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| To Rufinus the Monk.
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Letter III. To Rufinus the Monk.23
| 23 In Jerome’s day
this term included all—whether hermits or
cœnobites—who forsook the world and embraced an ascetic
life. |
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). The main
object of the letter is to induce Rufinus to come to Syria.
1. That God gives more than we ask Him for,24
and that He often grants us things which
“eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have they entered into
the heart of man,”25
I knew indeed before
from the mystic declaration of the sacred volumes; but now, dearest
Rufinus, I have had proof of it in my own case. For I who fancied it
too bold a wish to be allowed by an exchange of letters to counterfeit
to myself your presence in the flesh, hear that you are penetrating the
remotest parts of Egypt, visiting the monks and going round God’s
family upon earth. Oh, if only the Lord Jesus Christ would suddenly
transport me to you as Philip was transported to the eunuch,26
and Habakkuk to Daniel,27
with what a close embrace would I clasp your neck, how fondly would I
press kisses upon that mouth which has so often joined with me of old
in error or in wisdom. But as I am unworthy (not that you should so
come to me but) that I should so come to you, and because my poor body,
weak even when well, has been shattered by frequent illnesses; I send
this letter to meet you instead of coming myself, in the hope that it
may bring you hither to me caught in the meshes of love’s
net.
2. My first joy at such unexpected good tidings was due
to our brother, Heliodorus. I desired to be sure of it, but did not
dare to feel sure, especially as he told me that he had only heard it
from some one else, and as the strangeness of the news impaired the
credit of the story. Once more my wishes hovered in uncertainty and my
mind wavered, till an Alexandrian monk who had some time previously
been sent over by the dutiful zeal of the people to the Egyptian
confessors (in will already martyrs28
| 28 Priests, monks, and
others who, because they would not declare themselves Arians, were
banished by order of Valens to Heliopolis in Phenicia. | ), impelled me
by his presence to believe the tidings. Even then, I must admit I still
hesitated. For on the one hand he
knew nothing either of your name or country: yet on the other what he
said seemed likely to be true, agreeing as it did with the hint which
had already reached me. At last the truth broke upon me in all its
fulness, for a constant stream of persons passing through brought the
report: “Rufinus is at Nitria, and has reached the abode of the
blessed Macarius.”29
| 29 There were two hermits
of this name in Egypt, and it is not certain which is meant. One of
them was a disciple of Antony. | At this point I cast
away all that restrained my belief, and then first really grieved to
find myself ill. Had it not been that my wasted and enfeebled frame
fettered my movements, neither the summer heat nor the dangerous voyage
should have had power to retard the rapid steps of affection. Believe
me, brother, I look forward to seeing you more than the storm-tossed
mariner looks for his haven, more than the thirsty fields long for the
showers, more than the anxious mother sitting on the curving shore
expects her son.
3. After that sudden whirlwind30
| 30 The ascetic community at
Aquileia, of which Jerome and Rufinus were the leaders, had been broken
up, perhaps through the efforts of Lupicinus, the bishop of
Stridon. | dragged
me from your side, severing with its impious wrench the bonds of
affection in which we were knit together,
The dark blue raincloud lowered o’er my head:
On all sides were the seas, on all the sky.31
| 31 Virg. A. iii. 193, 194:
v. 9. |
I wandered about, uncertain where to go. Thrace, Pontus,
Bithynia, the whole of Galatia and Cappadocia, Cilicia also with its
burning heat, one after another shattered my energies. At last Syria
presented itself to me as a most secure harbor to a shipwrecked man.
Here, after undergoing every possible kind of sickness, I lost one of
my two eyes; for Innocent,32
the half of my
soul,33
was taken away from me by a sudden attack
of fever. The one eye which I now enjoy, and which is all in all to me,
is our Evagrius,34
upon whom I with my constant
infirmities have come as an additional burden. We had with us also
Hylas,35
| 35 A freedman of
Melanium. | the servant of the holy Melanium,36
| 36 A young Roman widow who
had given up the world that she might adopt the ascetic life. She
accompanied Rufinus to the East and settled with him on the Mount of
Olives. She is mentioned again in Letters IV., XXXIX., XLV., and
others. | who by his stainless conduct had wiped out
the taint of his previous servitude. His death opened afresh the wound
which had not yet healed. But as the apostle’s words forbid us to
mourn for those who sleep,37
and as my excess of
grief has been tempered by the joyful news that has since come to me, I
recount this last, that, if you have not heard it, you may learn it;
and that, if you know it already, you may rejoice over it with me.
4. Bonosus,38
your friend, or,
to speak more truly, mine as well as yours, is now climbing the ladder
foreshown in Jacob’s dream.39
He is bearing
his cross, neither taking thought for the morrow40
nor
looking back at what he has left.41
He is sowing in
tears that he may reap in joy.42
As Moses in a type so
he in reality is lifting up the serpent in the wilderness.43
This is a true story, and it may well put
to shame the lying marvels described by Greek and Roman pens. For here
you have a youth educated with us in the refining accomplishments of
the world, with abundance of wealth, and in rank inferior to none of
his associates; yet he forsakes his mother, his sisters, and his dearly
loved brother, and settles like a new tiller of Eden on a dangerous
island, with the sea roaring round its reefs; while its rough crags,
bare rocks, and desolate aspect make it more terrible still. No peasant
or monk is to be found there. Even the little Onesimus44
| 44 Of this child nothing is
known. | you know of, in whose kisses he used to
rejoice as in those of a brother, in this tremendous solitude no longer
remains at his side. Alone upon the island—or rather not alone,
for Christ is with him—he sees the glory of God, which even the
apostles saw not save in the desert. He beholds, it is true, no
embattled towns, but he has enrolled his name in the new city.45
Garments of sackcloth disfigure his limbs,
yet so clad he will be the sooner caught up to meet Christ in the
clouds.46
No watercourse pleasant to the view supplies
his wants, but from the Lord’s side he drinks the water of
life.47
Place all this before your eyes, dear
friend, and with all the faculties of your mind picture to yourself the
scene. When you realize the effort of the fighter then you will be able
to praise his victory. Round the entire island roars the frenzied sea,
while the beetling crags along its winding shores resound as the
billows beat against them. No grass makes the ground green; there are
no shady copses and no fertile fields. Precipitous cliffs surround his
dreadful abode as if it were a prison. But he, careless, fearless, and
armed from head to foot with the apostle’s armor,48
now listens to God by reading the Scriptures, now speaks to God as he prays
to the Lord; and it may be that, while he lingers in the island, he
sees some vision such as that once seen by John.49
5. What snares, think you, is the devil now weaving?
What stratagems is he preparing? Perchance, mindful of his old trick,50
he will try to tempt Bonosus with hunger. But
he has been answered already: “Man shall not live by bread
alone.”51
Perchance he will lay before him wealth
and fame. But it shall be said to him: “They that desire to be
rich fall into a trap52
| 52 Literally
“mousetrap.” This variant is peculiar to Cyprian and
Jerome. | and
temptations,”53
and “For me all
glorying is in Christ.”54
He will come, it may
be, when the limbs are weary with fasting, and rack them with the pangs
of disease; but the cry of the apostle will repel him: “When I am
weak, then am I strong,” and “My strength is made perfect
in weakness.”55
He will hold out
threats of death; but the reply will be: “I desire to depart and
to be with Christ.”56
He will brandish his
fiery darts, but they will be received on the shield of faith.57
In a word, Satan will assail him, but Christ
will defend. Thanks be to Thee, Lord Jesus, that in Thy day I have one
able to pray to Thee for me. To Thee all hearts are open, Thou
searchest the secrets of the heart,58
Thou seest the
prophet shut up in the fish’s belly in the midst of the sea.59
Thou knowest then how he and I grew up
together from tender infancy to vigorous manhood, how we were fostered
in the bosoms of the same nurses, and carried in the arms of the same
bearers; and how after studying together at Rome we lodged in the same
house and shared the same food by the half savage banks of the Rhine.
Thou knowest, too, that it was I who first began to seek to serve Thee.
Remember, I beseech Thee, that this warrior of Thine was once a raw
recruit with me. I have before me the declaration of Thy majesty:
“Whosoever shall teach and not do shall be called least in the
kingdom of heaven.”60
May he enjoy the crown
of virtue, and in return for his daily martyrdoms may he follow the
Lamb robed in white raiment!61
For “in my
Father’s house are many mansions,”62
and
“one star differeth from another star in glory.”63
Give me strength to raise my head to a
level with the saints’ heels!64
| 64 Quoted from Tert. de C.
F. ii. 7. | I willed, but he
performed. Do Thou therefore pardon me that I failed to keep my
resolve, and reward him with the guerdon of his deserts.
I may perhaps have been tedious, and have said more than
the short compass of a letter usually allows; but this, I find, is
always the case with me when I have to say anything in praise of our
dear Bonosus.
6. However, to return to the point from which I set out,
I beseech you do not let me pass wholly out of sight and out of mind. A
friend is long sought, hardly found, and with difficulty kept. Let
those who will, allow gold to dazzle them and be borne along in
splendor, their very baggage glittering with gold and silver. Love is
not to be purchased, and affection has no price. The friendship which
can cease has never been real. Farewell in Christ. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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