Letter 74: 1. I write to remind you of the request which I made to you as a sincere friend when you were here, that you would not refuse to send a letter of mine to our holy brother and fellow presbyter Jerome; in order, moreover, to let your Charity know in what terms you ought to write to him on my behalf. I have sent a copy of my letter to him, and of h...
Augustine of Hippo→Præsidius|c. 398 AD|Augustine of Hippo|Human translated
friendshipillness
Literary culture
1. Just as I asked your Sincerity in person, so now too I remind you: please do not find it burdensome to send a letter of mine to our holy brother and fellow presbyter Jerome [context: Jerome of Stridon — the great biblical scholar and translator, then residing in Bethlehem; he and Augustine were engaged in an extended and sometimes tense theological correspondence, chiefly over the interpretation of Paul's letter to the Galatians]. And so that your Charity may know in what manner you yourself ought also to write to him on my behalf, I have sent copies of the letters — both mine to him and his to me — which, once read, your holy prudence will easily perceive: both the restraint I believed I should maintain, and the agitation on his part that I did not fear without cause.
Or if I have written something I ought not to have, or in a manner I ought not to have, do not send your reproach about me to him, but rather direct it to me myself in brotherly love, so that, corrected, I may ask his forgiveness — if I come to recognize my fault.
Letter 74 (A.D. 404)
To My Lord Præsidius, Most Blessed, My Brother and Partner in the Priestly Office, Truly Esteemed, Augustine Sends Greeting in the Lord.
1. I write to remind you of the request which I made to you as a sincere friend when you were here, that you would not refuse to send a letter of mine to our holy brother and fellow presbyter Jerome; in order, moreover, to let your Charity know in what terms you ought to write to him on my behalf. I have sent a copy of my letter to him, and of his to me, by reading which your pious wisdom may easily see both the moderation of tone which I have been careful to preserve, and the vehemence on his part by which I have been not unreasonably filled with fear. If, however, I have written anything which I ought not to have written, or have expressed myself in an unbecoming way, let it not be to him, but to myself, in brotherly love, that you send your opinion of what I have done, in order that, if I am convinced of my fault by your rebuke, I may ask his forgiveness.
EPISTOLA 74
Scripta a. 404
A. rogat Praesidium episcopum ut superiorem epistolam curet Hieronymo reddendam utque sibi eundem suis ipsius etiam litteris placet.
DOMINO BEATISSIMO, ET MERITO VENERANDO FRATRI, ET CONSACERDOTI PRAESIDIO, AUGUSTINUS, IN DOMINO SALUTEM.
1. Sicut praesens rogavi Sinceritatem tuam, nunc quoque commoneo, ut litteras meas sancto fratri et compresbytero nostro Hieronymo mittere non graveris. Ut autem noverit Caritas tua quemadmodum etiam tu illi pro mea causa scribere debeas, misi exemplaria litterarum, et mearum ad ipsum, et ad me ipsius, quibus lectis pro tua sancta prudentia facile videas et modum meum, quem servandum putavi, et motum eius, quem non frustra timui. Aut si ego quod non debui, vel quomodo non debui, aliquid scripsi; non ad illum de me, sed ad me ipsum potius fraterna dilectione mitte sermonem, quo correctus petam ut ignoscat, si meam culpam ipse cognovero.
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1. Just as I asked your Sincerity in person, so now too I remind you: please do not find it burdensome to send a letter of mine to our holy brother and fellow presbyter Jerome [context: Jerome of Stridon — the great biblical scholar and translator, then residing in Bethlehem; he and Augustine were engaged in an extended and sometimes tense theological correspondence, chiefly over the interpretation of Paul's letter to the Galatians]. And so that your Charity may know in what manner you yourself ought also to write to him on my behalf, I have sent copies of the letters — both mine to him and his to me — which, once read, your holy prudence will easily perceive: both the restraint I believed I should maintain, and the agitation on his part that I did not fear without cause.
Or if I have written something I ought not to have, or in a manner I ought not to have, do not send your reproach about me to him, but rather direct it to me myself in brotherly love, so that, corrected, I may ask his forgiveness — if I come to recognize my fault.
Human translation — New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
Latin / Greek Original
EPISTOLA 74
Scripta a. 404
A. rogat Praesidium episcopum ut superiorem epistolam curet Hieronymo reddendam utque sibi eundem suis ipsius etiam litteris placet.
DOMINO BEATISSIMO, ET MERITO VENERANDO FRATRI, ET CONSACERDOTI PRAESIDIO, AUGUSTINUS, IN DOMINO SALUTEM.
1. Sicut praesens rogavi Sinceritatem tuam, nunc quoque commoneo, ut litteras meas sancto fratri et compresbytero nostro Hieronymo mittere non graveris. Ut autem noverit Caritas tua quemadmodum etiam tu illi pro mea causa scribere debeas, misi exemplaria litterarum, et mearum ad ipsum, et ad me ipsius, quibus lectis pro tua sancta prudentia facile videas et modum meum, quem servandum putavi, et motum eius, quem non frustra timui. Aut si ego quod non debui, vel quomodo non debui, aliquid scripsi; non ad illum de me, sed ad me ipsum potius fraterna dilectione mitte sermonem, quo correctus petam ut ignoscat, si meam culpam ipse cognovero.