2 Letter Lii
LETTER XLV AND LETTER
LII before Christ's judgment seat ''j1 and there the thoughts of each man's life shall be revealed.'
Remember me, my glorious pattern of chastity and virginity, and by your prayers appease the sea waves.
LETTER LII 2 To Nepotian A clergyman s duties You ask me, my dearest Nepotian, in your letters from across the sea, and you ask me often, to set out for you in a brief digest some rules of life, showing how one who has renounced service in the world's army to become a monk or a clergyman may keep to the straight path of Christ and not be led astray into the haunts of vice.
When I was a young man, scarcely more than a boy, and was trying to curb the first tides of youthful wantonness by the hardships of the desert, I wrote a letter of exhortation to your reverend uncle Heliodorus, to show him the feelings of the friend he had deserted by the tears and remonstrances with which it was filled.
In that production I indulged my youthful fancy, and being still fired with enthusiasm for the teaching of the rhetoricians, I decked out some parts of it with the flowery language of the schools.
To-day, however, my hair is grey, my forehead furrowed and dewlaps, like those of an ox, hang from my chin.
As the poet says ' The cold blood round my heart now hinders me '
Nepotian and Heliodorus had been soldiers before joining the Church.
Virgil, Georgies, II. 484.
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unde et in alio loco idem poeta canit ' Omnia fert aetas, animum quoque ' et post modicum :
' Nunc oblita mihi tot carmina, vox quoque Moerim lam fugit.'
2. Quod ne de gentili tantum litteratura proferre videamur, divinorum voluminum sacramenta cognosce.
David annos natus septuaginta, bellicosus quondam vir, senectute frigente non poterat calefieri.
Quaeritur itaque puella de universis finibus Israhel Abisag Somanitis, quae cum rege dormiret et senile corpus calefaceret.
Nonne tibi videtur, si occidentem sequaris litteram, vel figmentum esse de mimo vel Atellanarum ludicra ?
Frigidus senex obvolvitur vestimentis et nisi conplexu adulescentulae non tepescit.
Vivebat adhuc Betsabee, supererat Abigea et reliquae uxores eius et concubinae, quas scriptura commemorat : omnes quasi frigidae repudiantur, in unius tantum grandaevus calescit amplexibus.
Abraham multo David senior fuit et tamen vivente Sarra aliam non quaesivit uxorem Isaac duplices David annos habuit et cum Rebecca iam vetula numquam refrixit ; taceo de prioribus ante diluvium viris, qui post annos nongentos non dico senilibus, sed paene iam cariosis artubus nequaquam puellares quaesiere conplexus
; certe Moyses, dux Israhelitici populi, centum viginti annos habebat et Sephoram non mutavit.
Virgil, Bucolics , TX. 51.
Virgil, Bucolics , IX. 53.
3 The Atellan plays were broad farces popular on the Roman stage.
LETTER LII and in another passage :
4 Age carries all things, e'en the mind, away
and a little later 4 Those songs are all forgotten, and his voice Has left poor Moeris.' 2
But that I may not seem to quote only from heathen literature, listen to the sacred teaching of God's Book.
David once had been a man of war, but in his seventieth year old age had chilled him and he could never get warm.
Accordingly they looked for a girl in all the land of Israel and brought in Abishag the Shunamite to sleep with the king and warm his aged limbs.
If you were to follow the letter that killeth, does not this seem to you an incident invented for a farce or a broad jest from an Atellan play ? 3
The old man's cold body is wrapped in blankets, but nothing save a young girl's embrace can warm him.
Bathsheba was still alive and Abigail was also at his service, together with all his other wives and concubines of whom Scripture tells us.
But they are all rejected as lacking heat, and it is in the arms of one girl only that the ancient grows warm again.
Abraham was far older than David, but while Sarah was still living he did not seek another wife.
Isaac had twice David's years, and yet never felt cold with Rebecca, even when she was an old woman.
I say nothing of the men before the flood, who after nine hundred years must have found their limbs not merely aged but almost rotten with time and still never sought a young girl's embraces.
Certainly Moses, the leader of the people of Israel, lived to be a hundred and twenty without changing his Sephora. iQi
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3. Quae est igitur ista Somanitis uxor et virgo tam fervens, ut frigidum calefaceret, tam sancta, ut calentem ad libidinem non provocaret ?
Exponat sapientissimus Salomon patris sui delicias et pacificus bellatoris viri narret amplexus :
' Posside sapientiam, posside intelligentiam.
Ne obliviscaris, et ne declinaveris a verbis oris mei, et ne dereliqueris earn, et adprehendet te ; ama illam et servabit te.
Principium sapientiae : posside sapientiam et in omni possessione tua posside intelligentiam ; circumda illam et exaltabit te ; honora illam et amplexabitur te, ut det capiti tuo coronam gratiarum, corona quoque deliciarum protegat te.'
Omnes paene virtutes corporis mutantur in senibus et increscente sola sapientia decrescunt ceterae ieiunia, chameuniae, hue illucque discursus, pere~ grinorum susceptio, defensio pauperum, standi in oratione perseverantia, visitatio languentium, labor manuum, unde praebeantur elemosynae, et, ne sermonem longius traham, cuncta, quae per corpus exercentur, fracto corpore minora fiunt.
Nee hoc dico, quod in iuvenibus et adhuc solidioris aetatis, his dumtaxat, qui labore et ardentissimo studio, vitae quoque sanctimonia et orationis ad Deum frequentia scientiam secuti sunt, frigeat sapientia, quae in plerisque senibus aetate marcescit, sed quod adulescentia multa corporis bella sustineat et inter incentiva vitiorum et carnis titillationes quasi ignis in lignis viridioribus suffocetur et suum non possit explicare fulgorem.
Senectus vero—rursus admoneo —eorum, qui adulescentiam suam honestis artibus 1 Jerome takes the story of the Shunamite
(1 Kings, i) as an allegory.
2 Proverbs, iv. 5.
LETTER LII Who then is this Shunamite, this wife and virgin, so fervid as to give heat to the cold, so holy as not to excite to lust the man she had warmed ? 1
Let Solomon, wisest of men, tell us of his father's darling, and let the man of peace recount the embraces of the man of war.
' Get wisdom, get understanding forget it not ; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Forsake her not and she shall preserve thee : love her and she shall keep thee.
Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding.
Exalt her and she shall promote thee.
She shall bring thee to honour when thou dost embrace her.
She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace : a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.' 2
In the case of old men, almost all bodily excellences are changed, and while wisdom alone increases they decrease.
Fasting, sleeping on the ground, moving to and fro, hospitality to strangers, the defence of the poor, perseverance in standing at prayer, visiting the sick, manual labour to supply money for almsgiving, in fact, not to be tedious, all actions that depend on the body's agency become less as the body decays.
I do not say that young men or even those of riper vigour—provided that by labour and ardent study, by a holy life and frequent prayer to God they have attained knowledge—lack the warmth of wisdom which in many old men is withered by age but I do say that youth has to endure many conflicts with the body, and amid incentives to vice and titillations of the flesh, it is stifled, as a fire is when it is fed with green wood and cannot display its proper brightness.
Old age, however—I repeat my warning —if men have trained their youth in honourable
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instruxerunt et in lege domine meditati sunt die ac nocte, aetate fit doctior, usu tritior, processu temporis sapientior et veterum studiorum dulcissimos fructos metit.
Unde et sapiens ille Graeciae, cum expletis centum et septem annis se mori cerneret, dixisse fertur dolere, quod tunc egrederetur e vita, quando sapere coepisset ; Plato octogesimo et uno anno scribens est mortuus ; Isocrates nonaginta et novern annos in docendi scribendique labore conplevit ; taceo ceteros philosophos, Pythagoram, Democritum, Xenocratem, Zenonem, Cleanthem, qui iam aetate longaeva in sapientiae studiis floruerunt : ad poetas venio, Homerum, Hesiodum, Simonidem, Stesichorum, qui grandes natu cygneum nescio quid et solito dulcius vicina morte cecinerunt.
Sophocles, cum propter nimiam senectutem et rei familiaris neglegentiam a filiis accusaretur amentiae, Oedipi fabulam, quam nuper scripserat, recitavit iudicibus et tantum sapientiae in aetate iam fracta specimen dedit, ut severitatem tribunalium in theatri favorem verteret.
Nec mirum, cum etiam Cato, Romani generis disertissimus, censorius iam et senex, Graecas litteras nec erubuerit nec desperaverit discere.
Certe Homerus refert, quod de lingua Nestoris iam vetuli et paene decrepiti dulcior melle oratio fluxerit.
' Abisag * nominis sacramentum sapientiam senum indicat ampliorem.
Interpretatur Sed et ipsius 1 Theophrastus.
Cf. Cicero, Tusc. Disp. III. 69.
2 Horn. 11. i. 248: r)Sv€7rrjs • • • rov k<xl ano y\iboor)s peXiros yXvKLwv peev av&rj.
LETTER LII accomplishments and day and night have meditated on the Lord's law, becomes more learned by time, more subtle by experience, more wise by lapse of years and reaps the sweet fruit of its ancient studies.
1 when he had reached his hundred and seventh year and saw himself near to death, is said to have expressed his grief at passing away from life just at the moment when he was beginning to have wisdom.
Plato died in his eighty-first year with the pen in his hand Therefore it was that the Greek sage , Isocrates filled ninety-nine years with the labour of teaching and writing.
I say nothing of the other philosophers, Pythagoras, Democritus, Xenocrates, Zeno, Cleanthes, whose long life flourished ever in studies of wisdom.
I come to the poets, Homer, Hesiod, Simonides, Stesichorus, who in their old age. when death drew near, sang a swan's song sweeter even than their wont.
Sophocles in extreme old age neglected his affairs and was accused by his sons of mental incapacity.
But when he read to the court his recently composed play, Oedipus , and in spite of bodily weakness gave so signal a proof of wisdom, he turned the strict judgment of a tribunal into the enthusiastic applause of a theatre.
Nor need we wonder, seeing that Cato, the most eloquent of the Romans, after he had been censor and was now an old man, did not blush to learn Greek nor despair of acquiring knowledge of that language.
Homer certainly tells us that when Nestor was very old and almost decrepit, speech that was sweeter than honey flowed from his tongue . 2
Even the name Abishag in its mystical interpretation points to the greater wisdom that old men ' my possess.
It can be explained as meaning *95
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enim ' pater meus superfluus ' vel ' patris mei ' ambiguum est et ' superfluum rugitus.'
Verbum in praesenti loco virtutem sonat, quod amplior sit in senibus et redundans ac larga sapientia, in alio autem loco ' non necessarius ponitur.
' superfluus ' quasi ' Sag ' rugitus,' proprie nuncupatur, cum maris fluctus resonant et, ut ita dicam, de pelago veniens fremitus auditur.
Ex quo ostenditur abundantissimum et ultra humanam vocem divini sermonis in senibus * tonitruum commorari.
Porro ' autem, id est ' Somanitis ' coccinea ' in lingua nostra ' dicitur, ut significet calere sapientiam et divina lectione fervere ; quod, licet dominici sanguinis indicet sacramentum, tamen et fervorem ostendit sapientiae.
Unde et obstetrix ilia in Genesi coccinum ligat in manu Phares, qui ab eo, quod parietem diviserat duos ante populos separantem, ' Phares,' sortitus est nomen.
Et Raab meretrix in typo ecclesiae resticulam mysteria sanguinis continentem, ut Hiericho pereunte salvare- ' divisoris,' id est tur, adp.endit.
Et in alio loco de viris sanctis scriptura commemorat :
' Hi sunt, Cinaei qui venerunt de calore domus Rechab.'
Et dominus noster in evangelio :
' Ignem,' inquit, ' veni mittere in terram et quam volo, ut ardeat !
Qui in discipulorum corde succensus cogebat eos dicere :
' Nonne cor nostrum erat ardens in nobis, dum loqueretur in via ' et aperiret nobis scripturas ?
4. Quorsum haec tarn longo repetita principio ?
Ne a me quaeras pueriles declamationes, sententiarum flosculos, verborum lenocinia et per fines
Cf. Genesis, xxxviii. 27.
1 Chronicles, ii. 55—in Vulgate.
LETTER LII ' my father's roaring.'
The word ' or father's superfluity ' superfluity ' is ambiguous, and in the present case means ' excellence,' inasmuch as in old men wisdom is more copious, redundant, and plentiful.
In other cases, however, superfluous means unneces- ' shag,' that is, ' roaring,' the word is properly used of the sound of sea waves, when, so sary.
As for to speak, we hear the ocean murmuring.
Thereby we see that the thunder of God's speech lingers in the ears of old men and is more excellent than human ' Shunamite' in our language means scarlet, signifying the warmth of wisdom when voice.
Furthermore, it is fired by reading in God's Book : it contains a mystical reference to Our Lord's blood, but it also indicates the fervour of wisdom.
So the midwife 1 in Genesis ties a scarlet thread to Phares' hand, Phares ' the divider,' because he divided the wall which till then kept the two peoples apart.
The harlot Rahab also, who typifies the Church, fastened a scarlet cord to her window in mystical reference to His bloodshedding, so that she might be saved from Jericho's downfall.
In another passage again the Scripture says of holy men :
' These are the Kenites who came from the warmth of the house of Rechab .' 2
' I am come Finally, Our Lord says in the Gospel : to cast fire upon the earth, and fain am I to see it kindled.' 3
That fire, when kindled in the disciples'
' Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures ? hearts, forced them to say :
' 4
Why all these far-fetched references, you may ask.
I want you not to expect from me any boyish declamation or flowery sentiment.
Here there will
St. Luke, xii. 49 (slightly altered).
St. Luke, xxiv. 32.
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capitum singulorum acuta quaedam breviterque conclusa, quae plausus et clamores excitent audientum.
Amplexetur me modo sapientia et Abisag nostra, quae numquam senescit, in meo requiescat sinu.
Inpolluta est virginitatisque perpetuae et in similitudinem Mariae, cum cotidie generet semperque parturiat, incorrupta est.
Hinc reor dixisse et apostolum ' et in evangelio dominum praedicasse, quod in fine mundi, quando iuxta prophetam Zachariam stultus pastor esse coeperit, sapientia decrescente ' spiritu ferventes ' refrigescet caritas multorum.'
Audi igitur, ut beatus Cyprianus ait, ' non diserta, sed fortia.'
Audi fratrem collegio, patrem senio, qui te ab incunabulis fidei usque ad perfectam ducat aetatem et per singulos gradus vivendi praecepta constituens in te ceteros erudiat.
Scio quidem ab avunculo tuo, beato Heliodoro, qui nunc pontifex Christi est, te et didicisse, quae sancta sunt, et cotidie discere normamque vitae eius exemplum habere virtutum ; sed et nostra, qualiacumque sunt, suscipe et libellum hunc libello illius copulato, ut, cum ille te monachum erudierit, hie clericum doceat esse perfectum.
Igitur clericus, qui Christi servit ecclesiae, interpretetur primum vocabulum suum et nominis definitione praelata nitatur esse, quod dicitur.
Si enim kA%)os Graece ' sors '
Latine appellatur, propterea vocantur clerici, vel quia de sorte sunt domini vel quia dominus ipse sors, id est pars, clericorum est.
Qui autem vel ipse pars domini est vel dominum partem habet, talem se exhibere 1 Romans, xii. 11.
2 Zech. xi. 16.
8 St. Matthew, xxiv. 12.
4 Or else because they administer the KXrjpos, the Church estates.
Cf. Fathers of the Church, p. 12.
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LETTER LII be no meretricious writing, no terse pointed epigrams at the end of each paragraph, put in to excite my audience to loud applause.
Let wisdom alone embrace me ; let my Abishag who never grows old nestle in my arms.
She is undefiled and ever virgin : like Mary every day she brings forth and is always in labour, but still she is stainless.
Hence, methinks, the apostle said :
' Be fervent in spirit '
1 hence also Our Lord in the Gospel declared that at the end of the world—when, according to the prophet Zechariah ,
the shepherd shall begin to grow foolish—with the decay of wisdom, ' the love of many shall wax cold.
' 3
Listen then, as the blessed Cyprian says, to words that are weighty rather than eloquent : listen to one who is your brother in orders and your father in years, one who can guide you from faith's cradle to perfect manhood, and by setting forth precepts of life step by step may instruct others in instructing you.
I know that from your uncle, the reverend Heliodorus who is now one of Christ's bishops, you have already learned and are still daily learning all that is holy and that you have the rule of his life as an example of virtue set before you.
Take then this letter of mine for what it is worth and join my precepts to his, so that the one may train you in a monk's duties, the other may teach you to be a perfect clergyman.
A clergyman then, who is a servant in Christ's Church, should first know the meaning of his name and when he has that accurately defined, he should then strive to be what he is called.
For since the Greek KXrjpos means ' or ' portion,' the clergy ' lot are so named, either because they are the Lord's portion, or else because the Lord is theirs . 4
Now he who himself is the Lord's portion, or has the Lord for
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debet, ut et possideat dominum et ipse possideatur a domino.
Qui dominum possidet et cum propheta ' Pars mea dominus,' nihil extra dominum habere potest, quod, si quippiam aliud habuerit praeter dominum, pars eius non erit dominus.
Verbi dicit : gratia, si aurum, si argentum, si possessiones, si variam supellectilem, cum his partibus dominus pars eius fieri non dignatur.
Si autem ego pars domini sum et funiculus hereditatis eius, nec accipio partem inter ceteras tribus, sed quasi levita et sacerdos vivo de decimis et altari serviens altaris oblatione sustentor, habens victum et vestitum his contentus ero et nudam crucem nudus sequar.
Obsecro itaque te,
' et repetens iterum iterumque monebo,' ne officium clericatus genus antiquae militiae putes, id est, ne lucra saeculi in Christi quaeras militia, ne plus habeas, quam quando clericus esse coepisti, et dicatur tibi
' Cleri eorum non proderunt eis.'
Mensulam tuam pauperes et peregrini et cum illis Christus conviva noverit ; negotiatorem clericum et ex inope divitem et ex ignobili gloriosum quasi quandem pestern fuge.
£ Corrumpunt mores bonos confabula^ tiones pessimae.'
Tu aurum contemnis, alius diligit tu calcas opes, ille sectatur ; tibi cordi est silentium, mansuetudo, secretum, illi verbositas, adtrita frons, fora placent et plateae ac medicorum tabernae
: in tanta morum discordia quae potest esse concordia ?
1 Psalm lxxiii. 26.
Virgil, Aeneid, III. 436.
3 Jeremiah, xii. 13
:—ot k\t]pol <xvto)v ovk unfitArjoovcuv avrovs .
The LXX which Jerome quotes differs from the Vulgate and A.V.
There is a play on the two meanings of kAt?/o<h— portions and clergy.
1 Corinthians, xv. 33.
LETTER LII his portion, must so bear himself as to possess the Lord and be possessed by Him.
He who possesses the Lord and says with the prophet : 1
' The Lord is my portion,' can have nothing outside the Lord for if he has anything except the Lord, the Lord will not be his portion.
For example, if he has gold and silver, land and inlaid furniture, with portions such as these the Lord will not deign to be his portion.
If I am the Lord's portion and in the line of His inheritance, I receive no portion among the other tribes, but like the Priest and the Levite
I live on tithes, and serving the altar am supported by the altar offerings.
Having food and raiment I shall be satisfied with them, and naked shall follow the naked
' again and yet again my words repeat,' 2 do not think that clerical orders are but a variety of your old military service
; that cross.
So I beseech you and is, do not look for worldly gain when you are fighting in Christ's army, lest, having more than when you first became a clergyman, you hear it said of you ' Their portions (kX^/jol) shall not profit them .' 3
Let poor men and strangers be acquainted with your modest table, and with them Christ shall be your guest.
Avoid, as you would the plague, a clergyman who is also a man of business, one who has risen from poverty to wealth, from obscurity to a high posi- ' Evil communications corrupt good manners .' 4
You despise gold; the other loves it.
You trample money underfoot; he pursues it.
You delight in tion. silence, peacefulness, solitude ; he prefers talking and effrontery, the markets and the streets and the apothecaries' shops.
When your ways are so diverse, what unity of heart can there be between you?
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Hospitiolum tuum aut raro aut numquam mulierum pedes terant.
Omnes puellas et virgines Christi aut aequaliter ignora aut aequaliter dilige.
Ne sub eodem tecto manseris ; ne in praeterita castitate confidas.
Nee David sanctior nec Salomone potes esse sapientior ; memento semper, quod paradisi colonum de possessione sua mulier eiecerit.
Aegrotanti tibi sanctus quilibet frater adsistat et germana vel mater aut probatae quaelibet apud omnes fidei.
Quod si huiusce modi non fuerint consanguinitatis castimoniaeque personae, multas anus nutrit ecclesia, quae et officium praebeant et beneficium accipiant ministrando, ut infirmitas quoque tua fructum habeat elemosynae.
Scio quosdam convaluisse corpore et animo aegrotare coepisse.
Periculose tibi ministrat, cuius vultum frequenter adtendis.
Si propter officium clericatus aut vidua tibi visitatur aut virgo, numquam domum solus introeas talesque habeto socios, quorum contubernio non infameris.
Si lector, si acolythus, si psaltes te sequitur, non ornentur vestibus, sed moribus, nec calamistro crispent comas, sed pudicitiam habitu polliceantur.
Solus cum sola secreto et absque arbitro non sedeas.
Si familiarius est aliquid loquendum, habet nutricem, maiorem domus virginem, viduam, maritatam ; non est tarn inhumana, ut nullum praeter te habeat, cui se audeat credere.
Caveto omnes suspiciones et, quid-
LETTER LII A woman's foot should seldom or never cross the threshold of your humble lodging.
To all maidens and to all Christ's virgins show the same disregard or the same affection.
Do not remain under the same roof with them ; do not trust your chastity in the past.
You cannot be a man more saintly than David, or more wise than Solomon.
Remember always that a woman drove the tiller of Paradise from the garden that had been given him.
If you are ill let one of the brethren attend you, or else your sister or your mother or some woman of universally approved faith.
If there are no persons marked out by ties of kinship, or reputation for chastity, the Church maintains many elderly women who by their services can both help you and benefit themselves, so that even your sickness may bear fruit in almsgiving.
I know of some whose bodily recovery coincided with spiritual sickness.
There is danger for you in the ministrations of one whose face you are continually watching.
If in the course of your clerical duties you have to visit a widow or a virgin, never enter the house alone, and let your associates be men whose fellowship brings no disgrace.
If a reader or acolyte or psalm-singer comes with you, let their character, not their dress, be their adornment
; let them not wave their hair with curling tongs but let their outward looks be a guarantee of their chastity.
Never sit alone and without witnesses with a woman in a quiet place.
If there is anything intimate she wants to say, she has a nurse or some elderly virgin at home, some widow or married woman.
She cannot be so cut off from human society as to have no one but yourself to whom she can trust her secret.
Beware of men's suspicious
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quid probabiliter fingi potest, ne fingatur, ante devita.
Crebra munuscula et orariola et fasciolas, et vestes ori adplicatas, et degustatos cibos blandasque
' Mel meum, lumen meum meumque desiderium et dulces litterulas sanctus amor non habet.
' et ceteras ineptias amatorum, omnes delicias et lepores et risu dignas urbanitates in comoediis erubescimus, in saeculi hominibus detestamur : quanto magis in clericis et in clericis monachis, quorum et sacerdotium proposito et propositum ornatur sacerdotio Nec hoc dico, quod aut in te aut in sanctis viris ista formidem, sed quod in omni proposito, in omni gradu et sexu et boni et mali repperiantur malorumque condemnatio laus bonorum sit.
6. Pudet dicere : saeerdotes idolorum, mimi et aurigae et scorta hereditates capiunt ; solis clericis et monachis hoc lege prohibetur et prohibetur non a persecutoribus, sed a principibus Christianis.
Nec de lege conqueror, sed doleo, cur meruerimus hanc legem.
Cauterium bonum est, sed quo mihi vulnus, ut indigeam cauterio ?
Provida severaque legis cautio, et tamen nec sic refrenatur avaritia.
Per fidei commissa legibus inludimus, et quasi maiora sint imperatorum scita quam Christi, leges timemus, evangelia contemnimus.
Sit heres, sed mater filiorum, id est gregis sui, ecclesia, quae illos genuit, nutrivit et pavit.
Quid nos inserimus inter matrem 1 By Valentinian, a.d. 368.
LETTER LI I thoughts, and if a tale can be invented with some probability avoid giving the scandalmonger his opportunity.
Frequent gifts of handkerchiefs and ties, pressing a woman's dress to your lips, tasting her food beforehand, writing her fond and flattering billets-doux, of all this a holy love knows nothing.
'—lover's nonsense ' My honey, my light, my darling like this, and all such wanton playfulness and ridiculous courtesy, makes us blush when we hear it on the stage, and seems detestable even on the lips of worldlings.
How much more loathsome is it then in the case of monks and clergymen who adorn the priesthood with their vows and their vows with the priesthood !
I say this not because I fear such errors in you or in any holy man, but because in every order, in every rank and sex, both good and bad people are to be found, and to condemn the bad is to praise the good.
I am ashamed to say it, but priests who serve idols, actors, charioteers, and harlots can all inherit property : clergymen and monks alone are by law debarred, a law passed not by persecutors but by Christian emperors . 1
I do not complain of the enactment, but it grieves me to think that we deserved it.
A cautery is a good thing, but how is it I have a wound that needs a cautery ?
The law's precaution is stern and prudent ; yet even so greed is not checked.
By a fiction of trusteeship we elude its provisions, and, as though imperial enactments were of more importance than Christ's commands, we fear the laws and despise the Gospels.
If there must be an heir, let the Church inherit from the children who are her flock, the Church who bore reared and fed them.
Why do we thrust ourselves
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et liberos ?
Gloria episcopi est pauperum opibus providere, ignominia omnium sacerdotum est propriis studere divitiis.
Natus in paupere domo et in tugurio rusticano, qui vix milio et cibario pane rugientem saturare ventrem poteram, nunc similam et mella fastidio, novi et genera et nomina piscium, in quo litore conca lecta sit calleo, saporibus avium discerno provincias et ciborum me raritas ae novissime damna ipsa delectant.
Audio praeterea in senes et anus absque liberis quorundam turpe servitium.
Ipsi apponunt mattulam, obsident lectum, et purulentias stomachi et phlegmata pulmonis manu propria suscipiunt.
Pavent ad introitum medici trementibusque labiis, an commodius habeant, sciscitantur et, si paululum senex vegetior fuerit, periclitantur ac simulata laetitia mens intrinsecus avara torquetur.
Timent enim, ne perdant ministerium, et vivacem senem Matliusalae annis conparant.
O quanta apud dominum merces, si in praesenti pretium non speraret Quantis sudoribus hereditas cassa expetitur
Minori labore margaritum Christi emi poterat.
7. Divinas scripturas saepius lege, immo numquam de manibus tuis sacra lectio deponatur.
Disce, quod doceas ; obtine eum, qui secundum doctrinam est,
Cf. Juv. iv. 140.
2 The orbi and orbae constantly referred to in Latin literature; cf. especially Horace, Sat. II. v. and Juv. vi. 39, xii. 99.
LETTER LI I in between mother and children ?
It is the glory of a bishop to provide means for the poor, but it is a disgrace for any priest to think of wealth for himself.
Though I was born in a humble home beneath the roof of a country cottage and once could scarcely get enough millet and coarse bread to satisfy the howlings of my stomach, yet now I turn up my nose at wheaten flour and honey cakes, I know the various kinds of fish and their different names, I can tell for certain on what coast an oyster has been picked,1 1 can distinguish by the taste from what province a bird comes, and it is the rarity of a dish and, in the last stage, the money that is wasted on it that gives me pleasure.
I have been told that in some cases disgraceful court is paid to old men and women who have no children. 2
These servile flatterers fetch the basin, sit by the bed, and catch in their own hands ordure and spittle.
They tremble at the doctor's appearance, and with quivering lips inquire if his patient is better.
If for a little while the old fellow plucks up some strength, they are at their wits' end, and while they pretend to be glad their greedy soul suffers torments within.
For they are afraid that they may have wasted their attentions, and they compare an old man with a good hold on life to Methuselah.
How great would be their reward with the Lord, if they did not hope for immediate profit.
With what labour do they seek an empty inheritance !
At less trouble they could have bought for themselves the pearl of Christ.
Read God's Book continually ; nay, never let the sacred volume be out of your hand.
Learn, so that you may teach.
Hold fast to the words of faith
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fidelem sermonem, ut possis exhortari in doctrina sana et contradicentes revincere.
' Permane in his, quae didicisti et credita sunt tibi, sciens, a quo didiceris,'
' paratus semper ad satisfactionem omni poscenti te rationem de ea, quae in te est, spe.'
Non confundant opera sermonem tuum, ne, cum in ' Cur ergo haec ipse non facis ? ecclesia loqueris, tacitus quilibet respondeat :
Delicatus magister est, qui pleno ventre de ieiuniis disputat ; accusare avaritiam et latro potest ; sacerdotis Christi mens osque concordent.
Esto subiectus pontifici tuo et quasi animae parentem suspice : amare filiorum, timere servorum
' Et si pater sum,' inquit, ' ubi est honor meus? est: et si dominus ego sum, ubi est timor meus ?
Plura tibi in eodem viro observanda sunt nomina : monachus, pontifex, avunculus.
Sed et episcopi sacerdotes se sciant esse, non dominos : honorent clericos quasi clericos, ut et ipsis a clericis quasi episcopis deferatur.
Scijum illud est oratoris Domitii :
' Ego ' habeam ut principem, cum tu me non habeas ut senatorem ?
Quod Aaron et filios eius, hoc episcopum et presbyteros noverimus : unus dominus, unum templum, unum sit etiam ministerium.
Recordemur semper, quid apostolus Petrus praecipiat sacerdotibus : te,' inquit, ' Pascite eum, qui in vobis est, gregem domini providentes non coacto, sed
Titus, i. 9; 2 Timothy, iii. 14.
1 Peter, iii. 15.
3 Malachi, i. 6.
Cf.
Cicero, De Oratore, ITI.
: cum sibi ilium consulem esse negaret, cui senator ipse non esset.
LETTER LII according to sound doctrine, so that you may be able thereby to exhort and refute the gainsayers.
' Continue thou in the things that thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them 1 and ' Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope and faith that are in you .' 2
Your deeds must not belie your words, lest, when you are speaking '
' Why do you not practise what you preach ? in church, some one may say to himself:
A teacher fond of good living may fill his own stomach and then discourse on the benefits of fasting ; even a robber can possibly accuse others of greed ; but in a priest of Christ mind and mouth should be in harmony.
Be obedient to your bishop, and respect him as your spiritual father.
Sons love, slaves fear.
' If I be a father,' says the Scripture, ' where is mine honour ? and if I am a master, where is my fear ?
' 3
In your case one and the same man has many titles to your respect : he is monk, bishop, uncle.
But even bishops should realize they are priests, not lords ; they should give to clergymen the honour that is their due, so that the clergy may offer them the respect proper to bishops.
The orator Domitius spoke to the point when he said :
' Why should I treat you as leader of the Senate, when you do not ' 4
We should recognize that a bishop and his presbyters are like Aaron and his treat me as a senator ? sons.
There is but one Lord and one Temple ; there should be also but one ministry.
Let us always remember the charge which the apostle Peter gives ' Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof not by constraint to priests :
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spontanee secundum Deum, neque turpilucri gratia, sed voluntarie, neque ut dominantes in cleris, sed forma facti gregi et ex animo, ut, cum apparuerit princeps pastorum, percipiatis inmarcescibilem gloriae coronam.'
Pessimae consuetudinis est in quibusdam ecclesiis tacere presbyteros et praesentibus episcopis non loqui, quasi aut invideant aut non ' Et si alii,' inquit Paulus apostodignentur audire.
' fuerit revelatum sedenti, prior taceat.
Potesti9 enim per singulos prophetare, ut omnes discant et omnes consolentur.
Et spiritus prophetarum prolus, phetis subiectus est : non enim est dissensionis Deus,
sed pacis.'
Gloria patris est filius sapiens; gaudeat episcopus iudicio suo, cum tales Christo elegerit sacerdotes.
8. Dicente te in ecclesia non clamor populi, sed gemitus suscitetur; lacrimae auditorum laudes tuae sint ; sermo presbyteri scripturarum lectione conditus sit.
Nolo te declamatorem esse et rabulam garrulumque, sed mysterii peritum et sacramentorum Dei tui eruditissimum.
Verba volvere et celeritate dicendi apud inperitum vulgus admirationem sui facere indoctorum hominum est.
Adtrita frons interpretatur saepe, quod nescit, et, cum aliis suaserit, sibi quoque usurpat scientiam.
Praeceptor quondam meus Gregorius Nazianzenus rogatus a me, ut exponeret, quid sibi vellet in Luca sabbatum Sevrepo-n-puTov,
* Docebo ' secundoprimum,' eleganter lusit : id est 1 Corinthians, xiv. 30.
1 Peter, v. 2.
3 The great Cappadocian preacher, horn a.d. 330.
St. Luke,, vi.
; cf. Leviticus, xxiii. 15.
LETTER LII but willingly as God would have you ; not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind ; neither as being lords over God's heritage but being examples to the flock, and that gladly, that when the chief shepherd shall appear ye may receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.' 1
It is a very bad custom in some churches for presbyters to be silent and to refrain from speech in the presence of bishops, on the ground that these latter would either be jealous of them or think it unbecoming to be listeners.
The apostle Paul says :
' If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.
For ye may all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be comforted ; and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
For God is not the author of confusion but of peace.' 2
A wise son is a glory to his father ; and a bishop should rejoice in his own good judgment, when he chooses such to be priests of Christ.
When you are preaching in church try to evoke not applause but lamentation.
Let the tears of your audience be your glory.
A presbyter's discourse should be seasoned by his reading of Scripture.
Be not a declaimer nor a ranter nor a gabbler, but show yourself skilled in God's mysteries and well acquainted with the secret meaning of His words.
Only ignorant men like to roll out phrases and to excite the admiration of the unlettered crowd by the quickness of their utterance.
Effrontery often tries to explain things of which it knows nothing, and having persuaded others claims knowledge for itself.
My former teacher, Gregory of Nazianzus,3 when I asked him to explain the meaning of St.
Luke's phrase ' second first ' sabbath, wittily SeuTepo7rpa>Tor,4 that is,
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' super hac re in ecclesia, in qua omni te,' inquiens, mihi populo acclamante cogeris invitus scire, quod nescis, aut certe, si solus tacueris, solus ab omnibus stultitiae condemnaberis.'
Nihil tam facile, quam vilem plebiculam et indoctam contionem linguae volubilitate decipere, quae, quidquid non intellegit, plus miratur.
Marcus Tullius, ad quem pulcherrimum illud elogium est :
' Demosthenes tibi praeripuit, ne esses primus orator, tu illi, ne solus,' in oratione pro Quinto Gallio quid de favore vulgi et de
' His autem ludis—loquor enim, quae sunt ipse nuper inperitis contionatoribus loquatur, adtende : expertus—unus quidam poeta dominatur, homo perlitteratus, cuius sunt ilia convivia poetarum ac philosophorum, cum facit Euripiden et Menandrum inter se et alio loco Socraten atque Epicurum disserentes, quorum aetates non annis, sed saeculis scimus fuisse disiunctas.
Atque his quantos plausus et clamores movet!
Multos enim condiscipulos habet in theatro, qui simul litteras non didicerunt.'
9. Vestes pullas aeque vita ut Candidas; ornatus et sordes pari modo fugiendae, quia alterum delicias, alterum gloriam redolet.
Non absque amictu lineo incedere, sed pretium vestium linearum non habere laudabile est ; alioquin ridiculum et plenum dedecoris referto marsuppio, quod sudarium orariumque non habeas, gloriari.
Sunt, qui pauperibus parum tri1 This speech is not extant.
LETTER LI I evaded my request.
I will tell you about that in church,' he said, ' and there, when all the people applaud me, you will be compelled against your wish to know what you do not know, or else, if you alone remain silent, you will undoubtedly be put down by every one as a fool.'
There is nothing so easy as to deceive a cheap mob or an ignorant congregation by voluble talk ; anything such people do not understand they admire all the more.
Listen to Cicero, the man to whom that glorious eulogy was addressed ' Demosthenes snatched from you the glory of being the first of orators ; you have prevented him from being the only one.'
In his speech for Quintus Gallius ,
this is what Cicero says about vulgar enthusiasm and ignorant mob orators :
' At these games—I am telling you of something within my own recent experience—one gentleman, a poet, has been cock of the walk.
He is a very literary fellow and he has written a book Conversations of Poets and Philosophers .
In it he makes Euripides and Menander talk together, and in another passage Socrates and Epicurus, men whose lives we know to be separated not by years but by centuries.
And yet what applause and cheers this stuff evokes !
He has many fellow pupils in the theatre, schoolfellows who went to the same school and learnt nothing.'
Avoid sombre garments as much as bright ones.
Showiness and slovenliness are alike to be shunned the one savours of vanity, the other of boastfulness.
To walk abroad without a linen vest is not praiseworthy : the good thing is not to have money to buy one.
In any case it is absurd and scandalous to boast of having neither napkin nor handkerchief, while all the time your purse is well filled.
There 21.3
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buunt, lit amplius accipiant, et sub praetextu elemosynae quaerunt divitias ; quae magis venatio appellanda est quam elemosyna.
Sic bestiae, sic aves, sic capiuntur et pisces : modica in hamo esca ponitur, ut matronarum in eo sacculi protrahantur.
Scit episcopus, cui commissa est ecclesia, quem dispensationi pauperum curaeque praeficiat.
Melius est non habere, quod tribuam, quam impudenter petere.
Sed et genus adrogantiae est clementiorem
te videri velle, quam pontifex Christi est.
' Non omnia possumus omnes.'
Alius in ecclesia oculus est, alius lingua, alius manus, alius pes, alius auris, venter et cetera.
Lege Pauli ad Corinthios : diversa membra unum corpus efficiunt.
Nec rusticus et tantum simplex frater ideo se sanctum putet, si nihil noverit, nec peritus et eloquens in lingua aestimet sanctitatem.
Multoque melius est e duobus inperfectis rusticitatem sanctam habere quam eloquentiam peccatricem.
10. Multi aedificant parietes et columnas ecclesiae subtrahunt marmora nitent, auro splendent lacunaria, gemmis altare distinguitur et ministrorum Christi nulla electio est.
Neque vero mihi aliquis opponat dives in ludaea templum, mensam, lucernas, turibula, patellas, scyphos, mortariola et cetera ex auro fabre facta.
Tunc haec probabantur a domino, quando sacerdotes hostias immolabant et sanguis pecudum erat redemptio peccatorum—quamquam haec omnia praecesserint in figura.
' Scripta sunt 1 subtrahunt, Hilberg : substernunt.
Virgil, Bucolics, VIII. 63.
If the text is right Jerome apparently means that a church should consist of one plain room, with no party walls for separate shrines and no columns.
LETTER LII are some who give a trifle to the poor that they may themselves receive a larger sum, under the cloak of almsgiving seeking their own personal gain.
Such conduct should be called aimshunting rather than almsgiving.
Thus it is that birds, beasts, and fishes are caught.
A small piece of bait is put on the hook; and lo ! they draw up a fine lady's purse.
The bishop, to whose care the church is entrusted, knows whom he should appoint as almoner to the poor.
It is better for me not to have anything to give than to be shameless in begging.
It is a kind of arrogance also to wish to seem more generous than he who is Christ's bishop.
' We cannot all do all things .' 1
In the Church one man is the eye, another the tongue, another the hand, another the foot, another the ear, the belly, and so on.
Read Paul's epistle to the Corinthians, and see how one body is made up of different members.
A rough simple brother should not think himself saintly just because he knows nothing ; he who is well educated and eloquent must not imagine that holiness consists in a ready tongue.
Of the two imperfections a holy clumsiness is much better than a sinful eloquence.
Many people build churches now with party walls not pillars to support them : 2 slabs of marble shine brightly in them, the ceilings are gay with gold, the altar is adorned with jewels, and no care is shown in choosing Christ's ministers.
Let no one object against me the richness of the Temple in Judaea, its table, lamps, censers, dishes, cups, spoons, and the rest of its golden ware.
These things were approved by the Lord in the days when priests sacrificed victims, and when the blood of sheep was the redemp- ' written for tion of sins.
They were but a figure 2I 5
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' in quos fines saeculorum decurrerunt autem ' propter nos, '—nunc vero, cum paupertatem domus suae pauper dominus dedicarit, cogitemus crucem et divitias lutum putabimus.
Quid miramur, quod Christus vocat iniquum mammonam ?
Quid suspicimus et amamus, quod Petrus se non habere testatur ?
Alioquin, si tantum litteram sequimur et in auro atque divitiis simplex nos delectat historia, cum auro observemus et cetera : ducant pontifices Christ! uxores virgines ; quamvis bonae mentis sit, qui cicatricem habuerit et deformis est, privetur sacerdotio ; lepra corporis animae vitiis praeferatur crescamus et multiplicemur et repleamus terram nec immolemus agnum nec mysticum pascha celebremus, quia haec absque templo fieri lege prohibentur ; figamus septimo mense tabernaculum et sollemne ieiunium bucina concrepemus.
Quodsi haec omnia spiritalibus spiritalia conparantes scientesque cum Paulo, quod lex spiritalis est, et David verba cantantes :
* Revela oculos meas et considerabo mirabilia de lege tua ' sic intellegamus, ut dominus quoque noster intellexit et interpretatus est sabbatum, aut aurum repudiemus cum ceteris superstitionibus Iudaeorum aut, si aurum placet, placeant et Iudaei, quos cum auro aut probare nobis necesse est aut damnare.
11. Convivia tibi vitanda sunt saecularium, et maxime eorum, qui honoribus tument.
Turpe est ante fores sacerdotis domini crucifixi et pauperis et
1 Corinthians, x. 11.
St. Luke, xvi. 9.
Acts, iii. 6.
Leviticus, xxi.
17.
6 Psalm cxix. 18.
2l6
LETTER LII our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.'
But to-day, when Our Lord by his poverty has consecrated the poverty of his house, we should think rather of his cross and count riches to be but dirt.
Why do we admire that which Christ calls the Mammon of unrighteousness ? 2 Why do we respect and love that which Peter proclaims he does not possess ? 3
Moreover, if we follow only the letter and find pleasure in the bare lists of riches and gold, let us keep to everything else together with the gold
: let Christ's priests take virgins as wives ; let a man be deprived of his priesthood, however honest he be, if he is scarred or disfigured in any way
; 4 let bodily leprosy be counted worse than spiritual faults ; let us increase and multiply and replenish the earth let us slay no lamb and celebrate no mystic passover, for the law forbids these things where there is no temple ; let us pitch a tent in the seventh month and with a trumpet noise abroad the solemn fast.
But if all these things are spiritual, and we compare them with things spiritual, and know with Paul that the Law is spiritual, and chant David's words Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law,' 5 understanding them as Our
Lord understood them when He thus explained the Sabbath; then we should reject the gold together with the rest of Jewish superstition, or, if we approve of the gold, we should approve of the Jews as well.
The Jews must go with the gold whether we approve or condemn.
Avoid entertaining the worldly at your table, especially those who are swollen with office.
You are the priest of a crucified Lord, one who lived in poverty and on the bread of strangers, and it is a
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qui cibo quoque vescebatur alieno lictores consulum et milites excubare iudicemque provinciae melius apud te prandere quam in palatio.
Quodsi obtenderis facere te haec, ut roges pro miseris atque subiectis, iudex saeculi plus defert clerico continenti quam diviti et magis sanctitatem tuam veneratur quam opes ; aut si tabs est, qui non audiat clericos nisi inter tialas, libenter carebo huiusce modi beneficio et Christum rogabo pro iudice, qui magis subvenire potest; melius est enim confidere in domino quam confidere in homine, melius est sperare in domino quam sperare in principibus.
Numquam vinum redoleas, ne audias illud philosophi :
' Hoe non est osculum porrigere, sed propinare.'
Vinolentos sacerdotes et apostolus damnat et vet.us lex prohibet.
Qui altari serviunt, vinum et siceram non bibant.
Sicera Hebraeo sermone omnis potio nuncupatur, quae inebriare potest, sive ilia fermento conficitur sive pomorum suco aut favi decoquuntur in dulcem et barbaram potionem aut palmarum fructus exprimantur in liquorem coctisque frugibus aqua pinguior colatur.
Quidquid inebriat et statum mentis evertit, fuge similiter ut vinum.
Nec hoc dico, quod Dei a nobis creatura damnetur, siquidem et dominus vini potator appellatur et Timotheo dolenti stomachum modica vini sorbitio relaxata est, sed modum et aetatis et valetudinis et corporum qualitates exigimus in potando.
Quodsi absque vino ardeo et ardeo adulescentia et inflammor 1 Psalm cxviii. 9.
Cf. Leviticus, x. 9 and St. Luke, i. 15
: otvov kol alnepa ov flT] 7rcrj.
3 St. Matthew, xi. 19; 1 Timothy, v. 23.
LETTER LII shameful thing for a consul's attendants and bodyguard to keep watch before your door, and for a provincial judge to have a better luncheon with you than he would get in his palace.
If you urge that you do this in order that you may plead for the unhappy and the oppressed, a worldly judge pays more regard to a self-denying cleric than to a rich one, he respects your sanctity more than your wealth.
Or if he is the sort of man who only listens to clergymen over the wine bowl, I will gladly forgo any benefit from him, and will address my prayer to Christ who is more able to help than any judge.
For it is better to trust in the Lord than to put your confidence in men ; it is better to fix your hopes in the Lord than to expect anything from princes . 1
Never smell of wine, lest the philosopher's words be said of you:
' This is not a kiss but a wine sip.'
Priests who reek of wine are condemned by the apostle and forbidden by the old Law.
Those who serve the altar must not drink either wine or shechar, the Law says ;
the word shechar in Hebrew means any intoxicating drink, whether it is made from barley, or from fruit juice, or from honey boiled down into a rough sweet liquor, or from pressed dates, or from the thick syrup strained from a decoction of corn.
Anything that intoxicates and disturbs the mind's balance you must avoid as you avoid wine.
I do not say that we should condemn a thing that God made, since indeed Our Lord was called a wine-bibber, and Timothy was allowed wine in moderation because of his weak stomach ; 3 but I claim that those who drink wine should have some reason of age or health or some peculiarity of constitution.
If even without wine I am all aglow, if I feel the fire of youth and am
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calore sanguinis et suculento validoque sum corpore, libenter carebo poculo, in quo suspicio veneni est.
Pulchre dicitur apud Graecos, sed nescio utrum apud nos aeque resonet :
' Pinguis venter non gignit sensum tenuem.'
12. Tantum tibi ieiuniorum inpone, quantum ferre potes.
Sint pura, casta, simplicia, moderata, non superstitiosa ieiunia.
Quid prodest oleo non vesci et molestias quasdam difficultatesque ciborum quaerere ?
Caricae, piper, nuces, palmarum fructus, simila, mel, pistatia, tota hortorum cultura vexatur, ut cibario non vescamur pane.
Audio praeterea quosdam contra rerum hominumque naturam aquam non bibere nee vesci pane, sed sorbitiunculas delicatas et contrita holera betarumque sucum non calice sorbere, sed conca.
Pro pudor, non erubescimus istiusmodi ineptiis nee taedet superstitionis !
Insuper etiam famam abstinentiae in deliciis quaerimus.
Fortissimum ieiunium est aqua et panis ; sed quia gloriam non habet et omnes pane et aqua vivimus, quasi publicum et commune ieiunium non putatur.
13. Cave, ne hominum rumusculos aucuperis, ne offensam Dei populorum laude commutes.
' Si adhuc,' inquit apostolus, ' hominibus placerem, Christi servus non essem ; desivit placere hominibus ' et servus factus est Christi.
Per bonam et malam famam a dextris et a sinistris Christi miles graditur, nee laude extollitur, nee vituperatione frangitur, non divitiis tumet, non contrahitur paupertate, et laeta contemnit et tristia.
Per diem sol non uret eum
Ttayela yaarrjp Xevrov ov tlktzi voov.
Galatians, i.
10.
LETTER LI I inflamed by hot blood, if I am of a strong and lusty habit of body, then I will readily forgo the wine cup, in which I may well suspect that poison lurks.
The Greeks have a pretty proverb 1 which perhaps in our language loses some of its force :
' A fat paunch never breeds fine thoughts.'
Impose upon yourself such fasting as you are able to bear.
Let your fasts be pure, chaste, simple, moderate, and free from superstition.
What good is it to abstain from oil and then to seek after food that is troublesome to prepare and difficult to get, dried figs, pepper, nuts, dates, wheaten flour, honey, pistachios ?
All the resources of the garden are laid under contribution to avoid eating ordinary bread.
I have heard that some people outrage nature, and neither drink water nor eat bread, but imbibe fancy decoctions of pounded herbs and beet juice, using a shell to drink from, in place of a cup.
Shame on us !
We do not blush at such silliness and we feel no disgust at such superstition.
Moreover, by such fancifulness we seek a reputation for abstinence.
The strictest fast is bread and water : but as that brings no glory with it and bread and water are our usual food, it is reckoned not a fast but an ordinary and common matter.
Beware of angling for compliments, lest you lose God's favour in exchange for the people's praise.
' If I yet pleased men,' says the apostle, ' I should not be the servant of Christ.' 2
He ceased to please men and became Christ's servant.
Through good and bad report on right hand and on left Christ's soldier marches ; he is not elated by praise nor crushed by abuse ; he is not puffed up by riches nor depressed by poverty; he despises joy and sorrow alike.
The
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neque luna per noctem.
Nolo te orare in angulis platearum, ne rectum iter precum tuarum frangat aura popularis ; nolo te dilatare fimbrias et ostentui habere <£vkaKirj na et conscientia repugnante pharisaeica ambitione circumdari.
Melius est haec in corde portare quam in corpore, Deum habere fautorem, non aspectus hominum.
Vis scire, quales dominus quaerat ornatus ?
Habeto prudentiam, iustitiam, temperantiam, fortitudinem.
His plagis caeli includere, haec te quadriga velut aurigam Christi ad metam concitum ferat.
Nihil hoc monili pretiosius, nihil hac gemmarum varietate distinctius.
Ex omni parte decoraris, cingeris atque protegeris : gemmae vertuntur in scuta. et ornamento tibi sunt et tutamini 14. Cave quoque, ne aut linguam aut aures habeas prurientes, id est, ne aut ipse aliis detrahas aut alios
4 Sedens,' inquit, ' adversus fratrem tuum loquebaris et adversus filium matris tuae ponebas scandalum ; haec fecisti et tacui. audias detrahentes.
Existimasti iniquitatem, quod ero tibi similis arguam te et statuam contra faciem tuam.'
Subau- * Sermones tuos et cuncta, quae de aliis es ditur : locutus, ut tua sententia iudiceris in his ipse deprehensus, quae in aliis arguebas.'
Neque vero ilia ' Referentibus aliis iniuriam iusta est excusatio : facere non possum.'
Nemo invito auditori libenter refert.
Sagitta in lapide numquam figitur, interdum 1 Psalm cxxi.
2 Matt. vi. 5 and xxiii. 5.
Psalra 1. 20.
LETTER LI I sun willnot burn him by day nor the moon by night . 1
Do not pray at the corners of a square, lest the breeze of popular favour interrupt the straight course of your prayers.
Do not broaden your fringes and wear phylacteries for show, or wrap yourself in despite of conscience in Pharisaic ostentation . 2
It is better to carry all this in the heart, rather than on the body, to have God's approval rather than to please the eyes of men.
Would you know what kind of ornaments the Lord requires?
Have prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude.
Let these be your four cardinal points, let them be your four-in-hand to carry you, Christ's charioteer, at full speed to your goal.
No necklace can be more precious than these, no jewels can make a brighter galaxy.
On every side they form a decoration, a girdle, a defence ; they are both an ornament and a protection
; their jewels are turned into shields.
Beware also of an itching tongue and ears : in other words, do not detract from others or listen to detractors.
* Thou sittest,' says the Scripture, * and speakest against thy brother ; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.
These things hast thou done and I kept silence ; thou thoughtest wickedly that I was such an one as thyself, but I will reprove thee, and set the matter before thine eyes .' 3
The meaning of the passage is this— ' Watch over your talk and over every word you say about others by your own sentence you will be judged, and you will yourself be caught committing the faults you blamed in other men.'
It is not a proper excuse to say :
' If other people report something to me I cannot be rude to them.'
No one likes to bring reports to an unwilling listener.
An arrow never
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resiliens percutit dirigentem.
Discat detractor, dum te viderit non libenter audire, non facile detra- ' Cum detractoribus,' ait Salomon, ' ne here. miscearis, quoniam repente veniet perditio eorum, '
Tam videlicet et ruinam utriusque quis novit ? eius, qui detrahit, quam illius, qui aurem accommodat detrahenti.
15.
Officii tui est visitare languentes, nosse domos, matronas ac liberos earum et nobiliiim virorum non ignorare secreta.
Officii ergo tui sit non solum oculos castos servare, sed et linguam.
Numquam de formis mulierum disputes, nec alia domus, quid agatur in alia, per te noverit.
Hippocrates adiurat discipulos, antequam doceat, et in verba sua iurare conpellit extorquetque Sacramento silentium ; sermonem, incessum, habitum moresque describit : quanto magis nos, quibus animarum medicina commissa est, omnium Christianorum domos debemus amare quasi proprias.
Consolatores potius nos in maeroribus suis quam convivas in prosperis noverint.
Facile contemnitur clericus, qui saepe vocatus ad prandium non recusat.
16. Numquam petentes raro accipiamus rogati.
Nescio quo enim modo etiam ipse, qui deprecatur, ut tribuat, cum acceperis, viliorem te iudicat et mirum in modum, si rogantem contempseris, plus 1 Proverbs, xxiv. 21.
Vulgate.
2 See Hippocrates (L.C.L. i. 291 ff.) : 'To hold my teacher in this art equal to my own parents ...
I will keep pure and holy both my life and my art.
. Whatsoever I shall see
LETTER LII lodges in a stone, but it sometimes recoils and wounds the shooter.
Let detractors, seeing your reluctance to listen, learn not to be so ready to detract. Solomon says :
' Meddle not with them that are given to detraction : for their calamity shall rise suddenly ' 1— and who knoweth the destruction of them both ? the destruction, that is, both of the detractor and of the person who lends ear to him.
It is part of your duty to visit the sick, to be acquainted with people's households, with matrons, and with their children, and to be entrusted with the secrets of the great.
Let it therefore be your duty to keep your tongue chaste as well as your eyes.
Never discuss a woman's looks, nor let one house know what is going on in another.
Hippocrates ,
before he will instruct his pupils, makes them take an oath and compels them to swear obedience to him.
That oath exacts from them silence, and prescribes for them their language, gait, dress, and manners.
How much greater an obligation is laid on us who have been entrusted with the healing of souls !
We ought to love every Christian household as though it were our own.
Let them know us as comforters in their sorrows rather than as guests in their days of prosperity.
A clergyman soon becomes an object of contempt, if, however often he is invited to dinner, he does not refuse.
We should never ask for gifts, and seldom accept them even when begged to do so.
Somehow or other the very man who entreats leave to offer you a present holds you the cheaper for accepting it ; if you refuse, it is strange how much more admiration and hear in the course of my profession ...
I will never divulge ' (p. 299).
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miratur.
Praedicator continentiae, nuptias ne con- ' Superest, ut et qui habent uxores, sic sint, quasi non habentes,' cur virginem cogit, ut nubat ?
Qui de monogamia sacerdos est, quare viduam hortatur, ut 8tya/xo^ sit ?
Procuratores et dispensatores domorum alienarum atque villarum quomodo esse possunt, qui proprias iubentur contemnere facultates ?
Amico quippiam rapere furtum est, ecclesiam fraudare sacrilegium ciliet.
Qui apostolum legit : est.
Accepisse pauperibus erogandum et esurientibus plurimis vel cautum esse vel timidum aut—quod apertissimi sceleris est—aliquid inde subtrahere omnium praedonum crudelitatem superat.
Ego fame torqueor et tu iudicas, quantum ventri meo satis sit ?
Aut divide statim, quod acceperis, aut, si timidus dispensator es, dimitte largitorem, ut sua ipse distribuat.
Nolo sub occasione mea sacculus tuus plenus sit.
Nemo me melius mea servare potest.
Optimus dispensator est, qui sibi nihil reservat.
17. Coegisti me, Nepotiane carissime, lapidato iam virginitatis libello, quern sanctae Eustochiae Romae scripseram, post annos decern rursus Bethleem ora reserare et confodiendum me linguis omnium prodere.
Aut enim nihil scribendum fuit, ne hominum iudicium subiremus, quod tu facere prohibuisti, aut scribentes nosse cunctorum adversum nos maledicorum tela torquenda.
Quos obsecro, quiescant et desinant maledicere ; non enim ut adversarii, sed ut amici
1 Corinthians, vii. 29.
2 A ' bigamist ' in the early Church was one who remarried. s Cf. Letter XXII.
LETTER LII for you he feels.
The preacher of continence must not try to arrange marriages.
The apostle says ' It remaineth that they who have wives be as though they had none.' 1
Why then should a man who reads those words force a virgin into marriage ?
A priest is a monogamist : why should he urge a widow to be a bigamist ? 2
How can clergymen be agents and stewards of other men's households in town or country, when they are bidden to disregard even their own interests ?
To rob a friend is theft, but to defraud the Church is sacrilege.
When you have received money to be spent on the poor, to be cautious and timid with it while crowds are hungry, or—what is most manifest villainy—to take any of it for yourself, is to surpass the cruelty of the worst robber.
While I am racked with hunger, are you to judge how much will satisfy my cravings?
Either distribute immediately what you have received, or, if you are a timid almoner, dismiss the donor to hand out his own gifts.
I do not wish your purse to be full by taking advantage of me.
No one can look after what is mine better than I can.
The best almoner is he who keeps back nothing for himself.
The treatise on virginity which I wrote at Rome to the saintly Eustochium 3 was greeted with showers of stones, and you, my dearest Nepotian, have compelled me now ten years later to open my mouth again at Bethlehem, and to expose myself to the stabs of every tongue.
If I were to escape criticism either I had to refrain from writing altogether—which you rendered impossible—or if I wrote I knew that all the shafts of calumny would be hurled against me.
I beg my opponents now to hold their peace and cease from abuse.
I have written not as an adversary
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scripsimus, nec invecti sumus in eos, qui peccant, sed, ne peccent, monuimus.
Neque in illos tantum, sed et in nos ipsos severi iudices fuimus volentesque festucam de oculo alterius tollere nostram prius trabem eiecimus.
Nullum laesi, nullus saltim descriptione signatus est, neminem specialiter meus sermo pulsavit : generalis de vitiis disputatio est.
Qui mihi irasci voluerit, prius ipse de se, quod tabs sit, confitetur.
LIV Ad Furiam de Viduitate Servanda 1. Obsecras litteris et suppliciter deprecaris, ut tibi scribam, immo rescribam ,
quomodo vivere debeas et viduitatis coronam inlaeso pudicitiae nomine conservare.
Gaudet animus, exultant viscera, gestit affectus hoc te cupere esse post virum, quod sanctae memoriae mater tua Titiana multo fuit tempore sub marito.
Exauditae sunt preces et orationes eius.
Inpetravit in unica filia, quod vivens ipsa possederat.
Habes praeterea generis tui grande privilegium, quod exinde a Camillo vel nulla vel rara vestrae familiae scribitur secundos nosse concubitus, ut non tarn laudanda sis, si vidua perseveres, quam 1 rescribam, immo scribam :
Hilberg.
1 Furia was one of the many rich and noble ladies who gathered round Jerome while he was living in Rome.
After her first husband's death she had thought of a second marriage, but abandoned the idea and devoted herself to the care of her young children and aged father.
In this letter, written a.d. 394, Jerome lays down rules for her conduct in widowhood, and commends her to the care of the presbyter
Exuperius, who afterwards became Bishop of Toulouse.
Cf. p. 436, note 3.
LETTER
LII AND LETTER LIV
but as a friend.
I have not inveighed against sinners, I have only counselled men not to sin.
I have judged myself as strictly as I judge them, and have cast out the beam from my own eye before I tried to remove a mote from my neighbour's.
I have hurt no one ; at least no one has been marked out for special mention, and my discourse has not attacked individuals but has been a general criticism of weaknesses.
If any one insists on being angry with me, he confesses thereby that in his case the cap fits.
LETTER LIV
To Furia 1 on the duty of remaining a widow Written a.d. 394
In your letter you beg and beseech me to write— or rather to write by return—and tell you how you ought to live, keeping the crown of widowhood in unsullied chastity.
My heart rejoices, my bowels exult, my every fibre thrills to know that you desire to be after marriage what your mother Titiana of saintly memory was for many a year in marriage.
Her prayers and entreaties have been heard.
In her only daughter she has been granted that which she herself possessed in her lifetime.
Moreover, it is the peculiar glory of your family that from the days of Camillus 2 few or none of your women are recorded as having known a second husband's bed.
Therefore you will not be so much deserving of praise if you persist in widowhood, as you would be worthy of 2 Furius Camillus, fl. 400 b.c.
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execranda, si id Christiana non serves, quod per tanta saecula gentiles feminae custodierunt.
2. Taceo de Paula et Eustochio, stirpis vestrae floribus, ne per occasionem exhortationis tuae illas laudare videar, Blesillamque praetereo, quae maritum suum, tuum secuta germanum, in brevi vitae spatio tempora virtutum multa complevit.
Atque utinam praeconia feminarum imitarentur viri et rugosa senectus redderet, quod sponte offert adulescentia Sciens et videns in flammam mitto manum : adducentur supercilia, extendetur brachium ' iratusque Chremes tumido desaeviet ore/ Consurgunt proceres et adversum epistolam meam turba patricia detonabit me magum, me seductorem clamitans in terras ultimas asportandum.
Addant, si volunt, et Samariten, ut domini mei titulum recognoscam.
Certe filiam a parente non divido nee dico illud de evangelio :
'Sine mortui sepeliant mortuos suos/ Vivit enim, qui credit in Christo, et, qui in ilium credit, debet utique, ' quomodo ille ambulavit, et ipse ambulare/ 3. Facessat invidia, quam nomine Christiano malidicorum semper genuinus infigit, ut, dum probra metuunt, ad virtutes non provocent.
Exceptis epistulis ignoramus alterutrum, solaque causa pietatis ' Honora patrem tuum/ sed, si te a vero patre non separat.
Tam diu est, ubi carnis nulla notitia est.
Cf. table on p. 482.
2 Horace, Ars Poetica, 94; the Chremes of Terence, Heauton Timoroumenos. Act 5, is angry with his son because of a degrading love affair.
St. John, viii. 48.
St. Matthew, viii. 22.
1 John, ii. 6.
G Exodus, xx. 12.