Letters of St. Jerome

Letters of St. Jerome. His letters gain their special charm from being so personal. He himself, his correspondents, and the scenes in which they moved, are made to live before our eyes. See especially his descriptions of Roman life in the Epistles to Eustochium, to Paula on the death of Blesilla, to Læta on the education of her child, and Ageruchia; his account of the lives of Fabiola, of Paula, and of Marcella; his description of the clerical life in his letter to Nepotian, and of the monastic life in his letters to Rusticus and to Sabinian; his letters of spiritual counsel to a mother and daughter, to Julianus, and to Rusticus, and of hermit life in his letter to Eustochium; his satirical description of Onasus, Rufinus, and Vigilantius; his enthusiastic delight in the Holy Land in the letter written by him to Paula and Eustochium inviting Marcella to join them. Other characteristic and celebrated letters are those to Asella on his leaving Rome; to Pammachius on the best method of translation, which shows the liberties taken by translators in his time; to Oceanus in defense of a second marriage contracted by a Spanish Bishop, the first having been before baptism; to Magnus, indicating his use of secular literature, and showing the great range of his knowledge; to Lucinius on the copying of his works; to Avitus on the book of Origen, to Demetrias on the maintenance of virginity; to Ctesiphon on the Pelagian controversy.