The Patrologia Latina · Volume XXII
The Letters of Jerome
Volume 22 is the Letters of Jerome — the whole collection, 150 letters in fifteen dossiers, from the young hermit writing out of the Syrian desert to the old man in Bethlehem answering Augustine. Here are the letter to Eustochium on virginity, the advice to Nepotian on how a clergyman should live, the defence of translating by sense rather than by word, the epitaphs of Paula and Marcella, the news of the sack of Rome, and the full correspondence with Augustine. We are translating every one into English.
About this volume
From the desert of Chalcis to Bethlehem, 370 to 420 AD
Jerome (around 347 to 420 AD) was educated at Rome, tried the ascetic life at Aquileia with Rufinus and Chromatius, and went east around 372 AD to live as a hermit in the desert of Chalcis, where he learned Hebrew. Back in Rome from 382 to 385 AD as secretary to Pope Damasus, he revised the Latin Gospels — the beginning of the Vulgate — and became the teacher of the aristocratic women whose names fill these letters: Marcella, Paula, Eustochium, Blesilla, Asella. After Damasus died he left Rome for good and settled at Bethlehem, where Paula built the monasteries and he spent thirty-four years translating, commenting, and quarrelling.
The letters follow Vallarsi’s order, which Migne kept. Letters 1 to 20 come from Antioch and the desert; 21 to 45 from Rome, including Letter 22 to Eustochium on the guarding of virginity and the series to Marcella on Hebrew words and the names of God; 46 onward from Bethlehem — Nepotian on the life of the clergy (52), Paulinus on the study of Scripture (53), Pammachius on the best method of translating (57), Fabiola on the forty-two stations of Israel (78), the epitaph of Paula (108), Laeta on raising a daughter (107), and Principia on Marcella and the fall of Rome in 410 AD (127).
Woven through them are the two great arguments of his life. Letters 80 to 100 are the documents of the Origenist controversy — Rufinus’s preface, the letters of Epiphanius and Theophilus that Jerome translated, Pope Anastasius’s ruling. Letters 101 to 116 and 131 to 144 are the correspondence with Augustine over Paul’s rebuke of Peter and over whether a Bible translated from the Hebrew should displace the Greek the churches knew. The last dossier gathers three letters of uncertain date and three printed as spurious, kept as Migne printed them. As across the whole project, we translate the original works only, in fresh English, and give them away free to read.
Where to start
Three to begin with
The famous letter
Letters 21 to 30: To Eustochium and Marcella
Epistolae XXI–XXX
Letter 22 to Eustochium on the guarding of virginity (384 AD) — the letter that made Jerome’s name, with the series to Marcella.
Read →The teacher
Letters 51 to 60: Nepotian, Paulinus, and the Art of Translating
Epistolae LI–LX
How a clergyman should live (52), how to read Scripture (53), and the letter to Pammachius on translating sense rather than words (57).
Read →The fall of Rome
Letters 121 to 130: The Sack of Rome and the Last Answers
Epistolae CXXI–CXXX
Letter 127 on Marcella and the sack of Rome in 410 AD, Letter 124 dissecting Origen’s On First Principles, and Letter 130 to Demetrias.
Read →The contents
15 works
Each is a fresh English translation from the Latin, free to read online, in the order Migne printed them.
- 01
Letters 1 to 10: The Woman Struck Seven Times and the Aquileian Circle Epistolae I-X
Jerome's earliest surviving letters, written from Antioch and the desert of Chalcis, span a dramatic legal tale to Innocentius, an appeal to the anchorites for guidance, and a cluster of notes to friends at Aquileia.
10 ch. Read free → - 02
Letters 11 to 20: To Heliodorus and Pope Damasus Epistolae XI-XX
Ten letters from Jerome's early years in Syria and Constantinople, centering on his appeal to Heliodorus to embrace the hermit's life and his letters to Pope Damasus on the Antiochene schism and the three hypostases.
10 ch. Read free → - 03
Letters 21 to 30: To Eustochium and Marcella Epistolae XXI-XXX
Ten Roman letters anchored by Letter 22 to Eustochium on guarding virginity, Jerome's most famous letter, alongside Letter 21's allegory of the prodigal son and a run of scholarly letters to Marcella.
10 ch. Read free → - 04
Letters 31 to 40: Origen's Works and the Death of Blesilla Epistolae XXXI-XL
Jerome sends Marcella a catalog of Origen's writings, answers Damasus's questions on Genesis, and consoles Paula on the death of her daughter Blesilla.
10 ch. Read free → - 05
Letters 41 to 50: Leaving Rome and the Apology Against Jovinian Epistolae XLI-L
Jerome defends leaving Rome to Asella, Paula and Eustochium describe the holy places to Marcella, and Jerome answers critics of his treatise against Jovinian in an apology to Pammachius.
10 ch. Read free → - 06
Letters 51 to 60: On the Clergy, Scripture, and Widowhood Epistolae LI-LX
A dossier centered on Jerome's letters to Nepotian on clerical life, to Paulinus on studying Scripture, and to Furia on widowhood, alongside Augustine's first letter to Jerome.
10 ch. Read free → - 07
Letters 61 to 70: Origen, Augustine, and the Priestly Vestments Epistolae LXI-LXX
A dossier of ten letters (396-397 AD) centered on Jerome's defense of reading Origen, his allegory of the priestly vestments for Fabiola, and his exchange with Augustine over Peter and Paul at Antioch.
10 ch. Read free → - 08
Letters 71 to 80: Fabiola and Rufinus's Preface on Origen Epistolae LXXI-LXXX
A eulogy for Fabiola sent to Oceanus, a survey of the Israelites' forty-two desert stations composed in her memory, and Rufinus's preface to Origen's On First Principles anchor this dossier.
51 ch. Read free → - 09
Letters 81 to 90: The Break with Rufinus and the Campaign Against Origen Epistolae LXXXI-XC
Letter 81 records Jerome's broken friendship with Rufinus, Letter 84 defends him to Pammachius and Oceanus, and Letters 86 to 90 trace his alliance with Theophilus of Alexandria against Origenism.
10 ch. Read free → - 10
Letters 91 to 100: The Origenist Controversy Epistolae XCI-C
Epiphanius's warning against Origenist monks, Theophilus's synodical letter condemning Origen, and Jerome's own defense to Pammachius and Marcella anchor this Origenist-controversy dossier.
11 ch. Read free → - 11
Letters 101 to 110: The Correspondence with Augustine Epistolae CI-CX
Jerome's uneasy correspondence with Augustine over Galatians and the Hebrew Bible anchors this dossier, alongside the epitaph of Paula and a letter instructing Laeta in raising her daughter.
10 ch. Read free → - 12
Letters 111 to 120: The Correspondence with Augustine Continued Epistolae CXI-CXX
Jerome's long reply to Augustine on Galatians and Paul's rebuke of Peter anchors this dossier, alongside his letters to Julian and to Hedibia on twelve scriptural questions.
21 ch. Read free → - 13
Letters 121 to 130: Origen, the Sack of Rome, and Virginity Epistolae CXXI-CXXX
A dossier from 407 to 414 AD spanning Jerome's answers to Algasia's eleven questions, his memoir of Marcella amid the sack of Rome, and his treatise on virginity for Demetrias.
115 ch. Read free → - 14
Letters 131 to 144: The Correspondence with Augustine on the Origin of the Soul Epistolae CXXXI-CXLIV
This dossier gathers Augustine's letters to Jerome on the origin of the human soul, Jerome's treatise against Pelagius addressed to Ctesiphon, and Augustine's closing letter to Optatus on the same question.
65 ch. Read free → - 15
Letters 145 to 150: Letters of Uncertain Date and Spurious Letters Epistolae CXLV-CL
Jerome's genuine letters to Evangelus on deacons and presbyters and to the fallen deacon Sabinianus are followed by three letters now judged spurious and not his own.
54 ch. Read free →
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