Letter 99: Jerome forwards to Theophilus a translation of the latter's paschal letter for 404 A.D. and apologizes for his delay in sending it, on the ground that ill-health and grief for the death of Paula have prevented him from doing literary work. The date of the letter is 404 A.D.

Jerome to the most blessed Pope Theophilus — greetings. From the moment I received Your Holiness's letters, along with the paschal treatise, until this very day, I have been so overwhelmed by grief and mourning, by anxiety, and by the conflicting reports arriving from every direction about the state of the Church, that I have barely been able to complete the translation of your volume into Latin. The old saying is true: grief chokes utterance. It is doubly true when mental anguish is compounded by bodily illness. I have spent five days in bed with a burning fever. It is only by a great effort that I am even now able to dictate this letter. But I want to convey to Your Holiness, in at least a few words, what pains I have taken in this translation — my effort to carry across into Latin something of the charm and precision that marks every sentence of your Greek original. You open with the language of philosophy, and — without appearing to name anyone — you destroy one man's position while instructing all. In the remaining sections (a task of extraordinary difficulty) you weave together philosophy and rhetoric, giving us Demosthenes and Plato in a single piece of cloth. What a polemic you have launched against self-indulgence! What eulogies of continence! With what hidden reserves of wisdom you have written of the alternation of day and night, the courses of the moon, the laws of the sun, the nature of our world — always anchoring everything in Scripture, so that in a paschal letter not a single borrowing from secular sources need be admitted. In short: I am afraid to praise you adequately, lest I seem to flatter you — and your virtues, I assure you, need no flattery from me.

To Theophilus Jerome forwards to Theophilus a translation of the latter's paschal letter for 404 A.D. and apologizes for his delay in sending it, on the ground that ill-health and grief for the death of Paula have prevented him from doing literary work. The date of the letter is 404 A.D. To the most blessed pope Theophilus, Jerome. 1. From the time that I received the letters of your holiness together with the paschal treatise until the present day I have been so harassed with sorrow and mourning, with anxiety, and with the different reports which have come from all quarters concerning the condition of the church, that I have hardly been able to turn your volume into Latin. You know the truth of the old saying, grief chokes utterance; and it is more than ever true when to sickness of the mind is added sickness of the body. I have now been five days in bed in a burning fever: consequently it is only by using the greatest haste that I can dictate this very letter. But I wish to show your holiness in a few words what pains I have taken, in translating your treatise, to transfer the charm of diction which marks every sentence in the original, and to make the style of the Latin correspond in some degree with that of the Greek. 2. At the outset you use the language of philosophy; and, without appearing to particularize, you slay one while you instruct all. In the remaining sections — a task most difficult of accomplishment — you combine philosophy and rhetoric and draw together for us Demosthenes and Plato. What diatribes you have launched against self-indulgence! What eulogies you have bestowed upon the virtue of continence! With what secret stores of wisdom you have spoken of the interchange of day and night, the course of the moon, the laws of the sun, the nature of our world; always appealing to the authority of scripture lest in a paschal treatise you should appear to have borrowed anything from secular sources! To be brief, I am afraid to praise you for these things lest I should be charged with offering flattery. The book is excellent both in the philosophical portions and where, without making personal attacks, you plead the cause which you have espoused. Wherefore, I beseech you, pardon me my backwardness: I have been so completely overcome by the falling asleep of the holy and venerable Paula that except my translation of this book I have hitherto written nothing bearing on sacred subjects. As you yourself know, I have suddenly lost the comforter whom I have led about with me, not — the Lord is my witness— to minister to my own needs, but for the relief and refreshment of the saints upon whom she has waited with all diligence. Your holy and estimable daughter Eustochium (who refuses to be comforted for the loss of her mother), and with her all the brotherhood humbly salute you. Kindly send me the books which you say that you have lately written that I may translate them or, if not that, at least read them. Farewell in Christ. About this page Source. Translated by W.H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 6. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1893.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3001099.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.