The Letters of St. Jerome 114
114.0 To Theophilus PL 22, 933
Jerome writes to Theophilus to apologize for his delay in sending Latin versions of the latter’s letter (CXIII.) and invective against John Chrysostom. Possibly, however, the allusion may be not to these but to some other work of Theophilus (e.g. a paschal letter.) This delay he attributes to the disturbed state of Palestine, the severity of the winter, the prevalent famine, and his own ill-health. He now sends the translations that he has made and, while he deprecates criticism on his own work, praises that of Theophilus, quoting with particular approval the directions given by this latter for the reverent care of the vessels used in celebrating the holy communion. The date of the letter is 405 a.d.
To the most blessed pope Theophilus, Jerome.
114.1 To Theophilus PL 22, 933
1. My delay in sending back to your holiness your treatise translated into Latin is accounted for by the many interruptions and obstacles that I have met with. There has been a sudden raid of the Isaurians; Phœnicia and Galilee have been laid waste; Palestine has been panic-stricken, and particularly Jerusalem; we have all been engaged in making not books but walls. There has also been a severe winter and an almost unbearable famine; and these have told heavily upon me who have the charge of many brothers. Amid these difficulties the work of translation went on by night, as I could save or snatch time to give to it. At last I got it done and by Lent nothing remained but to collate the fair copy with the original. However, just then a severe illness seized me and I was brought to the threshold of death, from which I have only been saved by God’s mercy and your prayers; perhaps for this very purpose that I might fulfil your behest and render with its writer’s elegance the charming volume which you have adorned with the scripture’s fairest flowers. But bodily weakness and sorrow of heart have, I need hardly say, dulled the edge of my intellect and obstructed the free flow of my language.
Quod tardius Beatitudini tuae latino sermone translatum Librum tuum remitterem, multa in medio impedimenta fecerunt: Isaurorum repentina 759 eruptio: Phoenicis Galilaeaeque vastitas: terror Palaestinae, praecipue Jerosolymae: et nequaquam librorum, sed murorum exstructio. Ad hoc asperitas hyemis, fames intolerabilis, nobis praesertim, quibus multorum fratrum cura imposita est. Inter quas difficultates lucrativis, et ut ita dicam, furtivis, per noctem operis, crescebat interpretatio, et jam in schedulis tenebatur, cum diebus sanctae Quadragesimae scripta ad purum, collatione tantum indigerem, gravissimo languore correptus, et mortis limen ingrediens, Domini misericordia et tuis precibus reservatus sum. Ad hoc forsitan ut implerem praeceptum tuum, et volumen disertissimum, quod Scripturarum floribus texuisti, eadem qua a te scriptum est gratia verterem; licet imbecillitas corporis et animi moeror, ingenii quoque acumen obtuderit, et verba prono cursu labentia velut quibusdam obicibus retardarit.
114.2 PL 22, 934
2. I admire in your work its practical aim, designed as it is to instruct by the authority of scripture ignorant persons in all the churches concerning the reverence with which they must handle holy things and minister at Christ’s altar; and to impress upon them that the sacred chalices, veils, and other accessories used in the celebration of the Lord’s passion are not mere lifeless and senseless objects devoid of holiness, but that rather, from their association with the body and blood of the Lord, they are to be venerated with the same awe as the body and the blood themselves.
Mirati sumus in opere tuo utilitatem omnium Ecclesiarum, ut discant qui ignorant, eruditi testimoniis Scripturarum, qua debeant veneratione Sancta suscipere, et altaris Christi ministerio deservire; sacrosque calices, et sancta velamina, et caetera, quae ad cultum Dominicae pertinent Passionis, non quasi inania, et sensu carentia sanctimoniam non habere; sed ex consortio Corporis et Sanguinis Domini eadem qua Corpus ejus et Sanguis majestate veneranda.
114.3 PL 22, 935
3. Take back then your book, nay mine or better still ours; for when you flatter me you will but flatter yourself. It is for you that my brain has toiled; it is for you that I have striven with the poor resources of the Latin tongue to find an equivalent for the eloquence of the Greek. I have not indeed given a word-for-word rendering, as skilled translators do, nor have I counted out the money you have given to me coin by coin; but I have given you full weight. Some words may be missing but none of the sense is lost. Moreover I have translated into Latin and prefixed to this volume the letter that you sent to me, so that all who read it may know that I have acted under the commands of your holiness, and have not rashly and over-confidently undertaken a task that is beyond my powers. Whether I have succeeded in it I must leave to your judgment. Even though you may blame my weakness, you will at least give me credit for my good intention.
Suscipe igitur Librum tuum, imo meum, et ut verius loquar, nostrum: cumque mihi faveris, tuus fautor eris. Tibi enim meum sudavit ingenium, et facundiam graecam latinae linguae volui paupertate pensare. Neque vero ut diserti interpretes faciunt, verbum verbo reddidi; nec adnumeravi 760 pecuniam, quam mihi per partes dederas, sed pariter appendi; ut nihil desit ex sensibus, cum aliquid desit ex verbis. Epistolam autem tuam idcirco in latinum verti, et huic volumini praeposui, ut omnes, qui legerint, sciant me non temeritate et jactantia, sed praeceptis Beatitudinis tuae suscepisse onus ultra vires meas. Quod an consecutus sim, tuo judicio derelinquo. Certe si imbecillitatem reprehenderis, voluntati veniam commodabis.