praecepta servatis, tamen ad privatam gloriam publica haec accessit vobis et aperta confessio, quod per vos ab urbe vestra Arriani quondam dogmatis virus exclusum est.
Et miremini forsitan, quod in fine iam epistulae rursus exorsus sim.
Quid faciam ?
Vocem pectori negare non valeo.
Epistulae brevitas conpellit tacere, desiderium vestri cogit loqui.
Praeproperus sermo ; confusa turbatur oratio ; amor ordinem nescit.
LETTER VII mother to us all, with the deep respect which you know I feel.
She is your close associate in holy life ; but she has one advantage over you in that she is the mother of such sons as yourselves.
Truly her womb may be called golden.
I salute your sisters also, for they are worthy of universal respect.
They have triumphed over sex and the world, and now await the Bridegroom's coming, their lamps well filled with oil.
How happy is the house, where dwells a widowed Anna, virgins that are prophetesses, and twin Samuels 1 reared in the temple precincts.
How fortunate the roof that shelters for us the martyr mother of the martyr Maccabees all girt with crowns . 2
Though every day you confess Christ by keeping his commandments, you have added to this private glory the public fame of an open confession, and it was by your efforts in the past that the poison of the Arian heresy was expelled from your city . 3
Perhaps you may wonder at my beginning thus afresh at the end of a letter.
What am I to do ?
I cannot preclude my heart from utterance.
The brief limits of a letter force me to be silent, but my longing for your company compels me to speak.
My words pour out in eager haste ; my language is confused and disjointed; but love knows nothing of order.
I.e. Chromatius and Eusebius, cf. sect. v.
Cf. 2 Maccabees, vii.
3 Aquileia.
SELECT LETTERS OF
ST. JEROME
XIV Ad Heliodorum Monachum 1. Quanto studio et amore contenderim, ut pariter in heremo moraremur, conscium mutuae caritatis pectus agnoscit.
Quibus lamentis, quo dolore, quo gemitu te absentem persecutus sim, istae quoque litterae testes sunt, quas lacrimis cernis interiitas.
Verum tu quasi parvulus delicatus contemptum rogantis per blandimenta fovisti et ego incautus, quid tunc agerem, nesciebam.
Tacerem ?
Sed quod ardenter volebam, moderate dissimulare non poteram.
Impensius obsecrarem ?
Sed audire nolebas, quia similiter non amabas.
Quod unum potuit, spreta caritas fecit.
Quern praesentem retinere non valuit, quaerit absentem.
Quoniam igitur et tu ipse abiens postularas, ut tibi, postquam ad deserta migrassem, invitatoriam a me scriptam transmitterem, et ego facturum receperam, invito, iam propera.
Nolo pristinarum necessitatum recorderis—nudos amat heremus—nolo te antiquae peregrinationis terreat difficultas.
Qui in Christo credis, et eius crede sermonibus :
' Quaerite primum regnum Dei, et haec omnia adponentur nobis.'
Non pera tibi sumenda, non virga est ; adfatim dives est, qui cum Christo pauper est.