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Jerome, Letter to Innocent
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Letter II. To Theodosius and the Rest of the Anchorites.
Letter III. To Rufinus the Monk.
Letter VI. To Julian, a Deacon of Antioch.
Letter VII. To Chromatius, Jovinus, and Eusebius.
Letter VIII. To Niceas, Sub-Deacon of Aquileia.
Letter IX. To Chrysogonus, a Monk of Aquileia.
Letter X. To Paul, an Old Man of Concordia.
Letter XI. To the Virgins of Æmona.
Letter XIII. To Castorina, His Maternal Aunt.
Letter XIV. To Heliodorus, Monk.
Letter XVII. To the Presbyter Marcus.
Letter XVIII. To Pope Damasus.
Letter XIX. From Pope Damasus.
Letter XXXV. From Pope Damasus.
Letter XXXVI. To Pope Damasus.
Letter XLVI. Paula and Eustochium to Marcella.
Letter LI. From Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, in Cyprus, to John, Bishop of Jerusalem.
Letter LVII. To Pammachius on the Best Method of Translating.
Letter LXII. To Tranquillinus.
Letter LXX. To Magnus an Orator of Rome.
Letter LXXIV. To Rufinus of Rome.
Letter LXXX. From Rufinus to Macarius.
Letter LXXXII. To Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria.
Letter LXXXIII. From Pammachius and Oceanus.
Letter LXXXIV. To Pammachius and Oceanus.
Letter LXXXVII. From Theophilus to Jerome.
Letter LXXXVIII. To Theophilus.
Letter LXXXIX. From Theophilus to Jerome.
Letter XC. From Theophilus to Epiphanius.
Letter XCI. From Epiphanius to Jerome.
Letter XCII. The Synodical Letter of Theophilus to the Bishops of Palestine and of Cyprus.
Letter XCIII. From the Bishops of Palestine to Theophilus.
Letter XCIV. From Dionysius to Theophilus.
Letter XCV. From Pope Anastasius to Simplicianus.
Letter XCVII. To Pammachius and Marcella.
Letter XCVIII. From Theophilus.
Letter CVI. To Sunnias and Fretela.
Letter CXI. From Augustine to Præsidius.
Letter CXIII. From Theophilus to Jerome.
Letter CXVII. To a Mother and Daughter Living in Gaul.
Letter CXIX. To Minervius and Alexander.
Letter CXXVI. To Marcellinus and Anapsychia.
Letter CXXVIII. To Gaudentius.
Letter CXXXII. From Augustine.
Letter CXXXV. From Pope Innocent to Aurelius.
Letter CXXXVI. From Pope Innocent to Jerome.
Letter CXXXVII. From Pope Innocent to John, Bishop of Jerusalem.
Letter CXL. To Cyprian the Presbyter.
Letter CXLIII. To Alypius and Augustine.
Letter II. To Theodosius and the Rest of the Anchorites.
Written from Antioch, 374 a.d., while Jerome was still in doubt as to his future course. Theodosius appears to have been the head of the solitaries in the Syrian Desert.
How I long to be a member of your company, and with uplifting of all my powers to embrace your admirable community! Though, indeed, these poor eyes are not worthy to look upon it. Oh! that I could behold the desert, lovelier to me than any city! Oh! that I could see those lonely spots made into a paradise by the saints that throng them! But since my sins prevent me from thrusting into your blessed company a head laden with every transgression, I adjure you (and I know that you can do it) by your prayers to deliver me from the darkness of this world. I spoke of this when I was with you, and now in writing to you I repeat anew the same request; for all the energy of my mind is devoted to this one object. It rests with you to give effect to my resolve. I have the will but not the power; this last can only come in answer to your prayers. For my part, I am like a sick sheep astray from the flock. Unless the good Shepherd shall place me on his shoulders and carry me back to the fold, 1 Luke xv. 3–5. my steps will totter, and in the very effort of rising I shall find my feet give way. I am the prodigal son 2 Luke xv. 11–32. who although I have squandered all the portion entrusted to me by my father, have not yet bowed the knee in submission to him; not yet have I commenced to put away from me the allurements of my former excesses. And because it is only a little while since I have begun not so much to abandon my vices as to desire to abandon them, the devil now ensnares me in new toils, he puts new stumbling-blocks in my path, he encompasses me on every side.
The seas around, and all around the main. 3 Virg. A. v. 9.
I find myself in mid-ocean, unwilling to retreat and unable to advance. It only remains that your prayers should win for me the gale of the Holy Spirit to waft me to the haven upon the desired shore.