Letter 67: 1. I have heard that my letter has come to your hand. I have not yet received a reply, but I do not on this account question your affection; doubtless something has hitherto prevented you.

Letter 67 — To Jerome: On a False Rumor, and the Longing for True Exchange (A.D. 402) To my most beloved and longed-for lord, my honored brother in Christ and fellow-priest, Jerome — Augustine sends greetings in the Lord. I have heard that my letter reached you. I have not yet received a reply, but I do not doubt your affection on that account — something has no doubt prevented you. My prayer, therefore, is simply that God would give you the opportunity to send your reply, since he has already given you the capacity to write it — a capacity you could exercise with the greatest ease whenever you felt so inclined. I have been uncertain whether to put any credence in a report that has come to me. But I felt I ought not to hesitate about writing you a few lines on the matter. In brief: I have heard that some people have told your Charity that I wrote a book against you and sent it to Rome. I call God to witness — that is false. I did not do it. But if there are things in any of my writings where I have expressed a view different from yours, I think you ought to know — or at the very least to believe — that such things were written not in order to oppose you, but simply to set out my own understanding. That said, I am not merely willing to hear, in a brotherly spirit, any objections you may have to anything in my writings that has displeased you — I beg you, I implore you, to tell me what they are. Nothing would make me happier than either to be corrected in a mistake, or at least to know that your goodwill toward me is undiminished. If only I could live near you — if not under the same roof, at least nearby — and enjoy frequent and deep conversation with you in the Lord! Since that cannot be, I beg you to take pains to maintain and improve and perfect this one way in which we can be together: by letter. Do not refuse to write to me, even seldom. Please give my respectful greetings to our holy brother Paulinianus, and to all the brothers who rejoice in the Lord with you and because of you. May you, remembering us in your prayers, be heard by the Lord in all your holy desires — my most beloved and longed-for lord, my honored brother in Christ. Farewell in the Lord.

From Augustine to Jerome (A.D. 402) To My Lord Most Beloved and Longed For, My Honoured Brother in Christ, and Fellow-Presbyter, Jerome, Augustine Sends Greeting in the Lord. Chapter 1 1. I have heard that my letter has come to your hand. I have not yet received a reply, but I do not on this account question your affection; doubtless something has hitherto prevented you. Wherefore I know and avow that my prayer should be, that God would put it in your power to forward your reply, for He has already given you power to prepare it, seeing that you can do so with the utmost ease if you feel disposed. Chapter 2 2. I have hesitated whether to give credence or not to a certain report which has reached me; but I felt that I ought not to hesitate as to writing a few lines to you regarding the matter. To be brief, I have heard that some brethren have told your Charity that I have written a book against you and have sent it to Rome. Be assured that this is false: I call God to witness that I have not done this. But if perchance there be some things in some of my writings in which I am found to have been of a different opinion from you, I think you ought to know, or if it cannot be certainly known, at least to believe, that such things have been written not with a view of contradicting you, but only of stating my own views. In saying this, however, let me assure you that not only am I most ready to hear in a brotherly spirit the objections which you may entertain to anything in my writings which has displeased you, but I entreat, nay implore you, to acquaint me with them; and thus I shall be made glad either by the correction of my mistake, or at least by the expression of your goodwill. 3. Oh that it were in my power, by our living near each other, if not under the same roof, to enjoy frequent and sweet conference with you in the Lord! Since, however, this is not granted, I beg you to take pains that this one way in which we can be together in the Lord be kept up; nay more, improved and perfected. Do not refuse to write me in return, however seldom. Greet with my respects our holy brother Paulinianus, and all the brethren who with you, and because of you, rejoice in the Lord. May you, remembering us, be heard by the Lord in regard to all your holy desires, my lord most beloved and longed for, my honoured brother in Christ.

EPISTOLA 67 Scripta a. 402. A. Hieronymo negans se umquam librum in ipsum scripsisse illumque forte in hoc falsum dicens quod quis prolixam epistulam librum appellasset (n. 1-3).   Domino carissimo et desideratissimo et honorando in Christo fratri et compresbytero Hieronymo, Augustinus, in Domino salutem A. rescriptum adhuc desiderat. 1. 1. Audivi pervenisse in manus tuas litteras meas; sed, quod adhuc rescripta non merui, nequaquam imputaverim dilectioni tuae: aliquid procul dubio impedimenti fuit. Unde agnosco a me Dominum potius deprecandum, ut tuae voluntati det facultatem mittendi quod rescripseris: nam rescribendi iam dedit quia, cum volueris, facillime poteris. Nullum librum scripsit A. in Hieronymum. 2. 2. Etiam hoc, ad me sane perlatum, utrum quidem crederem dubitavi; sed hinc quoque tibi aliquid utrum scriberem, dubitare non debui: hoc autem brevi suggestum esse Caritati tuae a nescio quibus fratribus, mihi dictum est, quod librum adversus te scripserim, Romamque miserim. Hoc falsum esse noveris; Deum nostrum testor, hoc me non fecisse. Sed si forte aliqua in aliquibus scriptis meis reperiuntur, in quibus aliter aliquid quam tu sensisse reperiar, non contra te dictum, sed quod mihi videbatur a me scriptum esse, puto te debere cognoscere; aut si cognosci non potest, credere. Ita sane hoc dixerim, ut ego non tantum paratissimus sim, si quid te in meis scriptis moverit, fraterne accipere quid contra sentias, aut de correctione mea, aut de ipsa tua benevolentia gavisurus; verum etiam hoc a te postulem, et flagitem. A. amorem ac aestimationem significat Hieronymo. 2. 3. O si licuisset, etsi non cohabitante, saltem vicino te in Domino perfrui ad crebrum et dulce colloquium! Sed quia id non est datum, peto ut hoc ipsum, quod in Domino quam possumus simul sumus, conservari studeas, et augeri ac perfici, et rescripta quamvis rara non spernere. Saluta obsequio meo sanctum fratrem Paulinianum, et omnes fratres qui tecum ac de te in Domino gaudent. Memor nostri exaudiaris a Domino in omni sancto desiderio tuo, domine carissime et desideratissime, et honorande in Christo frater.