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| To Marcella.
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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 extolling Lea, he contrasts her
end with that of the consul-elect, Vettius Agorius Prætextatus, a
man of great ability and integrity, whom he declares to be now
“in Tartarus.” Written at Rome in 384 a.d.
1. To-day, about the third hour, just as I was beginning
to read with you the seventy-second psalm678
—the first, that is, of the third
book—and to explain that its title belonged partly to the second
book and partly to the third—the previous book, I mean,
concluding with the words “the prayers of David the son of Jesse
are ended,”679
and the next
commencing with the words “a psalm of Asaph”680
—and just as I had come on the
passage in which the righteous man declares: “If I say, I will
speak thus; behold I should offend against the generation of thy
children,”681
a verse which is
differently rendered in our Latin version:682
| 682 I.e. the Old
Latin Version superseded by Jerome’s Vulgate. | —suddenly the news came that our
most saintly friend Lea had departed from the body. As was only
natural, you turned deadly pale; for there are few persons, if any, who
do not burst into tears when the earthen vessel breaks.683
But if you wept it was not from doubt
as to her future lot, but only because you had not rendered to her the
last sad offices which are due to the dead. Finally, as we were still
conversing together, a second message informed us that her remains had
been already conveyed to Ostia.
2. You may ask what is the use of repeating all this. I
will reply in the apostle’s words, “much every
way.”684
First, it shows that all must hail
with joy the release of a soul which has trampled Satan under foot, and
won for itself, at last, a crown of tranquillity. Secondly, it gives me an
opportunity of briefly describing her life. Thirdly, it enables me to
assure you that the consul-elect,685
| 685 One of the most
distinguished men of his day, Prætextatus, had filled the high
position of Prefect of Rome. As such he ironically assured Damasus
that, if he could hope to obtain the papacy, he would immediately
embrace the Christian religion (Jerome, “Against John of
Jerusalem,” § 8). | that
detractor of his age,686
| 686 De suis
sæculis detrahentem. The text is clearly corrupt, and no
satisfactory emendation has yet been suggested. | is now in
Tartarus.687
Who can sufficiently eulogize our dear Lea’s mode
of living? So complete was her conversion to the Lord that, becoming
the head of a monastery, she showed herself a true mother688
| 688 I.e. her
conduct justified her official title. | to the virgins in it, wore coarse
sackcloth instead of soft raiment, passed sleepless nights in prayer,
and instructed her companions even more by example than by precept. So
great was her humility that she, who had once been the mistress of
many, was accounted the servant of all; and certainly, the less she was
reckoned an earthly mistress the more she became a servant of Christ.
She was careless of her dress, neglected her hair, and ate only the
coarsest food. Still, in all that she did, she avoided ostentation that
she might not have her reward in this world.689
3. Now, therefore, in return for her short toil, Lea
enjoys everlasting felicity; she is welcomed into the choirs of the
angels; she is comforted in Abraham’s bosom. And, as once the
beggar Lazarus saw the rich man, for all his purple, lying in torment,
so does Lea see the consul, not now in his triumphal robe but clothed
in mourning, and asking for a drop of water from her little finger.690
How great a change have we here! A few days
ago the highest dignitaries of the city walked before him as he
ascended the ramparts of the capitol like a general celebrating a
triumph; the Roman people leapt up to welcome and applaud him, and at
the news of his death the whole city was moved. Now he is desolate and
naked, a prisoner in the foulest darkness, and not, as his unhappy
wife691
| 691 Paulina, chief
priestess of Ceres. | falsely asserts, set in the royal abode of
the milky way.692
| 692 In the Roman
mythology the abode of gods and heroes. Cf. Ovid, M. i. 175, 176. | On the other hand Lea, who was
always shut up in her one closet, who seemed poor and of little worth,
and whose life was accounted madness,693
now follows
Christ and sings, “Like as we have heard, so have we seen in the
city of our God.”694
4. And now for the moral of all this, which, with tears
and groans, I conjure you to remember. While we run the way of this
world, we must not clothe ourselves with two coats, that is, with a
twofold faith, or burthen ourselves with leathern shoes, that is, with
dead works; we must not allow scrips filled with money to weigh us
down, or lean upon the staff of worldly power.695
We
must not seek to possess both Christ and the world. No; things eternal
must take the place of things transitory;696
and since, physically speaking, we daily anticipate death, if we wish
for immortality we must realize that we are but mortal.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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