Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series • VOLUME 6
Jerome — Principal Works
SECTION 1
A SELECT LIBRARY
Title: NPNF2-06. Jerome: The Principal Works of St. Jerome Creator(s): Jerome, St. Schaff, Philip (1819-1893) (Editor) Freemantle, M.A., The Hon. W.H. (Translator) Print Basis: New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1892 Rights: Public Domain CCEL Subjects: All; Proofed; Early Church; LC Call no: BR60 LC Subjects: Chris…
2,204 wordsSECTION 2Valentinian had died in 375, leaving two sons, Gratian, an accomplished youth of eighteen, who became Emperor of Gaul and the West, and Vale
Valentinian had died in 375, leaving two sons, Gratian, an accomplished youth of eighteen, who became Emperor of Gaul and the West, and Valentinian II., then a child, who was nominal Emperor of Italy and the central provinces, and who, with his mother Justina, had his residence at Milan. Gratian distinguished himself by his cond…
2,435 wordsSECTION 3The Empire of the West might now be compared to a ship heaving to and fro in a troubled sea, encompassed by enemies and without captain or r
The Empire of the West might now be compared to a ship heaving to and fro in a troubled sea, encompassed by enemies and without captain or rudder. Britain had revolted in 409. From 409 to 413 Gaul was a prey to revolutions, and the usurper Constantine was with difficulty overcome by the Roman General Constantius, only to be foll…
2,384 wordsSECTION 4384-5. This congenial scene of activity and friendship was broken up by the death of Damasus. The new Pope, Siricius, to whom many had thoug
384-5. This congenial scene of activity and friendship was broken up by the death of Damasus. The new Pope, Siricius, to whom many had thought of Jerome as a rival (59), was without sympathy for him: he had offended almost every class of the community by his unrestrained satire (Letters xxii., xl., liv., etc.): he had awakened s…
2,327 wordsSECTION 5(2) Origenism. 393-403. The second great controversy in which Jerome was engaged at this period relates to Origenism, about which a great co
(2) Origenism. 393-403. The second great controversy in which Jerome was engaged at this period relates to Origenism, about which a great controversy had arisen at Alexandria, leading to its condemnation by the Bishops of Palestine and Cyprus in the East, and by the Pope and the Bishop of Milan and others in the West. The great…
2,514 wordsSECTION 6Bethlehem, Third Period. 405-420. The last period of Jerome's life was passed in the midst of privations, the loss of friends, and frequent
Bethlehem, Third Period. 405-420. The last period of Jerome's life was passed in the midst of privations, the loss of friends, and frequent illnesses. Paula had died. Jerome was poor (500, 214, 215) and often weak (498, 500). His eyesight failed (id.). He had enemies around him (261, 262) and in the high places of the Empire (23…
1,544 wordsSECTION 7Books illustrative of Scripture:
Books illustrative of Scripture: (1) Book of Hebrew names, or Glossary of Proper Names in the Old Testament, Bethlehem, 388, vol. iii. 1. (2) Book of Questions on Genesis, Bethlehem, 388, vol. iii. 301. (3) A translation of Eusebius' book on the sites and names of Hebrew places, Bethlehem, 388, vol. iii. 321. (4) Translation…
2,423 wordsSECTION 8Publication. Two circumstances conduced to the vividness and importance of this series of letters. One of these is the fact that no distinct
Publication. Two circumstances conduced to the vividness and importance of this series of letters. One of these is the fact that no distinct line separated private documents from those designed for publication. In the Catalogue of his works (De Vir. Ill. 135)1 he says: "Of the Letters to Paula and Eustochium, the number is infin…
2,254 wordsSECTION 9But it seems better to look to the social and political state of the world as the predisposing cause of monasticism. Even in the East it is
But it seems better to look to the social and political state of the world as the predisposing cause of monasticism. Even in the East it is thought that the miserable conditions of practical life have been the main cause of a religion of despair; and the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries offe…
2,206 wordsSECTION 10360. Julian Emperor.
360. Julian Emperor. 373. Leaves Aquileia for the East. 361. Death of Constantius. 362. Eusebius of Vercellæ and other Bishops recalled from exile. 363. Death of Julian. Jovian Emperor. 364. Death of Jovian. Valentinian and Valens. 374. Illness at Antioch. Anti-Ciceronian dream. 374. Life of Paulus, the first hermit. 365…
1,007 wordsSECTION 11Letter I. To Innocent.
Letter I. To Innocent. Not only the first of the letters but probably the earliest extant composition of Jerome (c. 370 a.d.). Innocent, to whom it is addressed, was one of the little band of enthusiasts whom Jerome gathered round him in Aquileia. He followed his friend to Syria, where he died in 374 a.d. (See Letter III., 3.) …
2,234 wordsSECTION 12Letter II. To Theodosius and the Rest of the Anchorites.
15. But now see whither the progress of my story has brought me; we come upon the name of our friend Evagrius. [15] So great have his exertions been in the cause of Christ that, were I to suppose it possible adequately to describe them, I should only show my own folly; and were I minded deliberately to pass them by, I still coul…
773 wordsSECTION 13Letter III. To Rufinus the Monk. [23]
Letter III. To Rufinus the Monk. [23] Written from Antioch, 374 a.d., to Rufinus in Egypt. Jerome narrates his travels and the events which have taken place since his arrival in Syria, particularly the deaths of Innocent and Hylas (§3). He also describes the life of Bonosus, who was now a hermit on an island in the Adriatic (§4…
2,204 wordsSECTION 14Letter IV. To Florentius.
[64] Quoted from Tert. de C. F. ii. 7. Letter IV. To Florentius. Sent to Florentius along with the preceding letter, which Jerome requests him to deliver to Rufinus. This Florentius was a rich Italian who had retired to Jerusalem to pursue the monastic life. Jerome subsequently speaks of him as "a distinguished monk so pitiful…
1,336 wordsSECTION 15Letter VI. To Julian, a Deacon of Antioch.
Letter VI. To Julian, a Deacon of Antioch. This letter, written in 374 a.d., is chiefly interesting for its mention of Jerome's sister. It would seem that she had fallen into sin and had been restored to a life of virtue by the deacon, Julian. Jerome speaks of her again in the next letter (§4). It is an old saying, "Liars are …
2,200 wordsSECTION 16Letter VIII. To Niceas, Sub-Deacon of Aquileia.
[108] Psa. cxxxvii. 3; cxlvi. 7, 8. [109] 1 Cor. iii. 6. [110] Virg. A. iv. 298. [111] Jerome again refers to his own frailty in Letters XIV. § 6, XVIII. § 11, and XLVIII. § 20. [112] 1 Cor. xiii. 7. [113] Papa. The word "pope" was at this time used as a name of respect ("father in God") for bishops generally. Only by degre…
921 wordsSECTION 17Letter X. To Paul, an Old Man of Concordia.
Letter X. To Paul, an Old Man of Concordia. Jerome writes to Paul of Concordia, a centenarian (§2), and the owner of a good theological library (§3), to lend him some commentaries. In return he sends him his life (newly written) of Paul the hermit. [127] The date of the letter is 374 a.d. 1. The shortness of man's life is the …
1,037 wordsSECTION 18Letter XI. To the Virgins of Æmona.
Letter XI. To the Virgins of Æmona. Æmona was a Roman colony not far from Stridon, Jerome's birthplace. The virgins to whom the note is addressed had omitted to answer his letters, and he now writes to upbraid them for their remissness. The date of the letter is 374 a.d. This scanty sheet of paper shows in what a wilderness I …
966 wordsSECTION 19Letter XIII. To Castorina, His Maternal Aunt.
Letter XIII. To Castorina, His Maternal Aunt. An interesting letter, as throwing some light on Jerome's family relations. Castorina, his maternal aunt, had, for some reason, become estranged from him, and he now writes to her to effect a reconciliation. Whether he succeeded in doing so, we do not know. The date of the letter is…
2,576 wordsSECTION 207. I know you will rejoin that you possess nothing. Why, then, if you are so well prepared for battle, do you not take the field? Perhaps yo
7. I know you will rejoin that you possess nothing. Why, then, if you are so well prepared for battle, do you not take the field? Perhaps you think that you can wage war in your own country, although the Lord could do no signs in His? [215] Why not? you ask. Take the answer which comes to you with his authority: "No prophet is a…
2,200 wordsSECTION 21Letter XV. To Pope Damasus.
[254] Matt. xxiv. 46. [255] 1 Thess. iv. 16. [256] Luke ii. 7. [257] From Tertullian, de Spect. xxx. [258] Matt. xxvii. 28, 29. [259] Joh. viii. 48. [260] Matt. xxvii. 64. Letter XV. To Pope Damasus. This letter, written in 376 or 377 a.d., illustrates Jerome's attitude towards the see of Rome at this time held by Damasu…
1,950 wordsSECTION 22Letter XVI. To Pope Damasus.
Letter XVI. To Pope Damasus. This letter, written a few months after the preceding, is another appeal to Damasus to solve the writer's doubts. Jerome once more refers to his baptism at Rome, and declares that his one answer to the factions at Antioch is, "He who clings to the chair of Peter is accepted by me." Written from the …
710 wordsSECTION 23Letter XVII. To the Presbyter Marcus.
Letter XVII. To the Presbyter Marcus. In this letter, addressed to one who seems to have had some pre-eminence among the monks of the Chalcidian desert, Jerome complains of the hard treatment meted out to him because of his refusal to take any part in the great theological dispute then raging in Syria. He protests his own ortho…
1,064 wordsSECTION 24Letter XVIII. To Pope Damasus.
Letter XVIII. To Pope Damasus. This (written from Constantinople in a.d. 381) is the earliest of Jerome's expository letters. In it he explains at length the vision recorded in the sixth chapter of Isaiah, and enlarges upon its mystical meaning. "Some of my predecessors," he writes, "make the Lord sitting upon a throne' God the…
2,269 wordsSECTION 256. But if even real virgins, when they have other failings, are not saved by their physical virginity, what shall become of those who have p
6. But if even real virgins, when they have other failings, are not saved by their physical virginity, what shall become of those who have prostituted the members of Christ, and have changed the temple of the Holy Ghost into a brothel? Straightway shall they hear the words: "Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Ba…
2,330 wordsSECTION 2613. I cannot bring myself to speak of the many virgins who daily fall and are lost to the bosom of the church, their mother: stars over whic
13. I cannot bring myself to speak of the many virgins who daily fall and are lost to the bosom of the church, their mother: stars over which the proud foe sets up his throne, [428] and rocks hollowed by the serpent that he may dwell in their fissures. You may see many women widows before wedded, who try to conceal their miserab…
2,202 wordsSECTION 27Some people may be eunuchs from necessity; I am one of free will. [462] "There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. Th
Some people may be eunuchs from necessity; I am one of free will. [462] "There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. There is a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together." [463] Now that out of the hard stones of the Gentiles God has raised up children unto Abraham, [464] they begin to b…
2,269 wordsSECTION 28Like the ark of the covenant Christ's spouse should be overlaid with gold within and without; [514] she should be the guardian of the law of
Like the ark of the covenant Christ's spouse should be overlaid with gold within and without; [514] she should be the guardian of the law of the Lord. Just as the ark contained nothing but the tables of the covenant, [515] so in you there should be no thought of anything that is outside. For it pleases the Lord to sit in your mi…
2,480 wordsSECTION 2929. Many are the stratagems which the wily enemy employs against us. "The serpent," we are told, "was more subtile than any beast of the fie
29. Many are the stratagems which the wily enemy employs against us. "The serpent," we are told, "was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." [564] And the apostle says: "We are not ignorant of his devices." [565] Neither an affected shabbiness nor a stylish smartness becomes a Christian. If there …
2,339 wordsSECTION 3034. As I have mentioned the monks, and know that you like to hear about holy things, lend an ear to me for a few moments. There are in Egypt
34. As I have mentioned the monks, and know that you like to hear about holy things, lend an ear to me for a few moments. There are in Egypt three classes of monks. First, there are the coenobites, [606] called in their Gentile language Sauses, [607] or, as we should say, men living in a community. [608] Secondly, there are the …
2,300 wordsSECTION 31For our salvation the Son of God is made the Son of Man. [647] Nine months He awaits His birth in the womb, undergoes the most revolting con
For our salvation the Son of God is made the Son of Man. [647] Nine months He awaits His birth in the womb, undergoes the most revolting conditions, [648] and comes forth covered with blood, to be swathed in rags and covered with caresses. He who shuts up the world in His fist [649] is contained in the narrow limits of a manger.…
2,201 wordsSECTION 32[510] Matt. xx. 16; xxii. 14.
[510] Matt. xx. 16; xxii. 14. [511] 2 Sam. vi. 6, 7. [512] 2 Kings xx. 12, 13. [513] Dan. v. 1-3. [514] Ex. xxv. 11. [515] 1 Kings viii. 9. [516] Ex. xxv. 22. [517] Matt. xxi. 1-3. [518] Ex. vii. 16. [519] Matt. xxi. 12, 13, R.V. [520] Matt. xxvii. 51. [521] Matt. xxiii. 38. [522] R.V. marg. [523] Luke x. 41, 42. […
1,135 wordsSECTION 33Letter XXIII. To Marcella.
Letter XXIII. To Marcella. Jerome writes to Marcella to console her for the loss of a friend who, like herself, was the head of a religious society at Rome. The news of Lea's death had first reached Marcella when she was engaged with Jerome in the study of the 73d psalm. Later in the day he writes this letter in which, after ex…
1,035 wordsSECTION 34Letter XXIV. To Marcella.
Letter XXIV. To Marcella. Concerning the virgin Asella. Dedicated to God before her birth, Marcella's sister had been made a church-virgin at the age of ten. From that time she had lived a life of the severest asceticism, first as a member and then as the head of Marcella's community upon the Aventine. Jerome, who subsequently …
1,079 wordsSECTION 35Letter XXV. To Marcella.
Letter XXV. To Marcella. An explanation of the ten names given to God in the Hebrew Scriptures. The ten names are El, Elohim, Sabaôth, Eliôn, Asher yeheyeh (Ex. iii. 14), Adonai, Jah, the tetragram JHVH, and Shaddai. Written at Rome 384 a.d. Letter XXVI. To Marcella. An explanation of certain Hebrew words which have been left…
1,034 wordsSECTION 36Letter XXVIII. To Marcella.
Letter XXVIII. To Marcella. An explanation of the Hebrew word Selah. This word, rendered by the LXX. diapsalma and by Aquila aei, was as much a crux in Jerome's day as it is in ours. "Some," he writes, "make it a change of metre,' others a pause for breath,' others the beginning of a new subject.' According to yet others it has…
979 wordsSECTION 37Letter XXXII. To Marcella.
Letter XXXII. To Marcella. Jerome writes that he is busy collating Aquila's Greek version of the Old Testament with the Hebrew, inquires after Marcella's mother, and forwards the two preceding letters (XXX., XXXI.). Written at Rome in 384 a.d. 1. There are two reasons for the shortness of this letter, one that its bearer is im…
1,107 wordsSECTION 38Letter XXXIV. To Marcella.
Letter XXXIV. To Marcella. In reply to a request from Marcella for information concerning two phrases in Ps. cxxvii. ("bread of sorrow," v. 2, and "children of the shaken off," A.V. "of the youth," v. 4). Jerome, after lamenting that Origen's notes on the psalm are no longer extant, gives the following explanations: The Hebrew…
704 wordsSECTION 39Letter XXXVIII. To Marcella.
Letter XXXVIII. To Marcella. Blæsilla, the daughter of Paula and sister of Eustochium, had lost her husband seven months after her marriage. A dangerous illness had then led to her conversion, and she was now famous throughout Rome for the length to which she carried her austerities. Many censured her for what they deemed her f…
1,437 wordsSECTION 40Letter XXXIX. To Paula.
Letter XXXIX. To Paula. Blæsilla died within three months of her conversion, and Jerome now writes to Paula to offer her his sympathy and, if possible, to moderate her grief. He asks her to remember that Blæsilla is now in paradise, and so far to control herself as to prevent enemies of the faith from cavilling at her conduct. …
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Source & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.