A letter from Jerome (409)

Translated letter:

1. I am [We are] looking for a new path on a well-traveled road; from much-used and stock material I am attempting a fresh take on art so that the same may appear different. There are many advantages to arriving at the one path you desire; I have often written to widows, and, in attempting to encourage them, I have repeated many examples from Scripture and have woven many different flowers of testimony onto one garland of purity. But now, I am speaking to Geruchia, who received her name with a certain prophecy of future events and with the help of God. A noble crowd of women stand around her: her grandmother, her mother, her paternal aunt, all proven women of Christ. Her grandmother Metronia, an untiring widow of forty years, reminds us of Anna from the Gospel, the daughter of Phanuel; her mother Benigna, completing her fourteenth year as a widow, is surrounded by a hundredfold band of virgins; the sister of Celerinus, Geruchia´s father, nursed her when she was a small infant, taking her into her lap from her birth, and without the comfort of her husband, taught her niece for twenty years what she learned from her own mother. 2. I have glossed over these things briefly to show my young friend that she does not discharge monogamy for her family, but gives it back; and she is not to be praised if she bestows it, but is to be rebuked by everyone if she tries to deny it, especially since Simplicius posthumously born has his father´s name and she does not have the excuse of feeling lonely or of having a home without an heir. Under the umbrella of such excuses desire is satisfied in the meantime so that what people do of their own licentiousness, they may seem to do it out of desire for children. But why am I speaking as if to a reluctant person? I hear that she, with the help of the church, is shunning multiple suitors from the palace, suitors surely set ablaze by the devil to test the chastity of our widow whom nobility, beauty, age, and wealth make quite eligible. Still, as many attacks as there are upon her chastity, so much greater are the rewards for her when she is victorious. 3. But as I am leaving from the port, it is as if a rock were placed in my way to prevent safe passage to the sea. The authority of the apostle Paul comes to mind, from his letter to Timothy concerning widows: "I wish for younger women to marry, to bear children, to be the mothers of the household, to give no occasion for an adversary to speak ill; for certain women have already gone astray after Satan" [1Tim.5:14-15]. First, it is necessary that I discuss the meaning of this statement and examine the content of this entire passage; it is also necessary that I, standing firmly in the footsteps of the apostles, stray not even an inch in another direction. He had written above what the ideal widow is. She is the wife of one man; she has raised children; she has an established reputation for good deeds; she has given relief to the suffering with her meager resources; her hope is God, and she remains in supplication and prayer day and night. Next, he adds her opposite: "she who lives in pleasure is dead although living" [1Tim.5:6]. He immediately adds and fortifies his disciple with all the skill of his doctrine: "Keep clear of younger widows who, when they have become wanton against Christ, desire to marry even though they have damnation because they have rendered their faith useless" [1Tim.5:11-12]. Therefore, on account of these women who have fornicated and given great injury to their true husband, Christ-this is called katastrêniasousin in Greek-the apostle approves of a second marriage, preferring digamy to fornication, but only as a concession, not a command. 4. At the same time, we must analyze the individual parts of the passage. He said, "I prefer that younger women marry". Why, I ask? Because I do not prefer that they fornicate. "That they bear children". For what reason? So that they might not feel compelled by fear to kill their children born from adultery. "That they be the mothers of a household." Why is that, I pray? Because a digamist is far more tolerable than a prostitute, and it is better that she have a second husband than many other affairs. For in one way, there is comfort for wretchedness; in another, there is punishment for sin. He continues, "That she give no occasion for an adversary to speak ill". In this brief and well-prepared precept are contained several warnings: she should not allow an excessive care for dress to defame her conduct as a widow, nor should she draw herds of young men behind her with knowing and welcoming looks, nor should she promise one thing in word and another in deed, and the common verse should not apply to her: "She laughed and promised a certain something with her artful glance." And in order that he might limit all of the reasons for marriage in a brief speech, he showed why he had commanded this when he said, "For certain women have already gone astray after Satan." For this reason, then, he makes available a second and, if it is necessary, a third marriage to the incontinent, so that he may take them away from Satan, preferring that a woman be joined to any type of man whatsoever than to the devil. He says something similar to the Corinthians. "I say, moreover, to unwed and widowed women: it is good for them to remain as celibate as I do. But if they do not contain themselves, let them marry; for it is better to marry" [1Cor.7:8-9] Why, Apostle? Immediately he answers, "Because it is worse to burn." 5. Otherwise, without a comparison of something worse, it is an absolute good to be like the apostle, that is, loosed and unbound, not servile, but free, and to think on things pertaining to God, not to a wife. And immediately in the following, he said, "A woman is bound to her husband as long as her husband is alive. But if her husband has fallen asleep, she is free to marry whom she wishes, only in the Lord. But she will be happier if she should take my counsel; for I think that I have the spirit of God" [1Cor.7:39-40]. The meaning is the same in this passage because the spirit is the same; for there are multiple letters, but only one author. A woman is bound to her husband while he is living and once he has passed[slept], is freed. Therefore, marriage is the bond and widowhood the release. A wife is bound to her husband and the husband to the wife. So much so that they do not have power over their own bodies, but return what is owed, one to another. Nor can they have the freedom of choosing chastity, those who are bound by matrimony. And he added, "Only in the Lord." He excludes the marriages of heathens, about whom he had spoken in another passage: "Do not marry non-believers. For what share of justice is there in inequality, or what fellowship in light is there in darkness? What covenant is there between Christ and Balial? Or what does the faithful share with the faithless? What agreement does the temple of God have with idols?" [2Cor.6:14-16] We obviously should not plow with an ox and an ass. Nor should wedding attire be woven with clashing threads. And he immediately takes back what he had conceded and, as if displeased with this statement, makes a retraction: "She will be more blessed, if she remains thus" [1Cor.7:40] and says that this is better, in his opinion. Lest it be condemned as a mere human utterance, he confirms this statement with the authority of the Holy Spirit so that he may be heard not as a man indulging in the weakness of human flesh but as an apostle preaching by means of the Holy Spirit. And a widow still in her youth should not comfort herself because the apostle teaches no less the choice of widows of sixty; nor does he urge unwed men and women to marry by saying: "Time is fleeting; it remains that even those who have wives are as if they have none" [1Cor.7:29] But he is discussing the widows who are taken care of by their family members, who are helped on their feet by children and grandchildren. He charges them to take care of their home, reward their parents, and give sufficient help to them, so that the church may not be burdened and may instead attend to true widows, about whom he wrote: "Honor the widows who are truly bereft" [1Tim.5:3], that is, the women who are left with no help from their families, who are unable to work with their hands, whom poverty cripples and age weakens, whose hope is in God and whose every work is prayer. It is possible to understand from this that these younger widows (with the exception of those who are in poor health) are bound either by their own work or by the help of their children or their relatives. Moreover, honor in the present instance is received either as alms or as a gift, just as in: "Let the elders be considered worthy of a double honor - especially those who work in the word and the doctrine" [1Tim.5:17]. In the gospel, too, the Lord discusses the commandment of the law that states: "Honor your father and your mother" [Exod.20:12]. This should be understood not as the sound of mere words which can thwart the poverty of parents through empty adulation, but as administering the necessary types of sustenance. In fact, God orders children to take care of their poor parents and to pay back the elderly with the kind treatment they had received when they were young. But scribes and pharisees, on the contrary, were teaching the children to respond to their parents thus: "This corban - that is, a gift - which I have sworn to the altar and I have promised to present at the temple, will be turned into your refreshment as if you have received food from me." And so it came to be that children would offer a sacrifice on behalf of their poor father and mother, which priests and scribes would then consume. Therefore, if the apostle compels poor widows (the ones who are young and are not affected by a physical ailment) to work with their hands so that the church, not burdened with their care, may be able to look after elderly widows, then what excuse is there for the one who abounds in the riches of the world, who is able to serve others, to make friends for herself of the mammon of iniquity, friends who could receive her into the everlasting tabernacles?

Consider, also, that a widow is not chosen unless she was the wife of one husband. We sometimes think it a singular claim of priests that no one is admitted to the altar unless a monogamist. For a twice-married man is not only barred from the priesthood, but also from the alms of the church; and a woman who has gone into a second marriage is considered unworthy of any small offering of the church. Nevertheless, even the layman is subject to this priestly law, for he should present himself as the sort of man who may be chosen for the priesthood. If he was married twice, he is not elected and priests are elected from the groups of laymen: therefore, even the layman is held by the mandate by which he came to the priesthood.

6. The apostle desires one thing, but is compelled to wish another. The fact that he allows second marriages is due to our incontinence, not his will. He wishes that everyone be just as he is, that everyone think on the things of God, and, once freed, be bound in no other way. But if he sees that men are losing their way through incontinence and are approaching the deep pit of lust, he offers them a second marriage so that they may wallow with one woman, rather than with many. The second spouse should not receive the saying as harsh and contrary to the apostle´s rule; for the apostle is of two minds; first, he commands, “I say, moreover, to widows and the unwed: it is good for those people to remain as I am”, and second, he concedes, “If they cannot contain themselves, let them wed; it is better to marry than to burn.” He first demonstrates what he wishes and follows with what he is compelled to wish. He desires that we, after our marriages, remain as he is and puts forth his own example of the blessedness that he has proposed. If, however, he sees that we do not want what he wants, he attributes it to our incontinence. Which of the two choices do we pick–the one that he prefers more and is good in and of itself? Or the one that is lesser in comparison with evil, but, because it is only preferred to evil, is not good in and of itself? Well, imagine that we choose what the apostle does not desire, but what he concedes against his will, or rather, acquiesces to those desiring baser things; we are fulfilling our own desire, not the apostle´s. We read in the Old Testament that priests who married one time and their daughters, if they are widows, could eat priests´ food and that, once dead, the duty of offerings must be performed for them just as they had been for their father and mother. But if these women should take other husbands, then they should be kept apart from their fathers and from the sacrifices as well as considered strangers.

7. Even heathens observe this practice - to our condemnation if the truth should not exhibit in Christ what falsehood exhibits in the devil that makes even chastity a damning virtue. A hierophant among the Athenians resigns his manhood and becomes chaste through constant deprivation; the man who has one wife is admitted to the priesthood of the flamen and the woman who has one husband is chosen as priestess. A man married once is received into the sacred rites of the Egyptian bull. Thus, I need not mention the Vestal Virgins, and the virgins of Apollo, Achiva Juno, Diana, and Minerva who all waste away with the perpetual virginity required of their office. Perhaps I will briefly consider the queen of Carthage who preferred to burn over marrying King Iarbas, and the wife of Hasdrubal who, with her children in her arms, cast herself into the nearby fires to avoid possible damage to her chastity, and Lucretia who did not want to put up with her polluted conscience after her reputation for chastity had been lost. And in order to avoid going on too long about what you can find in [my] first volume of the Contra Jovinianum for your own edification, I shall refer to one thing only that occurred in your fatherland so that you may know how valuable chastity is even among cruel and savage barbarians. The Teutons, once they had made their way from the farthest boundaries of the German shores, swarmed all areas of Gaul and, after they had slaughtered the Roman armies on several occasions, they were conquered at the Sextian waters by Marius´ opposition. Three hundred of their married women, when they had learned that they were to be handed over to other men based on the condition of surrender, first begged the consul that they be given over to a life of servitude in the temple of Ceres and Venus. However, they did not obtain their wish. When the lictor came to move them away in the morning, the little children were slain, the women found dead, their throats strangled with a noose, holding each other in mutual embraces.

8. Given, therefore, that the condition of surrender was unable to affect even the chastity of barbarian women, will a noble married woman do this? Will she, who either lost a good husband or experienced an evil one, experience a second husband and work to act contrary to the judgment of God? Well? If she immediately loses her second husband, will she obtain a third? And should that husband pass [sleep], will she move on to a fourth and a fifth just to differ from prostitutes in whatever way she can? On the contrary - a widow must take extreme care not to overstep the first bounds of chastity. Moreover, if she does cross those boundaries and ruin the modesty characteristic of a married woman, she will revel wildly in every sort of excess so that she may deserve to hear the reproach of the prophet: “Your face has become a whore´s face; you are shameless” [Jerem.3:3]

What then? Do we condemn second marriages? No; but we praise first marriages. Do we cast out the twice-married from the church? Hardly; but we call the once-married to a life of continence. On Noah´s ark, there were not only clean, but also dirty animals; it held both men and creeping creatures. In one´s house, also, there are a great variety of vessels, some for honorable purposes, some for less dignified purposes. After all, there is a bowl for drinking and a different bowl for another of our bodies´ natural functions. As the Gospels teach us, when sowing the good earth, the fruits may be a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold. The hundredfold may hold the first step for the crown of virginity, the sixtyfold may be in the second number for the labor of widows, and the thirtyfold may witness the bonds of marriage with the joining of hands. In what number will digamy be? No, it is beyond counting. It certainly does not grow in good earth, but in thorn-bushes and the thickets of foxes that are compared to the very wicked Herod. A woman who marries more than once thinks that she is worthy of praise if she should be better than a whore, if she should surpass the victims of public displays of wantonness, if she should prostitute herself to one man and not many.

9. I will confirm the miraculous nature of the story I am about to tell with the testimony of many others. Many years before, when I was assisting Damasus, bishop of Rome, in his ecclesiastical letters and was responding to the inquiries from the councils of the east and west, I saw a married couple, both of them equally from the absolute dregs of society. The man had buried twenty wives; the woman had had twenty-two husbands. Each thought that this marriage would be their last. The greatest expectation for all the men and women in town was: “Who will be the first to bury whom after such behavior?” The husband won out and after he was crowned among the people of the whole city who gathered around him, he walked before the bier of his much-wedded wife, holding a palm and being reverential amid shouts of approval. What do we say to such a woman? Certainly that which the Lord said to the Samarian woman: “You had twenty-two husbands and that man who has just buried you is not your husband.”

10. Thus, I ask you, devout daughter in Christ, not to spend time on those passages that are used to give aid to the incontinent and the wretched. Instead, read repeatedly those passages in which chastity is crowned. It is enough that you have lost the first level of virginity and through the third level you have come to the second; that is, through your marital duty you have come to the continence of being a widow. Also, do not think of extreme or even rejected examples, nor seek foreign and far-fetched examples. You have a grandmother, a mother, and an aunt, whose example and teaching and rules for living are your standards of virtue. For if many married women, while their husbands are still living, understand the words of the apostle: “All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient” [1Cor.6:12] and make eunuchs of themselves for the kingdom of heaven either with consent from a second birth after a purification [or baptism] or from the ardor of their faith right after their marriage, why should not a widow, who ceased to have a husband at the Lord´s decree, happily repeat: “The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away” [Job 1:21] and take hold of the opportunity for the freedom to have power over her body and not to be a man´s servant once again? Certainly it is far more difficult to keep from enjoying what you have than it is to desire what you have lost. Even virginity is easier because the provocations of the flesh have not been experienced. Widowhood, on the other hand, is more difficult because a widow plays back in her mind the pleasures of the past, especially if she thinks that she has lost her husband, not sent him ahead; for the former is cause for grief, the latter is cause for joy.

11. The first creation of man should teach us to reject many marriages. One Adam and one Eve - rather, one rib from Adam - was separated into a woman and, because there had been that division, they are rejoined in marriage, as the Scripture says: “The two shall be one flesh” - not two or three -; “For which reason, the man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife” [Gen.2:24] not wives. Paul explains this passage and refers it to Christ and to the church so that Adam may be monogamous first in the flesh and second in the spirit. Eve alone is the mother of all living beings; the church alone is the parent of all Christians. Just as the accursed Lamech divided the former into two wives, in the same way do the heretics divide the latter into many churches which, according to the Apocalypse of John, should be called the synagogues of the devil more than the assembly places of Christ. We read in the Book of Songs: “There are sixty queens, eighty concubines, and countless young maidens. Only one is my dove, my perfect one, and she is the one for her mother, chosen for the one who bore her” [Cant.6:7-8]. To this one the same John writes in an epistle: “The elder for the chosen mistress and her children” [2John 1]. And even into the ark, which Peter the Apostle interprets as a type of church, Noah brought in one wife for each of his three sons, not two apiece. Even pairs are chosen from the unclean animals, a male and a female, so that digamy may have no place, not even among beasts, crawling animals, crocodiles, and lizards. But if from the clean animals seven are placed, that is, an uneven number, then the palm of virginity and chastity is shown in this as well. For Noah, upon leaving the ark, sacrificed animals to God, not any from the pairs, but those from the uneven numbers; the former were prepared for multiplying their species while the latter were prepared specifically for sacrificing.

12. But the patriarchs did not have only one wife apiece; indeed, they had as many concubines as they wanted, and, lest it seem too little, David and Solomon had countless women. Judas went to Tamar as if to a whore, and, according to the killing letter, the prophet Hosea was joined not only with a prostitute, but also an adulterer. But if the law gives us permission, let us neigh after every woman and, in the example of Sodom and Gomorra, let us be caught on the last day buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage, so that there may then be an end to marriage when there is an end to life. But if both after the flood and before the flood this thought flourished: “Grow and multiply and repopulate the earth” [Gen.1:28] what has it to do with us, “Upon whom the ends of the ages has come down” [1Cor.10:11], to whom it is said: “The time is short” [1Cor.7:29], and: “Now the ax has been placed upon the roots of the trees” [Matth.3:10], which cuts down the forest of the law and of marriage with evangelical chastity? “There is a time for embracing and a time to keep from embracing” [1Eccles.3:5]. Jeremiah was prohibited from taking a wife because of the approaching captivity. Ezekiel in Babylon said: “My wife is dead and my mouth is opened” [Ezech.24:18]. Neither the one about to marry nor the one who had married are able, in wedlock, to prophesy freely.

It was once a glory to hear this little verse: “Your children are just like olive shoots around your table,” and: “May you see your children´s children” [Ps.127: 3,6] now it is said concerning those who are continent: “The one who is joined to the Lord is one spirit” [1Cor.6:17] and: “My soul follows after you; your right hand has supported me” [Ps.62:9]. Then it was an eye for an eye; now, to the one who strikes our cheek, we offer the other. At that time the warlike were told: “Gird your sword above your thigh, O most mighty one” [Ps.44]; now, Peter hears: “Hide your sword in your sheath; for he who strikes with a sword shall die by it” [Matth.26:52, John 18:11]/

In saying these things we do not separate the law from the Gospel, as Marcion falsely accuses, but receive the one and the same God who, in accordance with the change in time, from the beginning to the end, sows in order to reap, plants in order to have something to cut and lays a foundation in order to put the roof on a building. Otherwise, if we come to the sacraments and to the types of things to come not through our judgment, but through the explanation of the apostle, Hagar and Sarah, Sinai and Zion signify the two documents. Leah, with bleary eyes, and Rachel, whom Jacob loves most of all, signify the synagogue and the church. Thus Hannah, formerly barren, is more fruitful than Peninnah. An earlier example of monogamy is in Isaac and Rebecca. Rebecca´s childbirth alone is a revelation of the Lord; no other woman went to consult God on her own. What shall I say about Tamar, who gave birth to the twins, Zarah and Pharez? During their birth, the divided wall separated the two peoples and Zarah´s hand, bound with a scarlet thread, even at that time sprinkled the conscience of the Jews with the passion of Christ. And what shall I say about the whore of the prophet, whose likeness signifies either the church brought together from the Gentiles or - what is perhaps more fitting for this passage - a synagogue? It was first adopted from idolaters through Abraham and Moses; then, after the adultery and the rejection of the Savior, it sat for a great deal of time without an altar, priests, and prophets, and it was waiting to meet its first husband so that, after the majority of Gentiles had secretly gone in, then all of Israel might be saved.

13. I wanted to fit a great deal of content in this short letter, like a painter attempting to depict the broadest expanses of the world on a small canvas. Thus, I shall move on to other little questions, the first being Anna´s counsel to Dido: “Will you alone in your grief be taken from your perpetual youth? Will you deny yourself sweet offspring, the gifts of love? Do you believe that the now buried ash and spirits care about this?” [Aen.4.32-34]. To whom she briefly responds what she has suffered: “You, sister, overcome by my tears, you first weighed me down as I was raging because of these evils, and you first cast me before the enemy. It was not possible for me to live an unblemished life unknowing of the marital bed; it was not possible to be like a wild animal, free from care. The promised that I made to the ash of Sychaeus has not been kept” [Aen.4.548-52]. You place before me the joys of marriage; before you, I place the funeral pyre, the sword, the fire. In marriage, there is not as much good which we hope for, as there is evil which can occur and is to be feared. An act of desire that has been performed always leaves behind its own repentance and, never satisfied, is rekindled as soon as it is extinguished. Desire grows with practice, it wanes, and what is driven by impulse obeys no reason. But you say: “My great wealth and family property lack the authority of a husband.” Well, of course the affairs of unmarried people are destroyed and, unless you become servile like your servants, you will be unable to have power over your household. Do not your grandmother, mother, and aunt have the old authority and greater honor while all the provinces and the leaders of churches look up to them? Do not soldiers and travelers manage their own entertainments, both inviting and being invited to dinner parties, without their wives? You behave as if you cannot allow your older servants and freedman, in whose hands you were raised, to be in charge of household affairs, to respond to public inquiries, to pay taxes, to look up to you as a patroness, to love you as a nursling, and to venerate you as a saint. Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be set before you. If you are thinking about clothing, the lilies of the Gospel will be placed before you; if your thoughts are on food, you will be sent to the birds that neither sow nor reap and your father feeds these celestial creatures. How many virgins and widows have managed their own livings without any base rumor?

14. Take care not to be joined to young women, nor to cling to them, on account of whom the apostle granted second marriages, lest you suffer a shipwreck in the midst of a calm sea. If it is said to Timothy: “Avoid younger widows,” and again: “Love older women as mothers, younger women as sisters with all purity” [1Tim.5:11, 2] why should you not heed my warning? Flee the people in whom any suspicion of evil conduct seems possible, and do not heed the common utterance: “My own conscience is enough for me; I have no care for what people say.” For the apostle was certainly providing good things not only in the face of God, but in the face of people, so that the name of God would not be blasphemed among the heathens. He certainly had the power to lead around sisters and women, but he did not want to be judged by the conscience of a nonbeliever. And, although he could live by the gospel, he worked day and night with his hands so as to not burden any of the believers. He said, “If meat offends my brother, I will never eat meat” [1Cor.8:13]. Let us also say: “If that sister or brother offends not one or another, but the entire church, I will see neither sister nor brother.” It is better for one´s possessions to be diminished than the salvation of the soul; it is better to lose what will at some point be lost (whether we desire it or not) than to lose something for which all things must be sacrificed. Who of us - and I will not say a cubit, which is quite enormous - can add a tenth of an inch to his stature? Why are we worried about what we eat or drink? Let us, then, not think of tomorrow: “The day´s evil is sufficient” [Matth.6:34].

Jacob, as he was fleeing his brother, left behind the great riches in his father´s home and arrived in Mesopotamia completely nude. Also, as a show of his strength, he placed a rock under his head as a pillow. He saw a ladder raised all the way to heaven and the Lord was leaning above it; through this ladder, the angels were ascending and descending, so that a sinner might not give up on salvation and that a just man might not be completely secure in his virtue. And also, to skip over much of the tale (for there is not enough time to go over all of the details in the narrative), after twenty years he, who had once passed through Jordan using a walking stick, returned to his homeland with three groups of cattle as a wealthier master and a richer father. The apostles who also traveled the world had neither money in their pockets, sticks in their hands, nor shoes on their feet; nevertheless, they were able to say: “We have nothing and possess everything” [2Cor.6:10] and, “We do not have gold or silver,” but “in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, rise and walk” [Acts 3:6]. For they were not weighed down by the burden of riches, and for that reason, standing with Elijah at the opening of the rock, they were able to pass through the eye of the needle and observe the back parts of the Lord.

But we burn with greed, and while we are arguing against the need for money we hold out our garments for gold, and there is never enough. What is said about the Megarians is quite appropriate for those who suffer in this way: “They build as if they will always live; they live as if they will die tomorrow.” We do the same thing because we do not believe in the words of God; the age that we all long for does not reveal the imminence of the death that all mortals owe to nature, but rather, with an empty hope, promises an expanse of years. For no one is so old and decrepit that he thinks he will not live for one more year. Forgetfulness of his condition slowly creeps upon him so that he, as an earthly creature and being so near to dissolution, is raised to pride and in his mind dwells in heaven.

15. But what am I doing? The ship is wrecked and here I am talking about the cargo. The one in power is taken out of the way, and we do not understand that the Antichrist is approaching, whom the Lord Jesus Christ will destroy with the spirit from his mouth. “Woe unto those who are pregnant and nursing on that day” [Matth.24:19]. Both are the fruits of marriage.

I will quickly run through a few of our present sufferings. The fact that a few of us have survived them is due not to our own merit, but to the mercy of the Lord. The fiercest nations - too many to count - have occupied all parts of Gaul. The Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepids, Heruli, Saxons, Burgundians, Alemanni, and - oh, the lamentable people! - the Pannonians have devastated the land between the Alps and the Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the ocean. “For Assur also came with them” [Ps.82:9]. Mainz, a once noble city, was seized and overturned and thousands were slaughtered in its church; the Vangiones were finished after a long siege; the powerful city of Rheims, Amiens, Artois, and the Morini [?Cassel ?Morienne] on the outskirts, Tournai, Speyer, and Strassburg, have all been transferred to Germany; the provinces of Aquitania, the Nine Nations, Lyon, and Narbonne have all, with the exception of a few cities, been devastated. Where the sword does not destroy from without, hunger attacks from within. I cannot speak about Toulouse without tears; it has remained without falling because of the merits of its holy bishop, Exupery. The Spanish lands, about to fall at any moment, tremble every day as they recall the assaults on the Cymry and, whatever others have suffered at one time, they suffer continuously with fear.

16. I remain silent about the rest so as not to seem to despair of God´s mercy. That which is ours now, from the Pontic Sea to the Julian Alps, was not ours before; for thirty years, after the barrier of the Danube was broken, there was fighting in the middle of the Roman Empire. The long duration dried our tears; with the exception of a few old men, everyone born in captivity or during a siege did not miss a freedom that they had never known. Who would believe this? What histories would accurately discuss that Rome fought on her own soil not for glory, but for safety? Or, rather, that Rome was not fighting, but acquiring life for the price of gold and all of her goods? This did not occur through the fault of the princes, who are very devout men indeed, but through the wickedness of the half-barbarian traitor who armed our enemies against us with our resources. From a long time back, the Roman Empire endured an ongoing shame because after the army had been placed around Allia and everything had been destroyed, Brennus and the Gauls marched upon Rome. And Rome was unable to dispel this long-standing disgrace until Gaul, the birthplace of the Gauls, and Gallic Greece, where Eastern and Western conquerors settled, were placed under her yoke. When Hannibal, like a storm that swept through from the borders of Spain, laid waste to Italy, he saw the city and did not dare to besiege it. Pyrrhus, too, held the name of Rome in such high regard that after he had destroyed everything he withdrew from the area and, even though he was the victor, did not dare to look upon the city that he had learned was the city of kings. Nevertheless, in return for this offense - for I would not call it pride, which had good outcomes - one became a fugitive of the whole world and at last found death through poison in Bithynia while the other, having returned to his homeland, lay dead in his own kingdom; the lands of both men became tributaries of Rome.

Now, even if everything should turn out well, we gain nothing by taking from our conquered enemy outside of what we originally lost to them. The ardent poet [Lucan], upon seeing the power of Rome, speaks of it writing, “What is enough, if Rome be too little?” Let us alter it slightly and ask “What is safe, if Rome should perish?” [Or, Virgil:] “If I should have a hundred tongues, a hundred mouths, and a throat of iron, I would not be able to speak of all the punishments of the captives or run through all the names of the fallen” [Aen.6:625-27]. Even what I have said is full of danger both for me, the speaker, and whoever is listening; thus, we can no longer lament freely and are unwilling, no, are fearful of weeping for what we suffer.

17. Dearest daughter in Christ, tell me. Are you going to marry in such dire circumstances? What man will you receive? I believe one who will either flee or fight - and you know that he will be one of the two - and in place of a Fescennine [jeering] song, a terrible trumpet will blast with a harsh sound so that you would have mourners for brideswomen. With what pleasure could you abound, having lost the revenue from your possessions, seeing that your family, beset with illness and famine, is wasting away? But perish the thought that I have these sorts of worries about you, that I am wrongly suspicious of the woman who has preserved her soul for the Lord. For although this is addressed to you, I am not speaking so much to you as I am to other women, women who are winebibbing, meddlesome, and chatty. These women flock around the homes of married women whose “God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame” [Phil.3:19]. They know nothing of Scripture outside of the precepts of digamy and allay their own desires in the bodies of others so that they may see other women do what they did and be flattered by the company of wicked women. When you have wiped out the impudent proposals of these women with an interpretation of the apostle´s meaning, read of how to conduct your life as a widow: look in the book to Eustochium on preserving virginity and other works to Furia and Salvina, one being the daughter in law of Probus, the former consul, and the other the daughter of Gildo, who governed Africa. This little book, “On monogamy” will take its title from your name.1

Original letter:

1. In ueteri uia nouam semitam quaerimus et in antiqua detritaque materia rudem artis excogitamus elegantiam, ut nec eadem sint et eadem sint. unum iter et perueniendi, quo cupias, multa conpendia. saepe ad uiduas scripsimus et in exhortatione earum multa de scripturis sanctis exempla repetentes uarios testimoniorum flores in unam pudicitiae coronam texuimus. nunc ad Geruchiam nobis sermo est, quae quodam uaticinio futurorum ac dei praesidentis auxilio nomen accepit, quam auiae et matris amitaeque, probatarum in Christo feminarum, nobilis turba circumstat: quarum auia Metronia per quadraginta annos uidua perseuerans Annam nobis, filiam Fanuhelis, de euangelio retulit, Benigna mater quartum et decimum inplens uiduitatis annum centenario uirginum choro cingitur, soror Gelerini, patris Geruchiae, quae paruulam nutriuit infantem et in suo natam suscepit gremio, per annos uiginti mariti solacio destituta erudit neptem, quod a matre didicit. 2. Haec breui sermone perstrinxi, ut ostendam adulescentulam meam non praestare monogamiam generi suo sed reddere nec tarn laudandam esse, si tribuat, quam omnibus exsecrandam, si negare temptauerit, praesertim cum postumus eius Simplicius nomen patris referat et nulla sit excusatio desertae ac sine herede domus, sub quorum patrocinio interdum sibi libido blanditur, ut, quod propter intemperantiam suam faciunt, uideantur facere desiderio liberorum. sed quid ego quasi ad retractantem loquor, cum audiam eam multos palatii procos ecclesiae uitare praesidio, quos certatim diabolus inflammat, ut uiduae nostrae castitatem probet, quam et nobilitas et forma et aetas et opes faciunt cunctis appetibilem, ut, quanto plura sunt, quae inpugnant pudicitiam, tanto uictricis maiora sint praemia ? 3. Et quia nobis de portu egredientibus quasi quidam scopulus opponitur, ne possimus ad pelagi tuta decurrere, et apostoli Pauli scribentis ad Timotheum profertur auctoritas, in qua de uiduis disputans ait: uolo autem iuniores nubere, filios procreare, matres familias esse, nullam occasionem dare aduersario maledicti gratia; iam enim quaedam abierunt retro post satanan, oportet primum sensum tractare praccepti et omnem loci huius continentiam discutere atque ita apostolicis uestigiis insistentem ne transuersum quidem, ut dici solet, unguem in partem alteram declinare. supra scripserat, qualis uidua esse deberet: unius uiri uxor, quae liberos educauit, quae in bonis operibus habuit testimonium, quae tribulantibus de sua substantiola ministrauit, cuius spes deus est et quae permanet in obsecratione et orationibus nocte ac die. post quae iungit contraria: quae autem in deliciis est, uiuens mortua est. statimque infert et discipulum suum omni munit arte doctrinae: adulescentiores autem uiduas deuita, quae, cum lasciuierint in Christo, nubere uolunt habentes damnationem, quod primam fidem irritam fec e r u n t. propter has igitur, quae fornicatae sunt in iniuriam uiri sui Christi — hoc enim katastriniasousin [Greek letters] Graecus sermo significat — uult apostolus alterum matrimonium praeferens digamiam fornicationi, secundum indulgentiam dumtaxat, non secundum imperium. 4. Simulque singula testimonii uerba tractanda sunt, uo1o, inquit, adulescentulas nubere: cur, quaeso? quia nolo adulescentulas fornicari. procreare filios: quam ob causam? ne metu partus ex adulterio filios necare cogantur. matres familias esse: quare, obsecro ? quia multo tolera bilius est digamum esse quam scortum, secundum habere uirum quam plures adulteros. in altero enim miseriarum consolatio est, in altero poena peccati. sequitur: nullam occasionem dare aduersario maledicti gratia, in quo breui accinctoque praecepto multa simul monita continentur: ne propositum uiduae exquisitior cultus infamet, ne oculorum nutibus et hilaritate uultus iuuenum post se greges trahat, ne aliud uerbo, aliud habitu polliceatur et conueniat ei uersiculus ille uulgatus: risit et arguto quiddam promisit ocello. atque ut omnes nubendi causas breui sermone concluderet, cur hoc praecepisset, ostendit dicens: iam enim quaedam abierunt retro post satanan. ideo ergo secunda et, si necesse est, tertia incontinentibus aperit matrimonia, ut a satana abstrahat, ut magis mulierem qualicumque uiro iunctam faciat esse quam diabolo. sed et ad Corinthios tale quid loquitur: dico autem innuptis et uiduis: bonum est illis, si sic permanserint ut ego. si autem non se continent, nubant; melius est enim nubere [quam uri]. cur, apostole? statim infers: quia peius est uri. 5. Alioquin absolutum bonum est et sine conparatione peioris esse, quod apostolus est, id est solutum, non ligatum, nec seruum sed liberum, cogitantem ea, quae dei sunt, non ea, quae uxoris. et protinus in consequentibus: m u 1 i e r, inquit, alligata est uiro, quamdiu uiuit uir eius. quodsi dormierit uir eius, libera est: cui uult, nubat, tantum in domino, beatior autem erit, si sic permanserit secundum meum consilium, puto autem, quod et ego spiritum dei habeam. et in hoc idem sensus, quia idem et spiritus; diuersae epistulae, sed unus auctor epistularum. uiuente uiro mulier alligata est et mortuo soluta. ergo matrimonium uinculum est et uiduitas solutio. uxor alligata est uiro et uir alligatus uxori in tantum, ut sui corporis non habeant potestatem et alterutrum debitum reddant nec possint habere pudicitiae libertatem, qui seruiunt dominatui nuptiarum. quodque addidit: tantum in domino, amputat ethnicorum coniugia, de quibus et in alio loco dixerat: nolite iugum ducere cum infidelibus. quae enim participatio iustitiae cum iniquitate aut quae societas luci cum tenebris? quae conuentio Christi ad Belial aut quae pars fideli cum infidele? qui consensus templo dei cum idolis? ne scilicet aremus in boue et asino, ne tunica nuptialis uario sit texta subtemine. extemploque tollit, quod con cesserat et, quasi paeniteat eum sententiae suae, retrahit: beatior erit, si sic permanserit, suique hoc magis dicit esse consilii. quod, ne contemnatur ut hominis, spiritus sancti auctoritate confirmat, ut non indulgens homo fragilitati carnis humanae, sed apostolus praecipiens sancto spiritu audiatur. nec sibi in eo annorum puellarium debet uidua blandiri, quod non minus sexagenariae electionem praecipit. neque enim innuptas uel iuuenculas cogit, ut nubant, qui de nuptis quoque loquitur: tempus breue est; superest, ut et, qui habent uxores, sic sint, quasi non habeant, sed de his uiduis disputat, quae suorum nutriuntur alimentis, quae filiorum et nepotum ceruicibus inponuntur. quibus imperat, ut discant domum suam colere et remunerari parentes et sufficienter eis tribuere, ut non grauetur ecclesia et possit certis uiduis ministrare, de quibus scriptum est: honora uiduas, quae uere uiduae sun t, hoc est, quae omni suorum auxilio destitutae, quae manibus suis laborare non possunt, quas paupertas debilitat aetasque conficit, adulescentulas uiduas exceptis his, quas excusat infirmitas, uel suo labori uel liberorum ac propinquorum ministerio deligari. honor autem inpraesentiarura uel pro elemosyna uel pro munere accipitur, ut est illud: presbyteri duplici honore digni habeantur, maxime, qui laborant in uerbo et doctrina. et in euangelio dominus disserit mandatum legis, in quo dicitur: honora patrem tuum et matrem tuam, non in uerborum sono, qui inopiam parentum cassa potest adu latione frustrari, sed in uictus necessariis ministrandis debere intellegi. iubente enim deo, ut filii alerent parentes pauperes et redderent beneficia senibus, quae paruuli acceperant, scribae et pharisaei e contrario docebant filios, ut parentibus responderent: 'corban, hoc est donum, quod altari pollicitus sum et in templi dona promisi, si tu a me acceperis cibos, uertetur in tuum refrigerium'. atque ita fiebat, ut egentibus patre et matre sacrificium offerrent filii, quod sacerdotes scribaeque consumerent. si ergo apostolus pauperes uiduas — eas tamen, quae adulescentulae sunt et nulla debilitate franguntur—cogit suis manibus laborare, ne grauetur ecclesia et possit anus uiduas sustentare, qua excusatione utitur, quae opibus mundi affluit, quae potest etiam aliis ministrare et de iniquo mamona facere sibi amicos, qui possint earn in aeterna suscipere tabernacula? simulque considera, quod uidua non eligatur nisi unius uiri uxor, et nos putabamus sacerdotum hoc tantum esse priuilegium, ut non ad mittatur ad altare, nisi qui unam habuerit uxorem. non solum enim ab officio sacerdotali digamus excluditur, sed et ab elemosyna ecclesiae, dum indigna putatur stipe, quae ad secunda coniugia deuoluta est. quamquam in lege sacerdotali teneatur et laicus, qui talem se praebere debet, ut possit eligi in sacerdotium. non enim eligitur, si digamus fuerit, porro eliguntur ex laicis sacerdotes: ergo et laicus tenetur mandato, per quod ad sacerdotium peruenit. 6. Aliud est, quod uult apostolus, aliud, quod cogitur uelle. ut concedat secunda matrimonia, meae est incontinentiae, non illius uoluntatis. uult esse omnes sicut se ipsum et ea cogitare, quae dei sunt, et solutos nequaquam ultra alligari. sed, si labentes per incon tinentiam ad baratrum stupri uiderit peruenire, digamiae porrigit manum, ut cum una magis quam cum pluribus uolutentur. quod nequaquam amare dictum et contra apostoli regulam secundus nuptiator exaudiat. duae enim sunt apostoli uoluntates: una, qua praecipit: dico autem innuptis et uiduis: bonum est illis, si sic permanserint sicut ego, altera, qua indulget: si autem non se continent, nubant; melius est enim nubere quam uri. primum, quid uelit, deinde, quid cogatur uelle, demonstrat. uult nos permanere post nuptias sicut se ipsum et propositae beatitudinis apostoli ponit exemplum. sin autem nos uiderit nolle, quod ipse uult, incontinentiae nostrae tribuit indulgentiam. quam e duabus eligimus uoluntatem ? quod magis uult et quod per se bonum est, an quod mali conparatione fit leuius et quodam modo nec bonum est, quia praefertur malo? ergo, qui eligimus, quod apostolus non uult, sed uelle conpellitur, immo adquiescit deteriora cupientibus, non apostoli sed nostram facimus uoluntatem. legimus in ueteri testamento pontifices semel maritos et filias sacerdotum, si uiduae fuerint, uesci debere de sacerdotalibus cibis mortuisque sicut patri et matri sic exhibendum inferiarum officium, sin autem alios uiros acceperint, alienas et a patre et a sacrificiis fieri et inter externas debere reputari. 7. Quod quidem obseruat et gentilitas in condemnationem nostri, si hoc non exhibeat ueritas Christo, quod tribuit mendacium diabolo, qui et castitatem repperit perditricem. hierophanta apud Athenas eiurat uirum et aeterna debilitate fit castus, flamen unius uxoris ad sacerdotium admittitur, flaminica quoque unius mariti uxor eligitur, ad tauri Aegyptii sacra semel maritus adsumitur, ut omittam uirgines Uestae et Apollinis Iunonisque Achiuae et Dianae ac Mineruae, quae perpetua sacerdotii uirginitate marcescunt. stringam breuiter reginam Carthaginis, quae magis ardere uoluit quam Iarbae regi nubere, et Hasdrubalis uxorem, quae adprehensis utraque manu liberis in subiectum se praecipitauit incendium, ne pudicitiae damna sentiret, et Lucretiam, quae amissa gloria castitatis noluit pollutae conscientiae superuiuere. ac ne multa longo sermone contexam, quae potes de primo contra Iouinianum uolumine in aedificationem tuam sumere, unum tantum, quod in patria tua gestum est, repetam, ut scias pudicitiam etiam barbaris ac feris et sanguinariis gentibus esse uenerabilem. gens Teutonum ex ultimis ooeani atque Germaniae profecta litoribus omnes Gallias inundauit saepiusque caesis Romanis exercitibus apud Aquas Sextias Mario oppugnante superata est. quorum trecentae matronae, cum aliis se uiris captiuitatis condicione tradendas esse didicissent, primo consulem deprecatae sunt, ut templo Cereris ac Veneris in seruitium traderentur. quod cum non inpetrarent submouente eas lictore, caesis paruulis liberis mane mortuae sunt repertae suffocatis laqueo faucibus et mutuis conplexibus se tenentes. 8. Quod igitur barbarae castitati non potuit inferre captiuitas, hoc matrona nobilis faciet et experietur alterum uirum, quae priorem aut bonum perdidit aut malum experta est, ut rursum contra iudicium dei facere nitatur? quid? si statim secundum perdiderit, sortietur et tertium? et si ille dormierit, in quartum quintumque procedet, ut quo a meretricibus differat? omni ratione uiduae prouidendum est, ne castitatis primos excedat limites. quos si excesserit et uerecundiam ruperit matronalem, in omnem debacchabitur luxuriam, ita ut prophetam mereatur audire dicen tem: facies meretricis facta est tibi; inpudorata es tu. quid igitur? damnamus secunda matrimonia? minime, sed prima laudamus. abicimus de ecclesia digamos ? absit, sed monogamos ad continentiam prouocamus. in arca Noe non solum munda, sed et inmunda fuerunt animalia; habuit et homines, habuit et serpentes. in domo quoque magna uasa diuersa sunt, alia in honorem, alia in contumeliam. est et crater ad bibendum, est et matula ad secretiora naturae, nam cum in semente terrae bonae centesimum et sexagesimum et tricesimum fructum euangelia doceant et centenarius pro uirginitatis corona primum gradum teneat, sexagenarius pro labore uiduarum in secundo sit numero, tricenarius foedera nuptiarum ipsa digitorum coniunctione testetur, digamia in quo erit numero ? immo extra numerum. certe in bona terra non oritur, sed in uepribus et in spinetis uulpium, quae Herodi inpiissimo conparantur, ut in eo se putet esse laudabilem, si scortis melior sit, si publicarum libidinum uictimas superet, si uni sit prostituta, non pluribus. 9. Rem dicturus incredibilem multorum testimoniis adprobabo. ante annos plurimos, cum in chartis ecclesiasticis iuuarem Damasum, Romanae urbis episcopum, et orientis atque occidentis synodicis consultationibus responderem, uidi duo inter se paria uilissimorum e plebe hominum conparata, unum, qui uiginti sepelisset uxores, alteram, quae uicesimum secundum habuisset maritum, extremo sibi, ut ipsi putabant, matrimonio copulatos. summa omnium expectatio uirorum pariter ac feminarum: 'post tantas rudes quis quem primus efferet?' uicit maritus et totius urbis populo confluente coronatus et palmam tenens adoransque per 'singulas sescentas!' clamantes uxoris multinubae feretrum praecedebat. quid dicimus tali mulieri? nempe illud, quod dominus Samaritanae: 'uiginti duos habuisti maritos et istum, a quo nunc sepeliris, non est tuus.' 10. Itaque obsecro te, religiosa in Christo filia, ut testimonia ista non noueris, quibus incontinentibus et miseris subuenitur, sed illa potius lectites, quibus pudicitia coronatur. sufficit tibi, quod perdidisti primum uirginitatis gradum et per tertium uenisti ad secun-dum, id est per officium coniugale ad uiduitatis continentiam. extrema, immo abiecta ne cogites nec aliena et longe posita exempla perquiras. habes auiam, matrem, amitam, quarum tibi abundans imitatio atque doctrina et praecepta uiuendi norma uirtutum est. si enim multae in coniugio uiuentibus adhuc uiris intellegunt illud apostoli: omnia licent, sed non omnia expediunt, et castrant se propter regna caelorum uel a secunda natiuitate post lauacrum ex consensu uel post nuptias ex ardore fidei, cur uidua, quae iudicio domini uirum habere desiuit, non illud laetabunda congeminet: dominus dedit, dominus abstulit et oblatam occasionem arripiat libertatis, ut sui corporis habeat potestatem, ne rursum ancilla fiat hominis? et certe multo laboriosius est non frui eo, quod habeas, quam desiderare, quod amiseris. unde et uirginitas in eo felicior est, quod carnis incentiua non nouit, et uiduitas in illo sollicitior, quod praeteritas animo recolit uoluptates, maxime si se uirum putet perdidisse, non praemisisse, quorum alteram doloris, alteram gaudii est. 11. Prima hominis creatura nos doceat plures nuptias refutare. unus Adam et una Eua — immo una ex eo costa — separatur in feminam rursumque, quod diuisum fuerat, nuptiis copulatur dicente scriptura: erunt duo in carne una — non in duas nec in tres —; propter quod relinquet homo patrem et matrem et adhaerebit uxori suae, certe non uxoribus. quod testimonium Paulus edisserens ad Christum refert et ad ecclesiam, ut et primus Adam in carne et secundus in spiritu monogamus sit. una Eua mater cunctorum uiuentium et una ecclesia parens omnium Christianorum. sicut illam maledictus Lamech in duas diuisit uxores, sic hanc heretici in plures ecclesias lacerant, quae iuxta Apocalypsin lohannis synagogae magis diaboli appellandae sunt quam Christi conciliabula. legimus in carminum libro:. sexaginta sunt reginae et octoginta concubinae et adulescentulae, quarum non est numerus. una est columba mea, perfecta mea, una est matri suae, electa genetrici suae, ad quam scribit idem Iohannes epistulam: senior electae dominae et fi1iis eius. sed et in arcam, quam Petrus apostolus sub typo interpretatur ecclesiae, Noe cum tribus filiis singulas, non binas introduxit uxores. etiam de inmundis animalibus bina sumuntur, masculus et femina, ut ne in bestiis quidem, serpentibus, crocodillis ac lacertis digamia habeat locum, quodsi de mundis septena ponuntur, id est inparia, et in hoc uirginitatis ac pudicitiae palma monstratur. egressus enim de arca Noe deo uictimas immolauit, non utique de pari, sed de inpari numero, quia alteram fetibus atque coniugio, alteram sacrificio praeparatum est. 12. At patriarchae non singulas habuerunt uxores, immo et concubinas habuere quam plurimas et, ne hoc parum sit, Dauid multas et Salomon habuit innumerabiles. Iudas ad Thamar quasi ad scortum ingreditur et iuxta occidentem litteram Osee propheta non solum meretrici, sed et adulterae copulatur. quod si et nobis iure conceditur, adhinniamus ad omnes feminas et in exemplum Sodomae et Gomorrae ab ultima die deprehendamur uendentes et ementes, nubentes et nuptum tradentes, ut tunc sit finis coniugii, quando terminus uitae. quodsi et post diluuium et ante diluuium uiguit illa sententia: crescite et multiplicamini et replete terram, quid ad nos, in quos fines saeculorum decucurrerunt, quibus dicitur: tempus breue est et: iam securis ad radices arborum posita est, quae siluam legis et nuptiarum euangelica castitate succidat? tempus amplexandi et tempus longe fieri ab amplexibus. Hieremias captiuitate propinqua uxorem prohibetur accipere. Hiezechiel in Babylone: mortua est, inquit, uxor mea et apertum est os meum. nec ducturus uxorem nec ille, qui duxerat, possunt in opere con iugali libere prophetare. olim gloria erat illum audire uersiculum: filii tui sicut nouella oliuarum in circuitu mensae tuae et: uideas filios filiorum tuorum; nunc de continentibus dicitur: qui adhaeret domino, unus spiritus est et: adhaesit anima mea post te; me suscepit dextera tua. tunc oculum pro oculo, nunc uerberanti malam praebemus et alteram, illo tempore bellatoribus dicebatur: accingere gladio tuo super femur tuum, potentissime; modo audit Petrus: conde gladium tuum in uagina sua; qui enim gladio percusserit, gladio morietur. haec dicimus non separantes legem et euangelium, ut Marcion calumniatur, sed unum atque eundem suscipientes deum, qui pro uarietate temporum atque causarum principio et fini serit, ut metat, plantat, ut habeat, quod succidat, iacit fundamentum, ut aedificio consummato culmen inponat. alioquin, si ad sacramenta ueniamus et futurorum typos, non nostro arbitrio, sed apostolo disserente Agar et Sarra, montes Sina et Sion duo instrumenta significant. Lia lippientibus oculis et Rachel, quam Iacob amat plurimum, synagogam ecclesiamque testantur. unde et Anna prius sterilis Fennennae ubertate fecundior est, licet et monogamia nos in Isaac Rebeccaque praecesserit, cuius solius partus domini reuelatio est. nec ulla alia feminarum deum per se ipsam consuluit. quid loquar de Thamar, quae Zaram et Phares geminos fudit infantes — in quorum natiuitate diuisa mate¬ria duos populos separauit et ligata manus coccino conscientiam Iudaeorum iam tunc Christi passione respersit —ac de scorto prophetico, cuius similitudo uel ecclesiam significat de gentibus oongregatam uel—quod ipsi magis loco conuenit— synagogam primum adsumptam de idolatris per Abraham et Moysen, dein post adulteri- um et negationem saluatoris sedentem plurimo tempore sine altari, sacerdotibus ac prophetis et uiri pristini consortium praestolantem, ut, postquam subintrauerit plenitudo gentium, tunc omnis Israhel saluus fiat? 13. Quasi in breui tabella latissimos terrarum situs ostendere uolui, ut pergam ad alias quaestiunculas, quarum prima de Annae consilio est: solane perpetua maerens carpere iuuenta nec dulces natos Ueneris nec praemia noris? id cinerem aut manes credis curare sepultos? cui breuiter respondeat ipsa, quae passa est: tu lacrimis euicta meis, tu prima furentem his, germana, malis oneras at que obicis hosti. non licuit thalami expertem sine crimine uitam degere more ferae tales nec tangere curas. non seruata fides cineri promissa Sychaeo. proponis mihi gaudia nuptiarum; ego tibi opponam pyram, gladium, incendium. non tantum boni est in nuptiis, quod speramus, quantum mali, quod accidere potest et timendum est. libido transacta semper sui relinquit paenitudinem numquamque satiatur et extincta redaccenditur. usu crescit et deficit nec rationi paret, quae impetu ducitur. sed dicis: 'amplae opes et dispensatio rei familiaris egent auctoritate uiri'. scilicet perierunt domus caelibum et, nisi cum seruulis tuis ipsa seruieris, familiae tuae imperare non poteris. auia tua, mater et amita nonne auctoritatis pristinae honorisque maioris sunt, dum eas et tota prouincia et ecclesiarum principes suscipiunt? ergo milites et peregrinantes sine uxoribus sua hospitiola non regunt et nec inuitant ad conuiuia nec inuitantur? quasi non possis probatae aetatis habere famulos uel libertos, in quo¬rum nutrita es manibus, qui praesint domui, qui ad publicum respondeant, tributa persoluant, qui te suspiciant ut patronam, diligant ut alumnam, uenerentur ut sanctam. quaere primum re gnum dei et haec omnia adponentur tibi. si de ueste cogitaueris, lilia tibi de euangelio proponentur; si de cibo, remittere ad aues, quae non serunt nec metunt et pater tuus caelestis pascit illas. quantae uirgines et uiduae absque ulla sorde rumoris suam substantiolam gubernarunt ? 14. Caue, ne iungaris adulescentibus, ne his adhaereas, propter quas apostolus concedit secunda raatrimonia, et sustineas in media tranquillitate naufragium. si Timotheo dicitur: adulescentiores uiduas deuita et iterum: anus ut matres, adulescentulas ut sorores cum omni castitate, quare tu me non audias commonentem ? fuge personas, in quibus potest malae conuersationis esse suspicio, nec paratum habeas illud e triuio: 'sufficit mihi conscientia mea; non curo, quid loquantur homines', et certe apostolus prouidebat bona non solum coram deo sed et coram hominibus, ne per illum nomen dei blasphemaretur in gentibus. habebat utique potestatem sorores mulieres circumducendi, sed nolebat se iudicari ab infideli conscientia. et, cum posset de euangelio uiuere, diebus ac noctibus laborabat manibus suis, ne quem grauaret credentium. si scanda1izat, inquit, esca fratrem, non manducabo carnem in aet e r n u m. dicamus et nos: si scandalizat soror illa uel frater non unum et alteram sed totam eeclesiam, nec sororem uidebo nec fratrem. melius est rem familiarem minui quam animae salutem, perire, quod — uelimus nolimus — aliquando periturum est, quam id amittere, pro quo omnia dimittenda sunt, quis nostrum non dicam cubitum, quod enorme est, sed unius unciunculae decimam partem adicere potest ad staturam suam ? et solliciti sumus, quid manducemus aut quid bibamus ? ne cogitemus ergo de crastino: suffioit diei malitia sua. Iacob fratrem fugiens magnis in patris domo diuitiis derelictis nudus pergit in Mesopotamiam et, ut nobis fortitudinis suae praeberet exemplum, lapide capiti subposito uidet scalam ad caelum usque subrectam et dominum innitentem super earn; per quam ascendebant angeli et descendebant, ut nec peccator desperet salutem nec iustus in sua uirtute securus sit. atque, ut multa praeteream — neque enim tempus est, ut adsumptis testimoniis omnia disseram — post annos uiginti diues dominus et pater ditior, qui dudum Iordanen in baculo transierat, cum tribus turmis gregum in patriam reuertitur. apostoli toto orbe peregrini non aes in zona, non uirgam in manu, non gallicas habuere in pedibus et tamen dicere poterant: nihil habentes et omnia possidentes et:argentum et aurum non est nobis, quod autem habemus: in nomine domini nostri Iesu Christi surge et ambula. non enim erant diuitiarum sarcina praegrauati et ideo stantes cum Helia in foramine petrae per angustias acus transire poterant et posteriora domini contemplari. nos uero ardemus auaritia et contra pecunias disputantes auro sinum expandimus nihilque nobis satis est et illud, quod de Megarensibus dicitur, iure miseris coaptari potest: aedificant quasi semper uicturi, uiuunt quasi altera die morituri. et haec facimus, quia domini uerbis non credimus, quia aetas optata cunctis non uiciniam mortis, quae debetur mortalibus lege naturae, sed cassa spe annorum nobis spatia pollicetur. nemo enim tarn fractis uiribus et sic decrepitae senectutis est, ut non se putet unum adhuc annum esse uicturum. unde subrepit obliuio conditionis suae, ut terrenum animal et iam iamque soluendum erigatur in superbiam et animo caelum teneat. 15. Uerum quid ago? fracta naue de mercibus disputo. qui tenebat, de medio fit, et non intellegimus adpropinquare antichristum, quem dominus lesus interficiet spiritu oris sui. uae praegnantibus et nutrientibus in illa die. quorum utrumque de fructibus nuptiaruni est. praesentium miseriarum pauca percurram. quod rari hucusque residemus, non nostri meriti sed domini misericordiae est. innumerabiles et ferocissimae nationes uniuersas Gallias occuparunt. quicquid inter Alpes et Pyrenaeum est, quod oceano Rhenoque concluditur, Quadus, Uandalus, Sarmata, Halani, Gypedes, Herali, Saxones, Burgundiones, Alamanni et — o lugenda res publica! — hostes Pannonii uastauerunt. etenim Assur uenit cum illis. Mogontiacus, nobilis quondam ciuitas, capta atque subuersa est et in ecclesia multa hominum milia trucidata, Uangiones longa obsidione finiti, Remorum urbs praepotens, Ambiani, Atrabatae extremique hominum Morini, Tornacus, Nemetae, Argentoratus translatae in Germaniam, Aquitaniae Nouemque populorum, Lugdunensis et Narbonensis prouinciae praeter paucas urbes cuncta populata sunt, quas et ipsas foris gladius, intus uastat fames, non possum absque lacrimis Tolosae facere mentionem, quae ut hucusque non rueret, sancti episcopi Exsuperii merita praestiterunt. ipsae Hispaniae iam iamque periturae cotidie contremescunt recordantes inruptionis Cymbricae et, quicquid alii semel passi sunt, illae semper timore patiuntur. 16. Cetera taceo, ne uidear de dei desperare dementia, olim a mari Pontico usque ad Alpes Iulias non erant nostra, quae nostra sunt, et per annos triginta fracto Danubii limite in mediis Romani imperii regionibus pugnabatur. aruerant uetustate lacrimae; praeter paucos senes omnes in captiuitate et obsidione generati non desiderabant, quam non nouerant, libertatem. quis hoc crederet, quae digno sermone historiae conprehenderent Romani in gremio suo non pro gloria sed pro salute pugnare, immo ne pugnare quidem sed auro et cuncta superlectili uitam redimere? quod non uitio principum, qui uel religiosissimi sunt, sed scelere semibarbari accidit proditoris, qui nostris contra nos opibus armauit inimicos. aeterno quondam dedecore Romanum laborabat imperium, quod Gallis cuncta uastantibus fusoque apud Alliam exercitu Romam Brennus intrasset, nec pristinam abolere poterat ignominiam, donec et Gallias, genitale Gallorum solum, et Gallograeciam, in qua consederant occidentis orientisque uictores, suo imperio subiugasset. Hannibal, de Hispaniae finibus orta tempestas, cum uastasset ltaliam, uidit urbem nec ausus est obsidere. Pyrrhum tanta tenuit Romani nominis reuerentia, ut deletis omnibus e propinquo recederet loco nec auderet uictor aspicere, quam regum didicerat ciuitatem. et tamen pro hac iniuria — non enim dicam superbiam, quae bonos exitus habuit — alter toto orbe fugitiuus tandem Bithyniae mortem ueneno repperit, alter reuersus in patriam in suo regno occubuit; et utriusque prouinciae Romani populi uectigales sunt, nunc, ut omnia prospero fine eueniant, praeter nostra, quae amisimus, non habemus, quod uictis hostibus auferamus. potentiam Romanae urbis ardens poeta describens ait: quid satis est, si Roma parum est? quod nos alio mutemus elogio: quid saluum est, si Roma perit? non, mihi si linguae centum sint oraque centum , ferrea uox, omnes captorum dicere poenas, omnia caesorum percurrere nomina possim. et haec ipsa, quae dixi, periculosa sunt tam loquenti quam audientibus, ut ne gemitus quidem liber sit nolentibus, immo nec audentibus nobis flere, quae patimur. 17. Responde mihi, carissima in Christo filia, inter ista nuptura es ? quem acceptura uirum ? credo fugiturum aut pugnaturum — quid utrumque sequatur, intellegis — et pro fescennino carmine terribilis tibi rauco sonitu bucina concrepabit, ut, quas pronubas, habeas forte lugentes, ut quibus deliciis affluas, quae possessionum tuarum reditus perdidisti, quae obsessam familiolam tuam morbo et fame cernis contabescere ? sed absit, ut de te talia sentiam, ut sinistrum quippiam suspicer de ea, quae suam animam domino consecrauit. non tam tibi quam sub tuo nomine aliis sum locutus, quae uinosae et curiosae atque uerbosae domus circumeunt matronarum, quarum deus neuter est et gloria in confusione earum, quae nihil aliud de scripturis nisi digamiae praecepta nouerunt, quae in alieno corpore sua desideria consolantur, ut, quod ipsae fecerunt, alias facere uideant et malarum societate palpentur. quarum cum inpudentiam et propositiones apostolicarum sententiarum interpretatione contriueris, legito, quomodo tibi in uiduitate uiuendum sit, librum ad Eustochium de uirginitate seruanda et alios ad Furiam atque Saluinam, quarum altera Probi quondam consulis nurus, altera Gildonis, qui Africam tenuit, filia est. hic libellus 'De monogamia' sub nomine tuo titulum possidebit.

Historical context:

Jerome writes formally in the first person plural. He musters many arguments in favor of chaste widowhood, most from the bible, a few from classical literature and treats remarriage as a form of bigamy. Though it is better to remarry than to burn with lust, it is best to remain free from the power of a husband. Even if patriarchs had more than one wife, we are approaching the end – of Rome and perhaps of the world – so it makes little sense to think of marriage. At the end Jerome recommends other works of his , letters to Eustochium on virginity, and to Furia and Salvina.

Scholarly notes:

1. This translation was provided by Amy Oh.

Printed source:

Sancti Eusebii Hieronvmi Epistulae, ed. Isidorus Hilberg, 3 v. (New York: Johnson, 1970,  CSEL, repr.1910-18), ep.123.

Date:

409