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| To Riparius.
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Letter
CXXXVIII. To Riparius.
Jerome praises Riparius for his zeal on behalf of the
Catholic faith and for his efforts to put down the Pelagians. He then
describes the attack made by these heretics upon the monasteries of
Bethlehem. Now, he is glad to say, they have at last been driven from
Palestine. Most of them, that is, for some still linger at Joppa
including one of their chief leaders. The date is a.d. 417.
That you fight Christ’s battles against the
enemies of the Catholic Faith your own letters have informed me as well
as the reports of many persons, but I am told that you find the winds
contrary and that those who ought to have been the world’s
champions have backed the cause of perdition to each other’s
ruin. You are to know that in this part of the world, without any human
help and merely by the decree of Christ, Catiline3890
| 3890 Pelagius would
naturally be understood by Catiline, and Celestius by Lentulus, who was
Catiline’s lieutenant. But it is known that, after the Synod of
Diospolis which acquitted them, Celestius went to Africa, Ephesus,
Constantinople, and Rome, while Pelagius apparently remained in
Palestine, where he died. | has been driven not only from the
capital but from the borders of Palestine. Lentulus, however, and many
of his fellow-conspirators still linger to our sorrow in Joppa. I
myself have thought it better to change my abode than to surrender the
true faith; and have chosen to leave my pleasant home rather than to
suffer contamination from heresy. For I could not communicate with men
who would either have insisted on my instant submission or would else
have summoned me to support my opinions by the sword. A good many, I
dare say, have told you the story of my sufferings and of the vengeance
which Christ’s uplifted hand has on my behalf taken upon my
enemies. I would beg of you, therefore, to complete the task which you
have taken up and not, while you are in it, to leave Christ’s church without a
defender. Every one knows the weapons that must be used in this
warfare; and you, I feel sure will ask for no others. You must contend
with all your might against the foe; but it must be not with physical
force but with that spiritual charity which is never overcome. The
reverend brothers who are with me, unworthy as I am, salute you warmly.
The reverend brother, the deacon Alentius, is sure to give you, my
worshipful friend, a faithful narrative of all the facts. May Christ
our Lord, of His almighty power, keep you safe and mindful of me, truly
reverend sir and esteemed brother.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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