Letter Cvii
LETTER CVII
LETTER CVII
To Laeta 1 A Girl's Education Written a.d. 403
The blessed apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians and instructing Christ's novice church in the ways of sacred discipline, among his other precepts
' The woman that hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband ; else were your children unclean, but now they are holy.' 2
If any one up laid down also the following rule : till now has perchance considered that Paul relaxed the bonds of discipline too much, and in his teaching was over-inclined to indulgence, let him consider the household of your father, who is a man of the highest rank and learning, but still walking in darkness, and he will perceive that the apostle's counsel has succeeded in making the sweetness of the fruit compensate for the bitterness of the parent tree, and has induced a common bush to exude precious balsam.
You yourself are the child of a mixed marriage ; but now you and my dear Toxotius are Paula's parents.
Who would ever have believed that the granddaughter of the Roman pontiff Albinus would be born in answer to a mother's vows
; that the grandfather would stand by and rejoice while the baby's yet stammering tongue cried ' Alleluia '; and that even the old man would nurse in his arms one of
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suo gremio nutriret et senex ?
Bene et feliciter expectavimus.
Sancta et fidelis domus unum sanctificat infidelem.
Candidatus est fidei, quem filiorum et nepotum credens turba circumdat.
Ego puto etiam ipsum Iovem, si habuisset talern cognationem, potuisse in Christum credere.
Despuat licet et inrideat epistulam meam et me vel stultum vel insanum clamitet, hoc et gener eius faciebat, antequam crederet.
Fiunt, non nascurvtur Christiani.
Auratum squalet Capitolium, fuligine et aranearum telis omnia Romae templa cooperta sunt, movetur urbs sedibus suis et inundans populus ante delubra semiruta currit ad martyrum tumulos.
Si non extorquet fidem prudentia, extorqueat saltim verecundia.
2. Hoc Laeta, religiosissima in Christo filia, dictum sit, ut non desperes parentis salutem et eadem fide, qua meruisti filiam, et patrem recipias totaque domus beatitudine perfruaris sciens illud a domino repromissum
' Quae apud homines inpossibilia, apud Deum possibilia sunt.'
Numquam est sera conversio.
Latro de cruce transiit ad paradisum :
Nabuchodonosor, rex Babylonius, post efferationem et cordis et corporis et beluarum in heremo convictum mentem recepit humanam.
Et, ut omittam vetera, ne apud incredulos nimis fabulosa videantur, ante paucos annos propinquus vester Gracchus, nobilitatem patriciam nomine sonans, cum praefecturam regeret urbanam, nonne specu Mithrae et omnia portentuosa
St. Luke, xviii. 27.
2 Probably in 378.
LETTER CVII Christ's own virgins? We did well to expect this happy issue.
The one unbeliever is sanctified by a saintly household of believers.
He is a candidate for the faith, who has around him a throng of believing sons and grandsons :
(I, for my part, think that even Jove might well have believed in Christ if he had had kinsfolk of this kind).
He may spit in scorn upon this letter, and cry out that I am a fool or a madman ; but his son-in-law did the same before he became a believer.
Christians are not born but made.
The gilded Capitol to-day looks dingy, all the temples in Rome are covered with soot and cobwebs, the city is shaken to its foundations, and the people hurry past the ruined shrines and pour out to visit the martyrs' graves.
If knowledge does not compel faith, let shame at least do so.
Let this be said, dear Laeta, most dutiful daughter in Christ, so that you may not despair of your father's salvation.
I hope that the same faith which has gained you a daughter as its reward may also win you your father, and that you may rejoice over blessings bestowed upon your whole household, knowing God's promise :
' The things w rhich are impossible with men are possible with God .' 1
It is never too late to be converted.
The robber passed from the cross to Paradise.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, recovered his human understanding after he had been made like an animal in body and heart, and had lived with the beasts in the wilderness.
To pass over incidents in remote antiquity, which to the sceptical may appear too fabulous for belief, did not your kinsman Gracchus whose name recalls his patrician rank, destroy the cave of Mithras a few years ago when he was Prefect of Rome ? 2
Did 34i
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simulacra, quibus corax, nymphius, miles, leo, Perses, heliodromus, pater initiantur, subvertit, fregit, exussit et his quasi obsidibus ante praemissis inpetravit baptismum Christi ?
Solitudinem patitur et in urbe gentilitas.
Dii quondam nationum cum bubonibus et noctuis in solis culminibus remanserunt ; vexilla militum crucis insignia sunt, regum purpuras et ardentes diadematum gemmas patibuli salutaris pictura condecorat.
Iam et Aegyptius Serapis factus est Christianus Marnas Gazae luget inclusus et eversionem templi iugiter pertremescit.
De India, Perside et Aethiopia monachorum cotidie turbas suscipimus ; deposuit faretras Armenius, Huni discunt psalterium, Scythae fervent calore fidei ; Getarum rutulus et flavus exercitus ecclesiarum eircumfert tentoria et ideo forsitan contra nos aequa pugnat acie, quia pari religione confidunt.
3. Paene lapsus sum ad aliam materiam et currente rota, dum urceum facere cogito, amphoram finxit manus.
Propositum enim mihi erat sanctae Marcellae et tuis precibus invitato ad matrem, id est ad te, sermonem dirigere et docere, quomodo instruere
Paululam nostrum debeas, quae prius Christo est consecrata quam genita, quam ante votis quam utero
1 cryphius :
Hilberg.
1 The initiates passed through several grades, of which these are titles.
The Raven and Lion, for example, dressed in character, and imitated the creatures in their mummery.
2 In a.d. 389 the temple of Serapis at Alexandria was pulled down, and a Christian church built on the site.
3 The chief Syrian god in Gaza.
Cf.
Jerome's life of Hilarion, § 20.
LETTER CVII
he not break and burn all the monstrous images there by which worshippers were initiated as Raven,
Bridegroom, Soldier, Lion, Perseus, Sun-runner, and Father ? 1
Did he not send them before him as hostages, and gain for himself baptism in Christ ?
Even in Rome now heathenism languishes in solitude.
Those who once were the gods of the Gentiles are left beneath their deserted pinnacles to the company of owls and night-birds.
The army standards bear the emblem of the cross.
The purple robes of kings and the jewels that sparkle on their diadems are adorned with the gibbet sign that has brought to us salvation.
To-day even the Egyptian Serapis 2 has become a Christian : Marnas 3 mourns in his prison at Gaza, and fears continually that his temple will be overthrown.
From India, from Persia and from Ethiopia we welcome crowds of monks every hour.
The Armenians have laid aside their quivers, the Huns are learning the psalter, the frosts of Scythia are warmed by the fire of faith.
The ruddy, flaxen-haired Getae carry tent-churches about with their armies ; and perhaps the reason why they fight with us on equal terms is that they believe in the same religion.
I have almost slipped into another subject, and thinking to make a pitcher on my running wheel my hand has moulded a flagon . 4
It was my intention, in answer to your prayers and those of the saintly Marcella, to direct my discourse to a mother, that is, to you, and to show you how to bring up our little
Paula, who was consecrated to Christ before she was born, the child of prayers before the hour of 4 Horace, Ars Poetica , 21 : amphora coepit institui : currente | cur urceus exit t rota
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suscepisti.
Vidimus aliquid temporibus nostris de prophetalibus libris : Anna sterilitatem alvi fecunditate mutavit, tu luctuosam fecunditatem vitalibus liberis conmutasti.
Fidens loquor accepturam te filios, quae primum foetum domino reddidisti.
Ista sunt primogenita, quae offeruntur in lege.
Sic natus Samuel, sic ortus est Samson, sic Iohannes propheta ad introitum Mariae exultavit et lusit.
Audiebat enim per os virginis verba domini pertonantis et de utero matris in occursum eius gestiebat erumpere.
Igitur, quae de repromissione nata est, dignam habeat ortu suo institutionem parentum.
Samuel nutritur in templo, Iohannes in solitudine praeparatur.
Ille sacro crine venerabilis est, vinum et siceram non bibit, adhuc parvulus cum Deo sermocinatur ; hie fugit urbes, zona pellicia cingitur, locustis alitur et melle silvestri et in typum paenitentiae praedicat tor tuosissimi animalis vestitus exuviis.
Sic erudienda est anima, quae futura est ternplum domini.
Nihil aliud discat audire, nihil loqui, nisi quod ad timorem Dei pertinet.
Turpia verba non intellegat, cantica mundi ignoret, adhuc tenera lingua psalmis dulcibus inbuatur.
Procul sit aetas lasciva puerorum, ipsae puellae et pedisequae a saecularium consortiis arceantur, ne, quod mali didicerint, peius doceant.
Fiant ei litterae vel
St. Luke, i. 41.
I.e. the camel.
LETTER CVII
conception.
In our own days we have seen something such as we read of in the prophets :
Hannah exchanged her barrenness for fruitful motherhood, you have exchanged a fertility bound up with sorrow for children who will live for ever.
I tell you confidently that you who have given your firsjt-bom to the Lord will receive sons at His hand.
The firstborn are the offerings due under the Law.
Such was the case both with Samuel and with Samson, and so it was that John the Baptist leaped for joy when Mary came in . 1
For he heard the thunder of the Lord's voice on the Virgin's lips, and was eager to break out from his mother's womb to meet Him.
Therefore let your child of promise have a training from her parents worthy of her birth.
Samuel was nurtured in the Temple, John was trained in the Wilderness.
The one inspired veneration with his long hair, took neither wine nor strong drink, and even in his childhood talked with God.
The other avoided cities, wore a skin girdle, and fed on locusts and w rild honey, clothing himself in the hair of the most twisted of all animals 2 as a symbol of the repentance which he preached.
Thus must a soul be trained which is to be a temple of God.
It must learn to hear nothing and to say nothing save what pertains to the fear of the Lord.
It must have no comprehension of foul words, no knowledge of worldly songs, and its childish tongue must be imbued with the sweet music of the psalms.
Let boys with their wanton frolics be kept far from Paula : let even her maids and attendants hold aloof from association with the worldly, lest they render their evil knowledge worse by teaching it to her.
Have a set of letters made for her, of boxwood
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buxeae vel eburneae et suis nominibus appellentur.
Ludat in eis, ut et lusus eius eruditio sit, et non solum ordinem teneat litterarum, ut memoria nominum in canticum transeat, sed ipse inter se crebro ordo turbetur et mediis ultima, primis media misceantur, ut eas non sonu tantum, sed et visu noverit.
Cum vero coeperit trementi manu stilum in cera ducere, vel alterius superposita manu teneri regantur articuli vel in tabella sculpantur elementa, ut per eosdem sulcos inclusa marginibus trahantur vestigia et foras non queant evagari.
Syllabas iungat ad praemium, et, quibus ilia aetas delectari potest, munusculis invitetur.
Habeat et in discendo socias, quibus invideat, quarum laudibus mordeatur.
Non est obiurganda, si tardior sit, sed laudibus excitandum ingenium ; et vicisse se gaudeat et victam doleat.
Cavendum in primis, ne oderit studia, ne amaritudo eorum percepta in infantia ultra rudes annos transeat.
Ipsa nomina, per quae consuescet verba contexere, non sint fortuita, sed certa et coacervata de industria, prophetarum videlicet atque apostolorum, et omnis ab Adam patriarcharum series de Matheo Lucaque descendat, ut, dum aliud agit, futurae memoriae praeparetur.
Magister probae aetatis et vitae atque eruditionis est eligendus nec, puto, erubescit doctus vir id
LETTER CVII
or of ivory, and tell her their names.
Let her play with them, making play a road to learning, and let her not only grasp the right order of the letters and remember their names in a simple song, but also frequently upset their order and mix the last letters with the middle ones, the middle with the first.
Thus she will know them all by sight as well as by sound.
When she begins with uncertain hand to use the pen, either let another hand be put over hers to guide her baby fingers, or else have the letters marked on the tablet so that her writing may follow their outlines and keep to their limits without straying away.
Offer her prizes for spelling, tempting her with such trifling gifts as please young children.
Let her have companions too in her lessons, so that she may seek to rival them and be stimulated by any praise they win.
You must not scold her if she is somewhat slow ; praise is the best sharpener of wits.
Let her be glad when she is first and sorry when she falls behind.
Above all take care not to make her lessons distasteful ; a childish dislike often lasts longer than childhood.
The very words from which she will get into the way of forming sentences should not be taken at haphazard but be definitely chosen and arranged on purpose.
For example, let her have the names of the prophets and the apostles, and the whole list of patriarchs from Adam downwards, as Matthew and Luke give it.
She will then be doing two things at the same time, and will remember them afterwards.
For teacher you must choose a man of approved years, life and learning.
Even a sage is not ashamed, methinks, to do for a relative or for a
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facere vel in propinqua vel in nobili virgine, quod Aristoteles fecit in Philippi filio, ut ipse librariorum vilitate initia ei traderet litterarum.
Non sunt contemnenda quasi parva, sine quibus magna constare non possunt.
Ipse elementorum sonus et prima institutio praeceptoris aliter de erudito, aliter de rustico ore profertur.
Unde et tibi est providendum, ne ineptis blanditiis feminarum dimidiata dicere filiam verba consuescas et in auro atque purpura ludere, quorum alterum lihguae, alterum moribus officit, ne discat in tenero, quod ei postea dediscendum est.
Gracchorum 1 eloquentiae multum ab infantia sermo matris scribitur contulisse, Hortensii 2 oratio in paterno sinu coaluit.
Difficulter eraditur, quod rudes animi perbiberunt.
Lanarum conchylia quis in pristinum candorem revocet ?
Rudis testa diu et saporem retinet et odorem, quo primum imbuta est.
Graeca narrat historia Alexandrum, potentissimum regem orbisque domitorem, et in moribus et in incessu Leonidis, paedagogi sui, non potuisse carere vitiis, quibus parvulus adhuc fuerat infectus.
Proclivis est enim malorum aemulatio et, quorum virtutem adsequi nequeas, cito imitere vitia.
Nutrix ipsa non sit temulenta, non lasciva, non garrula ; habeat modestam gerulam, nutricium gravem.
Cum avum viderit, in pectus eius transiliat, e collo pendeat, nolenti alleluia decantet.
Rapiat earn avia, patrem risibus recognoscat, 1 Graccorum :
Hilberg.
2 Hortensiae :
Hilberg.
1 Dyed purple with the juice of the murex.
2 Horace, Epistles I. ii.
70: quo semel est imbuta recens servabit | odorem testa diu.
LETTER CVII high-born virgin what Aristotle did for Philip's son, when like some humble clerk he taught him his first letters.
Things must not be despised as trifles, if without them great results are impossible.
The very letters themselves, and so the first lesson in them, sound quite differently from the mouth of a learned man, and of a rustic.
And so you must take care not to let women's silly coaxing get your daughter into the way of cutting her words short, or of disporting herself in gold brocade and fine purple.
The first habit ruins talk, the second character ; and children should never learn what they will afterwards have to unlearn.
We are told that the eloquence of the Gracchi was largely due to the way in which their mother talked to them as children, and it was by sitting on his father's lap that Hortensius became a great orator.
The first impression made on a young mind is hard to remove.
The shell-dyed wool 1—who can bring back its pristine whiteness?
A new jar keeps for a long time the taste and smell of its original contents . 2
Greek history tells us that the mighty king Alexander, who subdued the whole world, could not rid himself of the tricks of manner and gait which in his childhood he had caught from his governor Leonides.
For it is easy to imitate the bad, and you may soon copy the faults of those to whose virtue you can never attain.
Let Paula's foster-mother be a person neither drunken nor wanton nor fond of gossip let her nurse be a modest woman, her foster-father a respectable man.
When she sees her grandfather, she must leap into his arms, hang on his neck, and sing ' Alleluia ' whether he likes it or not.
Let her grandmother snatch her away, let her recog-
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sit omnibus amabilis et universa propinquitas rosam ex se natam gaudeat.
Discat statim, quam habeat et alteram aviam, quam amitam, cui imperatori, cui exercitui tiruncula nutriatur.
Illas desideret, ad illas tibi minitetur abscessum.
Ipse habitus et vestitus doceat earn, cui promissa sit.
Cave ne aures perfores, ne cerussa et purpurisso consecrata Christo ora depingas, ne collum margaritis et auro premas, ne caput gemmis oneres, ne capillum inrufes et ei aliquid de gehennae ignibus auspiceris.
Habeat alias margaritas, quibus postea venditis emptura est pretiosissimum margaritum.
Praetextata, nobilissima quondam femina 5 iubente viro Hymetio, qui patruus Eustochiae virginis fuit, habitum eius cultumque mutavit et neglectum crinem undanti gradu texuit vincere cupiens et virginis propositum et matris desiderium.
Et ecce tibi eadem nocte cernit in somnis venisse ad se angelum terribili facie minitantem poenas et haec ' Tune ausa es viri imperium verba frangentem : praeferre Christo ?
Tu caput virginis Dei sacrilegis adtrectare manibus ?
Quae iam nunc arescent, ut sentias excruciata, quid feceris, et finito mense quinto ad inferna ducaris.
Sin autem perseveraveris in scelere, et marito simul orbaberis et filiis.'
Omnia 1 Cf. Appendix, p. 488.
35°
LETTER CVII
nize her father with a smile, let her endear herself to all, so that the whole family may rejoice that they have such a rosebud among them.
Let her learn too at once who is her other grandmother and her aunt, who is her captain and for whose army she is being trained as a recruit.
Let her crave their company and threaten you that she will leave you for them.
Her very dress and outward appearance should remind her of Him to whom she is promised.
Do not pierce her ears, or paint with white lead and rouge the cheeks that are consecrated to Christ.
Do not load her neck with pearls and gold, do not weigh down her head with jewels, do not dye her hair red and thereby presage for her the fires of hell.
Let her have other pearls which she will sell hereafter and buy the pearl that is of great price.
There was once a lady of rank named Praetextata, who at the bidding of her husband Hymetius, the uncle of Eustochia , 1 altered that virgin's dress and appearance, and had her hair waved, desiring thus to overcome the virgin's resolution and her mother's wishes.
But lo ! that same night in her dreams she saw an angel, terrible of aspect, standing before her, who threatened her with punishment and broke ' Have you dared to put your husband's orders before those of Christ?
Have you presumed to lay sacrilegious hands upon the head of God's virgin?
Those hands this very hour shall wither, and in torment you shall recognize your into speech thus : guilt, until at the fifth month's end you be carried off to hell.
Moreover, if you persist in your wickedness, you shall lose both your husband and your children.'
All this was duly fulfilled, and a swift 35 1
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per ordinem expleta sunt et seram miserae paenitentiam velox signavit interitus.
Sic ulciscitur Christus violatores templi sui, sic gemmas et pretiosissima ornamenta defendit.
Et hoc retuli, non quod insultare velirn calamitatibus infelicium, sed ut te moneam, cum quanto metu et cautione servare debeas, quod domino spopondisti.
Heli sacerdos offendit dominum ob vitia liberorum ; episcopus fieri non potest, qui filios habuerit luxuriosos et non subditos.
At e contrario de muliere scribitur, quod ' salva fiet per filiorum generationem, si permanserit in fide et caritate et sanctificatione cum pudicitia.'
Si perfecta aetas et sui iuris inputatur parentibus, quanto magis lactans et fragilis et quae iuxta sententiam domini ignorat dexteram aut sinistram, id est boni ac mali nescit differentiam Sollicita provides, ne filia percutiatur a vipera ; cur non eadem cura provideas, ne feriatur a malleo universae terrae, ne bibat de aureo calice Babylonis, ne egrediatur cum Dina et velit videre filias regionis alienae, ne ludat pedibus, ne trahat tunicas ? Venena non dantur nisi melle circumlita et vitia non decipiunt nisi sub specie umbraque virtutum.
' Et quomodo,' inquies, ' peccata patrum filiis non redduntur nec filiorum parentibus, sed " anima quae peccaverit, ipsa morietur "?
Hoc de his dicitur, qui possunt sapere, de quibus in evangelio scriptum
1 Samuel, ii. 30.
1 Timothy, ii.
15.
Jerome substitutes 'chastity' for 'sobriety.'
Z.e., Babylon.
4 Genesis, xxxiv. 1.
6 Lucr.
I. 936
: veluti pueris absinthia tet'ra medentes | cum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circum.
| ccmtingunt mellis dulci flavoque liquore.
Ezekiel, xviii. 20.
LETTER CVII death marked the unhappy woman's late repentance.
So it is that Christ takes vengeance upon the violators of his temple, so he defends his pearls and precious jewels.
I have told you this, not with any wish to exult over the downfall of the wretched, but to remind you with what anxiety and carefulness you must watch over that which you have vowed to the Lord.
The priest Eli lost God's favour because of his 1 a man cannot be a bishop, if his sons are men of profligate and disorderly life.
On the other hand it is written of the woman : children's faults ; ' She shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with chastity.' 2
If parents get the credit for their children's deeds, even when they are of ripe age and their own masters, how much more are they responsible for a frail baby girl, who, as the Lord says, cannot discern between right hand and left, that is, does not know the difference between good and evil.
You take anxious thought to prevent a viper biting your daughter; why do you not show the same prudent care to save her from the hammer of the whole earth ,3 to guard her from drinking of Babylon's golden cup, from going out with Dinah to see the daughters of a strange land , 4 from sporting in the dance, from trailing her robe at her heels?
You smear honey round the cup before you give a drug , 5 and vices only deceive when they wear the mien and semblance of virtue.
You will ask :
' how is it that the sins of the fathers are not reckoned against the sons, nor the sins of the sons against the parents, but " the soul that sinneth it shall die " ?
' 6
That passage, I answer, refers to those who have reached the age of discre-
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est:
'Aetatem habet, pro se loquatur.'
Qui autem parvulus est et sapit ut parvulus, donee ad annos sapientiae veniat et Pythagorae litterae eum perducant ad bivium, tam mala eius quam bona parentibus inputantur, nisi forte aestimas Christianorum filios, si baptisma non acceperint, ipsos tantum reos esse peccati et non scelus referri ad eos, qui dare noluerint, maxime eo tempore, quo contradicere non poterant, qui accepturi erant, sicut e regione salus infantium maiorum lucrum est.
Offerre necne filiam potestatis tuae fuit, quamquam alia sit tua condicio, quae prius earn vovisti, quam conceperis ; ut autem oblatam neglegas, ad periculum tuum pertinet.
Qui claudam et mutilam et qualibet sorde maculatam obtulerit hostiam, sacrilegii reus est quanto magis, qui partem corporis sui et inlibatae animae puritatem regiis amplexibus parat, si negligens fuerit, punietur
7. Postquam grandicula esse coeperit et in exemplum sponsi sui crescere sapientia, aetate et gratia apud Deum et homines, pergat cum parentibus ad templum veri patris, sed cum illis non egrediatur e templo.
Quaerant earn in itinere saeculi, inter turbas et frequentiam propinquorum et nusquam alibi reperiant nisi in adyto scripturarum prophetas et apostolos de spiritalibus nuptiis sciscitantem.
Imitetur Mariam, quam Gabriel solam in cubiculo
St. John, ix. 21.
2 Pythagoras depicted the Choice of Life under the form of the Greek letter T, which was originally made with one straight stroke on the right, and half-way up a curved branch on the left.
The lower part represents the period of childhood ; the branching ways the time when the choice has to be made between good and evil.
The steep path to the right is the path of virtue.
LETTER CVII
' He is of age, let him speak for himself.' 1
As for the little child with a child's understanding, until he comes to years of wisdom and the letter of Pythagoras 2 confronts him with the two roads, his evil deeds as well tion, of whom the Gospel says : as his good are laid to his parents' account; unless indeed you imagine that the children of Christians, if they have not received baptism, are themselves alone responsible for their sins and no guilt attaches to those who refused it them at the time when the recipients could -not have objected.
The truth is that baptism means salvation for the child and advantage for the parents.
It rested with you whether you should offer your daughter or not ; although you scarcely had the option, since you offered her before she was conceived.
But now that you have offered her you neglect her at your peril.
He that offers a victim that is lame or maimed or marked with any blemish is considered guilty of sacrilege.
How much greater will be the punishment, if one proves negligent, who makes ready for the King's embrace a portion of her own body and the purity of the unmutilated soul!
When Paula begins to be a big girl, and like her Spouse to increase in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man, let her go with her parents to the temple of her true Father, but let her not come out from the temple with them.
Let them seek her upon the world's highway, amid crowds and the company of their kinsfolk, but let them find her nowhere save in the shrine of the Scriptures, inquiring there of the prophets and apostles concerning her spiritual nuptials.
Let her take pattern by Mary whom Gabriel found alone in her chamber,
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suo repperit et ideo forsitan timore perterrita est, quia virum, quern non solebat, aspexit.
Aemuletur ' Omnis gloria filiae regis ab earn, de qua dicitur :
; loquatur et ipsa electo caritatis iaculo vulnerata: intus '
' Introduxit me rex in cubiculum suum.'
Nunquam exeat foras, ne inveniant earn, qui circumeunt civitatem, ne percutiant et vulnerent et auferentes theristrum pudicitiae nudam in sanguine derelinquant ; quin potius, cum aliquis ostium eius pulsaverit, dicat :
' Ego murus et ubera mea turris.
Lavi pedes meos, non possum inquinare eos.'
8. Non vescatur in publico, id est in parentum convivio, nec videat cibos, quos desideret.
Et licet quidam putent maioris esse virtutis praesentem contemnere voluptatem, tamen ego securioris arbitror continentiae nescire, quod quaeras.
Legi quondam in scholis puer :
'Aegre reprehendas, quod sinas consuescere.'
Discat iam tunc et vinum non bibere, ' in quo est luxuria.'
Ante annos robustae aetatis periculosa est teneris gravis abstinentia.
Usque ad id tempus, si necessitas postularit, et balneas adeat et vino modico utatur propter stomachum et carnium edulio sustentetur, ne prius deficiant pedes, quam currere incipiant.
Et ' haec dico iuxta indulgentiam, non iuxta imperium,' timens debilitatem, non docens luxuriam.
Alioquin, quod Iudaica superstitio ex parte facit in eiuratione quorundam animalium atque escarum, quod Indorum Bragmanae et Aegyptiorum
1 Psalm xlv.
13.
2 Song of Solomon, i. 4.
3 Song of Solomon, viii. 10 and v. 3.
4 Publilius Syrus, Sententiae, 180.
Cf. p. 478.
5 Ephesians, v.
18.
1 Timothy, v. 23.
1 Corinthians, vii.
35 6
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Mary who perchance was terrified because she saw a strange man.
Let her seek to rival that one of whom it is said :
4 All the glory of the king's daughter is from within .' 1
Wounded with love's arrow let her too say to her chosen :
' The king hath brought me into his chamber.' 2
At no time let her go out abroad, lest those that go about the city find her, lest they smite her and wound her and take away the veil of her chastity and leave her naked in her blood.
Nay rather, when one knocketh ' I am a wall and my breasts are a tower.
I have washed my feet ; how can I defile them ? at her door let her say :
' 3
She should not take her food in public, that is, at her parents' guest-table; for she may there see dishes that she will crave for.
And though some people think it shows the higher virtue to despise a pleasure ready to your hand, I for my part judge it part of the surer self-restraint to remain in ignorance of what you would like.
Once when I was a boy at school I read this line :
' Things that have become a habit you will find it hard to blame.' 4
Let her learn even now not to drink wine ' wherein is ' 5
Until they have reached their full strength, however, strict abstinence is dangerous for young children : so till then, if needs must, let her visit the baths, and take a little wine for the stomach's sake , excess.
6 and have the support of a meat diet, lest her 4 I say this by way of indulgence and not by way of command,' 7 fearing weakness, not teaching wantonness.
Moreover, what the Jewish superstition does in part, solemnly rejecting certain animals and certain products as food, feet fail before the race begins. what the Brahmans in India and the Gymnosophists
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gymnosophistae in polentae et orizae et pomorum solo observant cibo, cur virgo Christi non faciat in toto ?
Si tanti vitrum, quare non maioris sit pretii margaritum ?
Quae nata est ex repromissione, sic vivat, ut illi vixerunt, qui de repromissione generati sunt.
Aequa gratia aequum habeat et laborem.
Surd a sit ad organa : tibia, lyra et cithara cur facta sint, nesciat.
9. Reddat tibi pensum cotidie scripturarum certum.
Ediscat Graecorum versuum numerum.
Sequatur ; quae si non ab initio os tenerum conposuit, in peregrinum sonum lingua statim et Latina eruditio corrumpitur et externis vitiis sermo patrius sordidatur.
Te habeat magistram, te rudis miretur infantia.
Nihil in te et in patre suo videat, quod si fecerit, peccet.
Memento vos parentes virginis et magis earn exemplis docere posse quam voce.
Cito flores pereunt, cito violas et lilia et crocum pestilens aura corrumpit.
Numquam absque te procedat in publicum, basilicas martyrum et ecclesias sine matre non adeat.
Nullus ei iuvenis, nullus cincinnatus adrideat.
Vigiliarum dies et sollemnes pernoctationes sic virguncula nostra celebret, ut ne transversum quidem unguem a matre discedat.
Nolo de ancillulis suis aliquam plus diligat, cuius crebro auribus insusurret.
Quicquid uni loquitur, hoc omnes sciant.
Placeat ei comes non compta atque formosa, quae liquido gutture carmen dulce
LETTER CVII
in Egypt observe on their diet of only porridge, rice, and fruit, why should not Christ's virgin do altogether ?
If a glass bead is worth so much, surely a pearl must have a higher value.
The child of promise must live as those lived before her who were born under the same vow.
Let an equal favour bring with it also an equal labour.
Paula must be deaf to all musical instruments, and never even know why the flute, the lyre, and the harp came into existence.
Let her every day repeat to you a portion of the Scriptures as her fixed task.
A good number of lines she should learn by heart in the Greek, but knowledge of the Latin should follow close after.
If the tender lips are not trained from the beginning, the language is spoiled by a foreign accent and our native tongue debased by alien faults.
You must be her teacher, to you her childish ignorance must look for a model.
Let her never see anything in you or her father which she would do wrong to imitate.
Remember that you are a virgin's parents and that you can teach her better by example than by words.
Flowers quickly fade ; violets, lilies, and salfron are soon withered by a baleful breeze.
Let her never appear in public without you, let her never visit the churches and the martyrs' shrines except in your company.
Let no youth or curled dandy ogle her.
Let our little virgin never stir a finger's breadth from her mother when she attends a vigil or an all-night service.
I would not let her have a favourite maid into whose ear she might frequently whisper : what she says to one, all ought to know.
Let her choose as companion not a spruce, handsome girl, able to warble sweet songs in liquid
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moderetur, sed gravis, pallens, sordidata, subtristis.
Praeponatur ei probae fidei et morum ac pudicitiae virgo veterana, quae illam doceat et adsuescat exemplo ad orationem et psalmos nocte consurgere, mane hymnos canere, tertia, sexta, nona hora quasi bellatricem Christi stare in acie accensaque lucernula reddere sacrificium vespertinum.
Sic dies transeat, sic nox inveniat laborantem.
Orationi lectio, lectioni succedat oratio.
Breve videbitur tempus, quod tantis operum varietatibus occupatur.
10.
Discat et lanam facere, tenere colum, ponere in gremio calatum, rotare fusum, stamina pollice ducere.
Spernat bombycum telas, Serum vellera et aurum in fila lentescens.
Talia vestimenta paret, quibus pellatur frigus, non quibus corpora vestita nudentur.
Cibus eius holusculum sit et simila raroque pisciculi.
Et ne gulae praecepta longius traham, de quibus in alio loco plenius sum locutus, sic comedat, ut semper esuriat, ut statim post cibum possit legere, orare, psallere.
Displicent mihi in teneris vel maxime aetatibus longa et inmoderata ieiunia, quibus iunguntur ebdomades et oleum in cibo ac poma vitantur.
Experimento didici asellum in via, cum lassus fuerit, diverticula quaerere.
Faciant hoc cultores Isidis et Cybelae, qui gulosa abstinentia Fasides aves et fumantes turtures vorant,
36°
LETTER CVII notes, but one grave and pale, carelessly dressed and inclined to melancholy.
Set before her as a pattern some aged virgin of approved faith, character, and chastity, one who may instruct her by word, and by example accustom her to rise from her bed at night for prayer and psalm singing, to chant hymns in the morning, at the third, sixth, and ninth hour, to take her place in the ranks as one of Christ's amazons, and with kindled lamp to offer the evening sacrifice.
So let the day pass, and so let the night find her still labouring.
Let reading follow prayer and prayer follow reading.
The time will seem short when it is occupied with such a diversity of tasks.
Let her learn also to make wool, to hold the distaff, to put the basket in her lap, to turn the spindle, to shape the thread with her thumb.
Let her scorn silk fabrics, Chinese fleeces, and gold brocades.
Let her have clothes which keep out the cold, not expose the limbs they pretend to cover.
Let her food be vegetables and wheaten bread and occasionally a little fish.
I do not wish here to give long rules for eating, since I have treated that subject more fully in another place ; but let her meals always leave her hungry and able at once to begin reading or praying or singing the psalms.
I disapprove, especially with young people, of long and immoderate fasts, when week is added to week and even oil in food and fruit are banned.
I have learned by experience that the ass on the high road makes for an inn when it is weary.
Leave such things to the worshippers of Isis and Cybele, who in gluttonous abstinence gobble up pheasants and turtle doves all smoking hot, of course to avoid contaminating 36 1
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ne scilicet Cerealia dona contaminent.
Hoc in perpetuo ieiunio praeceptum sit, ut longo itineri vires perpetes supparentur, ne in prima mansione currentes corruamus in mediis.
Ceterum, ut ante scripsi, in quadragesima continentiae vela pandenda sunt et tota aurigae retinacula equis laxanda properantibus, quamquam alia sit condicio saecularium, alia virginum ac monachorum.
Saecularis homo in quadragesima ventris ingluviem decoquit et in coclearum morem suo victitans suco futuris dapibus ac saginae aqualiculum parat ; virgo et monachus sic in quadragesima suos emittant equos, ut sibi meminerint semper esse currendum.
Finitus labor maior, infinitus moderatior est; ibi enim respiramus, hie perpetuo incedimus.
11.
Si quando ad suburbana pergis, domi hliam non relinquas ; nesciat sine te nec possit vivere ; cum sola fuerit, pertremescat.
Non habeat conloquia saecularium, non malarum virginum contubernia, non intersit nuptiis servulorum nec familiae perstrepentis lusibus misceatur.
Scio praecepisse quosdam, ne virgo Christi cum eunuchis lavet, ne cum maritis feminis, quia alii non deponant animos virorum, aliae tumentibus uteris praeferant foeditatem.
Mihi omnino in adulta virgine lavacra displicent, quae se ipsam debet erubescere et nudam videre non posse.
Si enim vigiliis et ieiuniis macerat corpus suum et in servitutem redigit, si flammam libidinis et incentiva ferventis aetatis extinguere cupit continentiae
Cf. Plautus, Captivi, 80.
LETTER CVII the gift of Ceres.
If you fast without a break, you must so arrange things that your strength lasts out the long journey : we must not run well for the first lap and then fall in the middle of the race.
In Lent, however, as I have written previously, the sails of self-denial may be spread wide, and the charioteer may loosen the reins and let his horses go full speed.
Not but what there is one rule for worldlings, and another for virgins and monks.
The worldling in Lent digests again what remains in his crop, and like a snail lives on his own juice ,
while he gets his belly fit for the rich food and feasts that are to come.
Not so with the monk and virgin when they give their steeds the rein in Lent, they must remember that their race lasts for ever.
Limited efforts are greater, unlimited more moderate : for there we have breathing space, here we never stop.
If ever you visit the country, do not leave your daughter behind at Rome.
She should have neither the knowledge nor the power to live without you, and should tremble to be alone.
Let her not converse with worldlings, nor associate with virgins who neglect their vows.
Let her not be present at slaves' weddings, nor take part in noisy household games.
I know that some people have laid down the rule that a Christian virgin should not bathe along with eunuchs or with married women, inasmuch as eunuchs are still men at heart, and women big with child are a revolting sight.
For myself I disapprove altogether of baths in the case of a fullgrown virgin.
She ought to blush at herself and be unable to look at her own nakedness.
If she mortifies and enslaves her body by vigils and fasting, if she desires to quench the flame of lust and to
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frigore, si adpetitis sordibus turpare festinat naturalem pulchritudinem, cur e contrario balnearum fomentis sopitos ignes suscitat?
12. Pro gemmis aut serico divinos codices amet, in quibus non auri et pellis Babyloniae vermiculata pictura, sed ad fidem placeat emendata et erudita distinctio.
Discat primum Psalterium, his se canticis avocet, et in Proverbiis Salomonis erudiatur ad vitam.
In Ecclesiaste consuescat calcare, quae mundi sunt; in lob virtutis et patientiae exempla sectetur.
Ad Evangelia transeat nurnquam ea positura de manibus ; Apostolorum Acta et Epistulas tota cordis inbibat voluntate.
Cumque pectoris sui cellarium his opibus locupletarit, mandet memoriae Prophetas et Heptateuchum et Regum ac Paralipomenon libros Hesdraeque et Hester volumina, ut ultimum sine periculo discat Canticum Canticorum, ne, si in exordio legerit, sub carnalibus verbis spiritalium nuptiarum epithalamium non intellegens vulneretur.
Caveat omnia apocrypha et, si quando ea non ad dogmatum veritatem, sed ad signorum reverentiam legere voluerit, sciat non eorum esse, quorum titulis praenotantur, multaque his admixta vitiosa et grandis esse prudentiae aurum in luto quaerere.
Cypriani opuscula semper in manu teneat, Athanasii epistulas et
I.e., the Roman, or as we call them " Turkish," baths.
LETTER CVII
check the hot desires of youth by a cold chastity, if she hastens to spoil her natural beauty by a deliberate squalor, why should she rouse a sleeping fire by the incentive of baths ? 1
Instead of jewels or silk let her love the manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures, and in them let her prefer correctness and accurate punctuation to gilding and Babylonian parchment with elaborate decorations.
Let her learn the Psalter first, with these songs let her distract herself, and then let her learn lessons of life in the Proverbs of Solomon.
In reading Ecclesiastes let her become accustomed to tread underfoot the things of this world
; let her follow the examples of virtue and patience that she will find in Job.
Let her then pass on to the Gospels and never again lay them down.
Let her drink in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles with all the will of her heart.
As soon as she has enriched her mind's storehouse with these treasures, let her commit to memory the Prophets, the Heptateuch, the books of Kings and the Chronicles, and the rolls of Ezra and Esther.
Then at last she may safely read the Song of Songs : if she were to read it at the beginning, she might be harmed by not perceiving that it was the song of a spiritual bridal expressed in fleshly language.
Let her avoid all the apocryphal books, and if she ever wishes to read them, not for the truth of their doctrines but out of respect for their wondrous tales, let her realize that they are not really written by those to whom they are ascribed, that there are many faulty elements in them, and that it requires great skill to look for gold in mud.
Let her always keep Cyprian's works by her, and let her peruse the letters of Atha-
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Hilarii libros inoffenso decurrat pede.
Illorum tractatibus, illorum delectetur ingeniis, in quorum libris pietas fidei non vacillet ; ceteros sic legat, ut magis iudicet quam sequatur.
4 Quomodo haec omnia mulier 13. Respondebis : saecularis in tanta frequentia hominum Romae '
Noli ergo subire onus, quod custodire potero ? ferre non potes, sed, postquam ablactaveris earn cum
Isaac et vestieris cum Samuhele, mitte aviae et amitae.
Redde pretiosissimam gemmam cubiculo Mariae, et cunis Iesu vagientis inpone.
Nutriatur in monasterio, sit inter virginum choros, iurare non discat, mentiri sacrilegium putet, nesciat saeculum, vivat angelice, sit in carne sine carne, omne hominum genus sui simile putet et, ut cetera taceam, certe te liberet servandi difficultate et custodiae periculo.
Melius est tibi desiderare absentem quam pavere ad singula, cum quo loquatur, quid loquatur, cui adnuat, quern libenter aspiciat.
Trade Eustochio parvulam, cuius nunc et ipse vagitus pro te oratio est, trade comitem futuram sanctitatis heredem.
Illam videat, illam amet, illam ' primis miretur ab annis,' cuius et sermo et habitus et incessus doctrina virtutum est.
Sit in gremio aviae, quae repetat in nepte, quidquid praemisit in filia, quae longo usu didicit nutrire,
Virgil, Aeneid, VIII. 517.
LETTER CVII
nasius and the treatises of Hilary without fear of stumbling.
She may take pleasure in the learned expositions of all such writers as maintain in their books a steady love of the faith.
If she reads others, let it be as a critic rather than as a disciple.
You will answer :
' How shall I, a woman of the world living in crowded Rome, be able to keep all these injunctions?
Do not then take up a burden which you cannot bear.
When you have weaned Paula as Isaac was weaned, and when you have clothed her as Samuel was clothed, send her to her grandmother and her aunt.
Set this most precious jewel in Mary's chamber, and place her on the cradle where Jesus cried.
Let her be reared in a monastery amid bands of virgins, where she will learn never to take an oath, and to regard a lie as sacrilege.
Let her know nothing of the world, but live like the angels ; let her be in the flesh and without the flesh, thinking all mankind to be like herself.
Thus, to say nothing of other things, she will free you from the difficult task of watching over her and from all the responsibility of guardianship.
It is better for you to regret her absence than every moment to be fearing what she is saying, to whom she is talking, whom she greets and whom she likes to see.
Give to Eustochium the little child, whose very wailings are now a prayer on your behalf
; give her, to be her companion to-day, to be the inheritor of her sanctity in the years to come.
Let her gaze upon and love, let her ' from her first years admire ' 1 one whose words and gait and dress are an education in virtue.
Let her grandmother take her on her lap and repeat to her grandchild the lessons she once taught her daughter.
Long experience has
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docere, servare virgines, in cuius corona centenarii cotidie numeri castitas texitur.
Felix virgo, felix Paula Toxotii, quae per aviae amitaeque virtutes nobilior est sanctitate quam genere !
O si tibi contingeret videre socrum et cognatam tuam et in parvis corpusculis ingentes animos intueri !
Pro insita tibi pudicitia non ambigerem, quin praecederes filiam et priinam Dei sententiara secunda evangelii lege nurtures.
Ne tu parvi penderes aliorum desideria liberorum et te ipsa magis offerres Deo !
Sed quia ' tempus est amplexandi et tempus longe fieri a conplexibus ' et ' uxor non habet potestatem corporis ' et ' unusquisque in ea vocatione, qua vocatus est, sui in ea permaneat ' in domino, et, qui sub iugo est, sic debet currere, ne in luto comitem derelinquat, totum redde in subole, quod in te interim distulisti.
Anna filium, quern Deo voverat, postquam obtulit tabernaculo, numquam recepit indecens arbitrata, ut futurus propheta in huius domo cresceret, quae adhuc alios filios habere cupiebat.
Denique, postquam concepit et peperit, non est ausa ad templum accedere et vacua apparere coram domino, nisi prius redderet, quod debebat, talique immolato sacrificio reversa domum quinque liberos sibi genuit, quia primogenitum Deo peperat.
Miraris felicitatem sanctae mulieris ?
Imitare fidem.
Ipse, si Paulam
Cf. c. Jov. I. 3, where the respective merits of the estates of marriage, widowhood and virginity are compared to the seeds which brought forth thirty, sixty and a hundred fold for this association of 100 with virginity, cf. also Letters XXII, 15 and 19, and LXVI, 2.
Genesis, xxxv. 11
: Be fruitful and multiply.
Ecclesiastes, iii. 5.
1 Corinthians, vii. 4.
1 Corinthians, vii. 20.
1 Samuel, i. 22.
LETTER CVII
taught her how to rear, instruct, and watch over virgins, and in her crown every day is woven the mystic hundred of chastity . 1
O happy virgin !
O happy Paula, daughter of Toxotius !
By the virtues of her grandmother and her aunt she is nobler in sanctity even than in lineage.
Oh, if you could only see your mother-in-law and your sister, and know the mighty souls that dwell within their feeble bodies !
Then I doubt not that you would obey your innate love of chastity and come to them even before your daughter, exchanging God's first decree 2 for the Gospel's second dispensation.
You would surely count as nothing your desire for other children and would rather offer yourself to God.
But inasmuch ' there is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing ,' 3 and as ' the wife hath not power over her own body,' 4 and ' every man should abide ' 5 in the Lord, and because he who is under the yoke ought in the same calling wherein he was called so to run as not to leave his companion in the mire, pay back in your children all that you defer paying in your own person.
When Hannah had brought to the tabernacle the son whom she had vowed to God, she never took him back again, thinking it improper that a future prophet should grow up in the house of one who still desired to have other sons . 6
In fine, after she had conceived and borne him, she did not venture to visit the temple and appear before God empty-handed, but first paid her debt, and then after offering her great sacrifice returned home, and having borne her first son for God was then given five children for herself.
Do you wonder at the happiness of that holy woman ?
Then imitate her faith.
If you
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miseris, balbutientia senex verba formabo multo gloriosior mundi philosopho, qui non regem Macedonum Babylonio periturum veneno, sed ancillam et sponsam Christi erudiam regnis caelestibus offerendam.
CXVII Ad Matrem et Filiam in Gallia Commorantes 1. Rettulit mihi quidam frater e Gallia se habere sororem virginem matremque viduam, quae in eadem urbe divisis habitarent cellulis et vel ob hospitii solitudinem vel custodiendas facultatulas praesules sibi quosdam clericos adsumpsissent, ut maiori dedecore iungerentur alienis, quam a se fuerant separatae.
Cumque ego ingemescerem et multo plura tacendo quam loquendo significarem :
' Quaeso ' corripias eas litteris tuis et ad conte,' inquit, cordiam revoces, ut mater filiam, filia matrem agnoscat.'
Cui ego:
Optimam,' inquam, 'mihi iniungis provinciam, ut alienus conciliem, quas filius fraterque non potuit, quasi vero episcopalem cathedram teneam et non clausus cellula ac procul a turbis remotus vel praeterita plangam vitia vel vitare nitar
LETTER
CVII AND LETTER CXVII
will send us Paula, I undertake to be both her tutor and her foster-father.
I will carry her on my shoulders, and my old tongue shall train her stammering lips.
And I shall take more pride in my task than did the worldly philosopher ; for I shall not be teaching a Macedonian king, destined to die by poison in Babylon, but a handmaid and bride of Christ who one day shall be presented to the heavenly throne.
LETTER CXVII
To a Mother and Daughter living in Gaul Dangerous friendships Written a.d. 405
A certain brother from Gaul told me the other day that he had a virgin sister and a widowed mother who, though living in the same city, had separate apartments, and had taken to themselves clerical directors, either to prevent their feeling lonely, or else to manage their small properties ; and that by this union with strangers they had caused more scandal even than by living apart.
I groaned to hear his tale, and by silence expressed far more than ' rebuke them in a letter and recall them to harmony, so that the mother may recognize her daughter, and the daughter her mother.'
' Pray,' he continued, I could by words.
' This is a fine commission,'
' that you lay upon me, that I a stranger should reconcile those with whom a son and brother has failed.
You talk as though I held a bishop's I replied, chair instead of being confined, far from men's turmoil, in a tiny cell, where I lament past sins and 37i
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praesentia.
Sed et incongruum est latere corpore et lingua per orbem vagari.'
Et ille :
' Nimium,' ait, ' formidolosus ; ubi ilia quondam constantia, in qua multo sale urbem defricans Lucilianum quippiam ' Hoc est,' aio, ' quod me fugat et labra dividere non sinit.
Postquam ergo arguendo crimina factus sum criminosus et iuxta tritum vulgi sermone proverbium iurantibus et negantibus cunctis me aures nee credo habere nec tango ipsique parietes
' rettulisti ? in me maledicta resonarunt " Et psallebant contra me, qui bibebant vinum," coactus malo tacere didici rectius esse arbitrans ponere custodiam ori meo et ostium munitum labiis meis, quam declinare cor in verba malitiae et, dum carpo vitia, in vitium detractionis incurrere.'
Quod cum dixissem : 'Non est/ ' detrahere verum dieere, nec privata correptio generalem doctrinam facit, cum aut rarus aut nullus inquit, sit, qui sub huius culpae reatum cadat.
Quaeso ergo te, ne me tanto itinere vexatum frustra venisse patiaris.
Scit enim dominus, quod post visionem sanctorum locorum hanc vel maxime causam habui, ut tuis litteris sorori me redderes et matri.'
Et ego :
' lam iam/ inquam, ' quod vis, faciam ; nam et epistulae transmarinae sunt et specialiter sermo dictatus raros potest invenire, quos mordeat.
Te autem moneo, ut clam sermonem hunc habeas.
Cumque portaveris pro viatico, si auditus fuerit, laetemur pariter ; sin autem contemptus, quod et magis reor, ego verba perdiderim, tu itineris longitudinem/
1 Horace, Satires, I. x.
: sale multo urbem defricuit.
Lucilius was a satirist.
2 This proverb has not been identified nor has any satisfactory explanation of its nature been given.
3 Psalm Ixix. 12.
I.e. the journey from Gaul to Palestine.
37 2