The Letters of St. Jerome 142

St Jerome (AD 345–420) · Epistolae · PL 22, 327–1224

142 To Augustine PL 22, 1180

There is good ground for supposing this to form part of the previous letter. If so, Jerome speaks in a figure of the success gained by Pelagianism in Palestine. “Jerusalem,” he says, “is in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and will not heed the voice of Jeremiah,” that is, as the context shews, Jerome himself. This letter is among those of Augustine, number 123.

Significat damnatas haereses clam et oblique adhuc moliri, et non neminem potentem esse, qui dissimulanter eis faveat.

Domino sancto ac beatissimo Papae AUGUSTINO HIERONYMUS.

Multi utroque claudicant pede; et ne fractis quidem cervicibus inclinantur, habentes affectum erroris pristini, cum praedicandi eamdem non habeant libertatem. Sancti fratres, qui cum nostra sunt parvitate, praecipue sanctae ac venerabiles filiae tuae, suppliciter te salutant. Fratres tuos, dominum meum Alypium, et dominum meum Evodium, ut meo nomine salutes, precor coronam tuam. Capta Jerusalem tenetur a Nabuchodonosor, nec Jeremiae vult audire consilia: quin potius Aegyptum desiderat, ut moriatur in Taphnes, et ibi servitute pereat sempiterna.

Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (eds.), New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1890-1900. Public domain: English translation first published 1885-1900 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series). Latin: Migne, Patrologia Latina (1844-1855), public domain; transcription from Corpus Corporum (University of Zurich).