Letter Xxxviii
LETTER XXII AND LETTER XXXVIII
life some empty glory, transport yourself in thought to Paradise and begin to be now what you will be hereafter.
Then will you hear your Spouse say ' Set me as a seal in thine heart and as a seal upon thine arm.'
And then, fortified alike in mind and body, you will cry :
' Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.' 2
LETTER XXXVIII
To Marcella 3 A good woman Written a.d. 384
Abraham is tempted in the matter of his son, and is found to be of greater faith.
Joseph is sold in Egypt, and is thereby able to maintain his father and brothers.
Hezekiah is terrified by the near approach of death, but he bursts into tears and his life is extended by the space of fifteen years.
If the faith of the apostle Peter is shaken by Our Lord's passion, it is that amid his bitter tears he may hear the words:
' Feed my sheep.'
Paul, that ravening wolf, that little Benjamin ,4 is blinded in a trance, but as the result he gains clear vision, and from the sudden horror of darkness around him calls upon Him as Lord whom in the past he persecuted as man.
So now, my dear Marcella, has it been with our beloved Blesilla.
For nearly thirty days we have seen her tossing continually in a burning fever, that
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aestuasse, lit sciret reicisndas delicias corporis, quod paulo post vermibus exarandum sit.
Venit et ad hanc dominus Iesus tetigitque manum eius et surgens ministrat ei.
Redolebat aliquid neglegentiae et divitiarum fasciis conligata in saeculi iacebat sepulchro, sed confremuit Iesus et conturbatus in spiritu
' Blesilla, exi foras.'
Quae vocata clamavit dicens : surrexit et egressa cum domino vescitur.
Iudaei minentur et tumeant, quaerant occidere suscitatam, soli apostoli glorientur ; scit se vitam suam ei debere, cui credidit ; scit se eius amplexare pedes, cuius paulo ante indicium pertimescebat.
Corpus paene iacebat exanime et anhelos artus mors vicina quatiebat.
Ubi tunc erant auxilia propinquorum, ubi verba omni inaniora fumo ?
Nihil tibi debet, o ingrata cognatio, quae mundo periit et Christo revixit.
Qui Christianus est, gaudeat ; qui irascitur, non esse se indicat Christianum.
3. Vidua, quae soluta est vinculo maritali, nihil necesse habet nisi perseverare.
At scandalizat quempiam vestis fuscior : scandalizet Iohannes, quo inter natos mulierum maior nullus fuit, qui angelus dictus ipsum quoque dominum baptizavit, qui camelorum vestitus tegumine zona pellicia cingebatur.
LETTER XXXVIII
thereby she might learn to cast away all those pamperings of that body into which worms will soon burrow their way.
To her also the Lord Jesus came, and He touched her hand, and behold she rises and ministers unto Him.
Once there was some suspicion of indifference in her conduct : she was bound fast in the close wrappings of riches, and lay inactive in this world tomb.
But Jesus was troubled in spirit, and raised His voice and cried aloud, saying ' Blesilla, come forth.'
At His bidding she arose and came out, and now she feasts with the Lord.
The Jews may swell with threats, and seek to slay her who has been roused to life, while the apostles alone give glory :
Blesilla knows that she owes her life to Him to whom she entrusted it : she knows that she now embraces the feet of Him before whose judgment just lately she trembled.
Life had almost forsaken her prostrate body, and the near approach of death shook her panting frame.
Of what avail at that hour was the help that relatives could give, or their words of comfort, emptier than smoke ?
She owes nothing to you, thankless kinsmen : she is dead to the world and lives again to Christ.
Let those who are Christians rejoice : those who feel resentment show thereby that they are not Christians.
A widow who is freed from the marital bond has but one duty laid upon her, and that is to continue as a widow.
It may be that some people are offended by her sombre garb : they would be offended also by John the Baptist, and yet among those born of women there has not been a greater than he.
He was called God's messenger and baptized the Lord Himself, but he was clothed in camel's-hair raiment and girded with a girdle of skins.
It may be that
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Cibi displicent viliores ; nihil vilius est locustis.
Illae Christianos oculos potius scandalizent, quae purpurisso et quibusdam fucis ora oculosque depingunt, quarum facies gypseae et nimio candore deformes idola mentiuntur, quibus si forte inprovidens lacrimarum stilla eruperit, sulco defluit, quas nee numerus annorum potest docere, quod vetulae sunt, quae capillis alienis verticem instruunt et praeteritam iuventutem in rugis anilibus poliunt,. quae denique ante nepotum gregem trementes virgunculae conponuntur.
Erubescat mulier Christiana, si naturae cogit decorem, si carnis curam facit ad concupiscentiam, in qua qui sunt, secundum apostolum Christo placere non possunt.
4. Vidua nostra ante monilibus ornabatur et die tota, quid sibi deesset, quaerebat ad speculum
; nunc ' Nos autem omnes revelata loquitur confidenter : facie gloriam domini speculantes in eandem imaginem transformamur a gloria in gloriam, quasi a domini spiritu.'
Tunc crines ancillulae disponebant et mitellis crispantibus vertex artabatur innoxius nunc neglectum caput scit sibi tantum sufficere, quod velatur.
Ulo tempore plumarum quoque dura mollities videbatur et in extructis toris iacere vix poterat ; nunc ad orandum festina consurgit et modu- ' alleluia ' praecipiens prior incipit lata voce ceteris 1 Romans, viii. 8.
2 Corinthians, iii. 18.
LETTER XXXVIII
some are displeased by a widow's simple food nothing can be more simple than locusts.
Those women rather should offend a Christian's eyes, who paint their cheeks with rouge and their eyes with belladonna ; whose faces are covered with powder and so disfigured by excessive whiteness that they look like idols ; who find a wet furrow on their skin if perchance a careless tear escape them
; whom no amount of years can convince that they are old ; who heap their heads with borrowed tresses ; who polish up past youthfulness in spite of the wrinkles of age who, in fine, behave like trembling schoolgirls before a company of their own grandsons.
A Christian woman should blush to win by force what should be natural beauty, or to rouse men's desires by bestowing care upon the flesh.
As the apostle says :
' Those that are in the flesh cannot be pleasing to Christ .' 1
In the past our dear widow used to deck herself with jewels, and spent whole days before her glass looking for anything wrong in her appearance.
Now she boldly says: 'We all with unveiled face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord.' 2
In those days lady's maids used to arrange her hair, and her poor head, which had done no harm, was imprisoned in a head-dress crammed with curls.
Now it is left alone, and knows that it is sufficiently cared for when it is covered by a veil.
At that time the softest down seemed hard to her limbs, and she could scarcely rest upon a pile of cushions.
Now she rises in haste from her bed to pray, and with tuneful voice forestalls her comrades'
' Alleluia,' herself ever the first to praise her 1 63
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laudare dominum suum.
Flectuntur genua super nudam humum et crebris lacrimis facies psimithio ante sordidata purgatur.
Post orationem psalmi concrepant et lassa cervix, poplites vacillantes in somnumque vergentes oculi nimio mentis ardore vix impetrant, ut quiescant.
Pulla est tunica : minus, cum humi iacuerit, sordidatur.
Soccus vilior : auratorum pretium calceorum egentibus largietur.
Cingulum non auro gemmisque distinctum est, sed laneum et tota simplicitate purissimum et quod possit adstringere magis vestimenta quam scindere.
Si huic proposito invidet scorpius et sermone blando de indebita rursum arbore comedere persuadet, inlidatur ei pro solea anathema et in suo morienti ' Vade retro, Satanas,' quod interpulvere dicatur
' adverse ; adversarius quippe Christi est pretatur ' antichristus, cui praecepta displicent Christi.
5. Oro te, quid tale umquam, quale apostoli, ; patrem senem cum navicula et rete dimittunt fecimus, ut merito scandalizentur ; publicanus a teloneo surgit et sequitur salvatorem ; volens discipulus reverti domum et suis ante renuntiare magistri voce prohibetur ; sepultura non datur patri et pietatis genus est inpium esse pro domino.
Nos, quia serica veste non utimur, monachi iudicamur, quia ebrii non sumus nec cachinno ora dissolvimus, continentes vocamur et tristes.
Si tunica non canduerit, statim * Inpostor et Graecus est.'
Cavilillud e trivio :
LETTER XXXVIII
Lord.
She kneels on the bare ground, and with frequent tears cleanses the face that was once defiled with white lead.
After prayer comes the singing of psalms ; her neck grows weary, her knees totter, her eyes drop off to sleep ; but her ardent spirit will hardly give them leave to rest.
Her dress is of dark stuff; therefore it is scarcely soiled by lying on the ground.
Her slippers are of a cheap sort ; the price of gilded boots will be given as alms to the needy.
Her girdle is not adorned with jewels or gold ; it is made of wool, perfectly simple and clean, and it is intended to keep her dress close rather than to cut her figure into two halves.
If the scorpion, jealous of her resolute purpose, with soft words persuades her to eat again of the forbidden tree, let a curse crush him instead of a boot, and let her say, as he lies dying in the dust that is his due :
' Get thee behind me, Satan.'
The word Satan means ' adversary,' since Christ's adversary is the Antichrist, who finds Christ's precepts displeasing.
Pray, have we ever done anything such as the apostles did that men should have reason to be offended with us ?
The apostles left their boat and their net and their aged father.
The publican got up from the receipt of custom and followed the Saviour.
When a disciple wished to go back home and give a message first to his people, the Master's voice forbade him.
A father even was refused burial ; for it is a form of duty to be undutiful for the Lord's sake.
We on the other hand are called monks merely because we do not dress in silk.
We are dubbed ' sour puritans,' because we do not get drunk or burst into loud guffaws.
If our tunic is not spotlessly white, the cry goes up from the street:
'Greek charlatan.'
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lentur vafriora licet et pingui aqualiculo farsos circumferant homines :
Blesilla nostra ridebit nee dignabitur loquacium ranarum audire convicia, cum dominus eius dictus sit Beelzebub.
XL Ad Marcellam de Onaso 1. Medici, quos vocant chirurgicos, crudeles putantur et miseri sunt.
An non est miseria alienis dolere vulneribus et mortuas carnes dementi secare ferro?
Non horrere curantem, quod horret ipse, qui patitur, et inimicum putari ?
Ita se natura habet, ut amara sit veritas, blanda vitia aestimentur.
Esaias in exemplum captivitatis futurae nudus non erubescit incedere ; Heremias de media Hierusalem ad Eufraten, fluvium Mesopotamiae, mittitur, ut inter inimicas gentes, ubi est Assyrius et castra sunt
Chaldaeorum, ponat 7repi£o>pa corrumpendum :
Hiezechiel stercore primum humano, dein bubulo panem de omni semente conspersum edere iubetur et uxoris interitum siccis oculis videt ; Amos de Samaria pellitur : cur quaeso ?
Nempe ideo, quia chirurgici spiritales secantes vitia peccatorum ad paenitentiam
1 Matthew, x. 25.
2 This letter is superscribed ' To Marcella concerning Onasus,' but most of the fierce invective is addressed personally to Onasus himself, of whom nothing else is known.
Isaiah, xx.
4 Jeremiah, xiii.
5 Ezekiel, iv. 9 if. and xxiv. 15 ff.
6 Amos, vii. 12.
LETTER XXXVIII AND LETTER XL
Let men indulge in even sharper witticisms, if they please, and parade before us their fat-paunched friends.
Our dear Blesilla will laugh at them, and will not deign to listen to the abuse of noisy frogs.
She knows that her Lord was called by men Beelzebub . 1
LETTER XL
To Marcella Onasus the windbag 2 Written a.d. 385
Those medical men whom folk call surgeons are thought to be cruel and really are pitiful.
Is it not a pitiful business to feel the pain of another's wounds, and to cut dead flesh with the merciful knife ?
Is it not pitiful to show no horror at treating a malady which seems horrible even to the patient, and to be considered the sufferer's enemy ?
Man's nature is such that truth tastes bitter and pleasant vices are esteemed.
Isaiah in token of the coming captivity does not blush to go abroad naked . 3
Jeremiah is sent from mid-Jerusalem to Euphrates, the river of Mesopotamia, among hostile nations, the Assyrians and the camp of the Chaldaeans, and bidden there to hide his girdle and let it be marred . 4
Ezekiel is ordered to eat bread made of every kind of grain and mingled first with man's and then with cow's dung, and he looks on at his wife's death with dry eyes . 6
Amos is driven forth from Samaria . 6
Why was all this, pray ?
It was because our spiritual surgeons by cutting into the faults of sinners exhorted
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' Inimicus,' incohortabantur.
Paulus apostolus :
' vobis factus sum vera dicens.'
Et quia salvaquit, toris dura videbantur eloquia, plurimi discipulorum retrorsum abierunt.
2. Unde non mirum est, si et nos vitiis detrahentes offendimus plurimos.
Disposui nasum secare fetentem : timeat, qui strumosus est.
Volo corniculae detrahere garrienti : rancidulam se intellegat cornix.
Numquid unus in orbe Romano est, qui habeat ' truncas inhonesto vulnere nares ' ?
'Numquid solus Onasus Segestanus cava verba et in vesicarum modum tumentia buccis trutinatur inflatis ?
Dico quosdam scelere, periurio, falsitate ad dignitatem nescio quam : quid ad te, qui te intellegis innocentem ?
Rideo advocatum, qui patrono egeat pervenisse : quadrante dignam eloquentiam nare subsanno
: quid ad te, qui disertus es ?
Volo in nummarios invehi sacerdotes : tu, qui dives es, quid iraseeris ?
Claudum cupio suis ignibus ardere Vulcanum : numquid hospes eius es aut vicinus, quod a delubris idoli niteris incendium submovere ?
Placet mihi de larvis, de noctua, de bubone, de Niliacis ridere portentis : quicquid dictum fuerit, in te dictum putas.
In quodcumque vitium stili mei mucro contorquetur, te clamitas designari, conserta manu in ius vocas et satiricum scriptorem in prosa stulte arguis.
An ideo bellus videris, quia fausto vocaris nomine ?
Quasi
Galatians, iv.
16.
Virgil, Aeneid, VI.
497, of Deiphobus.
Nasus = nose.
Onasus = Onesimus = ' the helpful.'
1 68
LETTER XL
men to repentance.
The apostle Paul says :
' I have become your enemy because I tell you the truth .' 1
And because the Saviour's words seemed hard, very many of His disciples went away.
So it is not surprising if we too offend very many when we try to strip away their vices.
I am prepared to cut a foul-smelling nose : those who suffer from a wen may well shake in their shoes.
I intend to rebuke a chattering crow : the fellow-bird may well see that he too is offensive.
But is there only one man in the whole Roman world who has 4 a nose lopped short with shameful wound ' ? 2
Is Onasus of Segesta the only person who puffs his cheeks and weighs out words with nothing in them like a bladder full of wind ?
I say that certain people have reached a certain position by crime, perjury, and false pretences.
What is that to you, who know yourself to be innocent ?
I laugh at the advocate who himself needs a defender ; I sneer scornfully at his eloquence which would be dear at a farthing.
What is that to you, who are a good speaker ?
It is my pleasure to attack those priests who think only of money.
Why do you, who are a rich man, become angry?
I would fain burn limping Vulcan in his own furnace.
Are you a friend or a neighbour of his, that you strive to save the idol's shrine from the flames ?
I like to laugh at ghosts, night-birds, hooting owls, and all the portents of Egypt : anything I say you think is aimed at yourself.
Against whatever vice my pen's sword-point turns, you cry out loudly that you are its mark, you join issue and call me into court, and foolishly try to prove that I am a writer of satire in prose.
Do you seem to yourself a fine fellow, because you bear the lucky name of Onasus,
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non et lucus ideo dicatur, quod minime luceat, et Parcae ab eo, quod nequaquam parcant, et Eumenides Furiae, et vulgo Aethiopes vocentur argentei.
Quodsi in descriptione foedorum semper irasceris, iam te cum Persio cantabo formosum ' Te optent generum rex et regina, puellae
Te rapiant : quicquid calcaveris tu, rosa fiat.'
3. Dabo tamen consilium, quibus absconditis possis pulchrior apparere : nasus non videatur in facie, sermo non sonet ad loquendum, atque ita et formosus videri potes et disertus.
XLIII Ad Marcellam 1. Ambrosius, quo chartas, sumptus, notarios ministrante tam innumerabiles libros vere Adamantius et noster XaA Kevrepo? explicavit, in quadam epistula,
Persius, Satires, II. 37, altered.
2 Not the great Bishop of Milan who lived a century after Origen, hut a friend of Origen.
' the man with entrails of brass,' an epithet usually applied to the Alexandrian scholar Didymus, because of his unwearied industry, is here transferred to
' Chalkenteros,'
LETTER XL AND LETTER XLIII
' the Helpful ' ?
Have you never heard the saying Lucus a non lucendo ?
Are not the Fates called the Sparers, because they spare no man ?
Are not the Furies called Angels of Mercy?
Do not common people often use the name ' for negroes ?
' silver boys Still, if my pictures of ugliness make you angry, to-day I will call you beautiful and sing with Persius
' May kings and queens their daughters to you lead And for your favours as a bridegroom plead.
May girls their eager hands upon you lay And where you walk red roses deck the way.'
I will give you, however, one piece of advice.
There are some things you must hide, if you are to appear handsome.
Let your nose not be seen upon your face and let your tongue never be heard in conversation.
Then you may possibly be thought both good-looking and eloquent.
LETTER XLIII
To Marcella The country life Written a.d. 385
2 who supplied Origen with parchment, money, and copyists, and thus enabled our man of brass 3 and adamant to bring out his innumerable Ambrose , Origen, who was sometimes called ' Adamantius,' probably for the same reason.
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quam ad eundem de Athenis scripserat, refert numquam se cibos Origene praesente sine lectione sumpsisse, nunquam venisse somnum, nisi e fratribus aliquis sacris litteris personaret, hoc diebus egisse vel noctibus, ut et lectio orationem susciperet et oratio lectionem.
2. Quid nos, ventris animalia, tale umquam fecimus ?
Quos si secunda hora legentes invenerit, oscitamus, manu faciem defricantes continemus stomachum et quasi post multum laborem mundialibus rursum negotiis occupamur.
Praetermitto prandia, quibus onerata mens premitur.
Pudet dicere de frequentia salutandi, qua aut ipsi cotidie ad alios pergimus aut ad nos venientes ceteros expectamus.
Deinceps itur in verba, sermo teritur, lacerantur absentes, vita aliena describitur et mordentes invicem consumimur ab invicem.
Talis nos cibus et occupat et dimittit.
Cum vero amici recesserint, ratiocinia subputamus.
Nunc ira personam nobis leonis inponit, nunc cura superflua in annos multos duratura praecogitat, nec recordamur
' Stulte, hac nocte repetunt animum tuam a te evangelii dicens :
; quae autem praeparasti, cuius erunt ?
Vestes non ad usum tantum, sed ad delicias conquiruntur.
Ubicumque conpendium est, velocior pes, citus sermo, auris adtentior ; si damnum, ut saepe in re familiari accidere solet, fuerit nuntiatum, vultus maerore deprimitur.
Laetamur ad nummum. obolo
St. Luke, xii. 20.
LETTER XLIII
books, in a letter written to his friend from Athens, declares that he never took a meal in Origen's company without something being read, and that he never fell asleep save to the sound of some brother's voice reciting the Scriptures aloud.
Day and night it was their habit to make reading follow upon prayer, and prayer upon reading, without a break.
Do we, poor creatures of the belly, ever behave like this ?
If we spend more than an hour in reading, you will find us yawning and trying to restrain our boredom by rubbing our eyes ; then, as though we had been hard at work, we plunge once more into worldly affairs.
I say nothing of the heavy meals which crush such mental faculties as we possess.
I am ashamed to speak of our numerous calls, going ourselves every day to other people's houses, or waiting for others to come to us.
The guests arrive and talk begins : a brisk conversation is engaged we tear to pieces those who are not there : other people's lives are described in detail : we bite and are ourselves bitten in turn.
With this fare the company is kept busy, and so at last it disperses.
When our friends have left us, we reckon up our accounts, now frowning over them like angry lions, now with useless care planning schemes for the distant future.
We remember not the words of the Gospel :
' Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then M rhose shall those things be which thou hast provided ?
We buy clothes, not solely for use, but for display.
When we see a chance of making money, we quicken our steps, we talk fast, we strain our ears.
If we are told that we have lost, as often must happen in business, our face is clouded with sorrow.
A penny makes us
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contristamur.
Unde, cum in uno homine animorum tam diversa sit facies, propheta dominum deprecatur
' Domine, in civitate tua imaginem eorum dicens : dissipa.'
Cum enim ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei conditi sumus, ex vitio nostro et personas nobis plurimas superinducimus, et quomodo in theatralibus scaenis unus atque idem histrio nunc Herculem robustus ostentat, nunc mollis in Venerem frangitur, nunc tremulus in Cybelen, ita et nos, qui, si mundi non essemus, odiremur a munda, tot habemus personarum similitudines, quot peccata.
3. Quapropter, quia vitae multum iam spatium transivimus fluctuando et navis nostra nunc procellarum concussa turbine, nunc scopulorum inlisionibus perforata est, quam primum licet, quasi quemdam portum secreta ruris intremus.
Ibi cibarius panis et holus nostris manibus inrigatum, lac, deliciae rusticanae, viies quidem, sed innocentes cibos praebeant.
Ita viventes non ab oratione somnus, non saturitas a lectione revocabit.
Si aestas est, secretum arboris umbra praebebit ; si aut.umnus, ipsa aeris temperies et strata subter folia locum quietis ostendit.
Vere ager floribus depingitur et inter querulas aves psalmi dulcius decantabuntur.
Si frigus fuerit et brumales nives, ligna non coemam : calidius vigilabo vel dormiam, certe, quod sciam, vilius non algebo.
Habeat sibi Roma suos tumultos, harena saeviat, circus insaniat, theatra luxurient, et
1 Psalm lxxiii.
20.
A.V. has 'when thou awakest,' but R.V. gives 'in the city' in margin = in civitate tua of Vulgate.
(Psalm lxxii. 20.)
LETTER XLIII
merry : a halfpenny makes us sad.
Therefore, as the phases of one man's mind are so conflicting, the prophet prays to the Lord, saying :
' O Lord, in thy city scatter their image .' 1
For while we were created in God's image and likeness, by reason of our own perversity we hide ourselves behind changing masks, and as on the stage one and the same actor now figures as a brawny Hercules, and now relaxes into the softness of a Venus or' the quivering tone of a Cyhele, so we who, if we were not of the world, would be hated by the world, have a counterfeit mask for every sin to which we are inclined.
Therefore, as to-day we have traversed a great part of life's journey through rough seas, and as our barque has been now shaken by tempestuous winds, now holed upon rugged rocks, let us take this first chance and make for the haven of a rural retreat.
Let us live there on coarse bread and on the greenstuff that we water with our own hands, and on milk, country delicacies, cheap and harmless.
If thus we spend our days, sleep will not call us away from prayer, nor overfeeding from study.
In summer the shade of a tree will give us privacy.
In autumn the mild air and the leaves beneath our feet point out a place for rest.
In spring the fields are gay with flowers, and the birds' plaintive notes will make our psalms sound all the sweeter.
When the cold weather comes with winter's snows, I shall not need to buy wood : whether I keep vigil or lie asleep, I shall be warmer there, and certainly as far as I know, I shall escape the cold at a cheaper rate.
Let Rome keep her bustle for herself, the fury of the arena, the madness of the circus, the profligacy of the theatre, and—for I must not forget our Christian
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quia de nostris dicendum est, matronarum cotidie visitetur senatus : nobis adhaerere Deo bonum est, ponere in domino spem nostram, ut, cum paupertatem istam caelorum regna mutaverint, erumpamus in vocem :
' Quid enim milii restat in caelo et a te quid volui super terrain ?
Quo scilicet, cum tanta reppererimus in caelo, parva et caduca quaesisse nos doleamus in terra.
XLIV An Marcellam Ut absentiam corporum spiritus confabulatione solemur, faciat unusquisque, quod praevalet.
Vos dona transmittitis, nos epistulas remittimus gratiarum, ita tamen, ut, quia velatarum virginum munus est, aliqua in ipsis munusculis esse mysteria demonstremus.
Saccus orationis signum atque ieiunii est sellae, ut foras pedes virgo non moveat ; cerei, ut accenso lumine sponsi expectetur adventus
; calices mortibcationem carnis ostendunt et semper animum ad martyrium praeparatum— ' domini inebrians perquam optimus ' Calix ' quippe '—quod autem et matronis offertis muscaria parvis animalibus ventilanda, procul ab illis abesse debere luxurias, quae cito cum isto interiturae mundo oleum vitae suavioris
Psalm lxxiii. 25.
2 Psalm xxiii. 5.
Gallican psalter.
LETTER XLIII AND LETTER XLIV
friends—the daily meetings of the matrons' senate.
For us it is good to cleave to God, and to put our hopes in the Lord, so that, when we have exchanged this poor life for the kingdom of heaven, we may crv aloud :
' Whom have I in heaven but thee ?
%/ There is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.' 1
Assuredly, when we have found such wealth in heaven, we may well grieve to have sought after poor passing pleasures here on earth.
LETTER XLIV
To Marcella A letter of thanks Written a.d. 385
Let us comfort ourselves for bodily absence by spiritual conversation, each and every one of us doing what we can do best.
You send us gifts, we send you back letters of thanks ; with this addition, as it is an offering to virgins who have taken the veil, that we point out to you that there are certain mysteries hidden in those dear presents of yours.
Sackcloth is a sign of prayer and fasting ; chairs warn us that a virgin does not go abroad ; tapers are a reminder to have our lights burning as we await the Bridegroom's coming ; cups signify mortification of the flesh and readiness for martyrdom— ' How excellent is the Lord's cup that maketh drunk those who partake thereof!' 2
Furthermore, when you offer matrons fans to keep off flies, you show them that they must drive away all those wanton pleasures, which with this world so quickly perish and corrupt the oil of our
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exterminant.
Hie typus virginum, haec figura sit matronarum.
Nobis autem, in perversum licet, munera vestra conveniunt : sedere aptum est otiosis, in sacco iacere paenitentibus, calices habere potantibus, licet et propter nocturnos metus et animo semper malo conscientiae formidante cereos quoque accendisse sit gratum.
XLV Ad Asellam 1.
Si tibi putem a me gratias referri posse, non sapiam.
Potens est Deus super personam meam sanctae animae tuae restituere, quod meretur.
Ego enim indignus nec aestimare umquam potui nec optare, ut mihi tantum in Christo largireris adfectum.
Et licet me sceleratum quidam putent et omnibus flagitiis obrutum et pro peccatis meis etiam haec parva sint, tamen tu bene facis, quod ex tua mente etiam malos bonos putas.
Periculosum quippe est de servo alterius iudicare, et non facilis venia prava dixisse de rectis.
Veniet, veniet ilia dies, et mecum dolebis ardere non paucos.
2. Ego probosus, ego versipellis et lubricus, ego 1 This letter was written at Ostia in August a.d. 385, just before Jerome in company with his brother Paulinian and the priest Vincentius left Rome for the East.
Paula and Eustochium followed him soon afterwards, and they all three settled at Bethlehem for the rest of their lives.
For Asella, cf. Appendix, p. 485.
LETTER XLIV AND LETTER XLY
sweeter life.
These are the types and figures that virgins and matrons may find in your gifts.
To myself also they have an application ; although in my case they go by the rule of contrary.
Sitting on chairs is suitable for those who have no work to do, lying on sackcloth for those who repent of the past, holding cups for those who drink deep.
It may be, however, that I shall be glad to light your tapers, both to banish the terrors of the night and also to appease the constant fears of a guilty conscience.
LETTER XLV
To Asella 1 Innocent friendships Were I to think that I could ever repay you for your kindness, I should indeed be lacking in wisdom.
God alone is able to give the reward due to your pure spirit.
For I am so unworthy of your great love that I have never been able to estimate its extent, or even to hope that you would bestow it upon me in Christ's name.
And even though some people regard me as a villain loaded with iniquity, and even though such words are inadequate to my sins, yet you do well who in your own mind think that there is goodness even in bad men.
Indeed it is dangerous to pass sentence on another's servant, and to speak evil of the upright is a thing not lightly to be excused.
Soon, soon the day of judgment will be coming ; and you and I then will see with grief that many are burning in the fire.
I a scandal, I a slippery turncoat, I a liar using
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mendax et Satanae arte decipiens !
Quid est astutius, haec vel credidisse vel finxisse de insontibus, an etiam de noxiis credere noluisse ?
Osculabantur mihi quidam manus et ore vipereo detrahebant ; dolebant labiis, corde gaudebant : videbat dominus et subsannabat eos, et miserum servum suum futuro cum eis iudicio reservabat.
Alius incessum meum calumniabatur et risum, ille vultui detrahebat, haec in simplicitate aliud suspicetur.
Paene certe triennio cum eis vixi ; multa me virginum crebro turba circumdedit ; divinos libros, ut potui, nonnullis saepe disserui ; lectio adsiduitatem, adsiduitas familiaritatem, familiaritas fiduciam fecerat.
Dicant, quid umquam in me aliter senserint, quam Christianum decebat ?
Pecuniam cuius accepi ?
Munera vel parva vel magna non sprevi ?
In manu mea aes alicuius insonuit ?
Obliquus sermo, oculus petulans fuit ?
Nihil mihi aliud obicitur nisi sexus mens, et hoc numquam obicitur, nisi cum Hierosolyma Paula proficiscitur.
Esto : crediderujit mentienti ; cur non credunt neganti ?
Idem est homo ipse, qui fuerat fatetur insontem, qui dudum noxium loquebatur et certe veritatem magis exprimunt tormenta quam risus, nisi quod facilius creditur, quod aut fictum libenter auditur aut non fictum, ut fmgatur, inpellitur.
Cf. Appendix, p. 492.