Letter 135: Shortly after the synod of Diospolis the Pelagians exulting in their success made an attack upon Jerome's monasteries at Bethlehem which they pillaged and partially burned. This gained for him the sympathy of Innocent who now (A.D. 417) asks Aurelius to transmit to him the letter which follows this.
Pope Innocent to his most esteemed friend and brother Aurelius — greetings.
Our fellow presbyter Jerome has informed us of your most devoted desire to visit us. We share in his suffering as we would in the suffering of any member of our own flock. We have acted with the promptness that the situation requires and taken such measures as have seemed to us both necessary and practicable.
Since you count yourself one of us, most dear brother, I ask that you transmit without delay the letter which follows this one to the aforementioned Jerome. Time matters in these affairs, and the letter should reach him as quickly as a reliable messenger can arrange.
Know that the apostolic see is not indifferent to what has been done at Bethlehem. We know what was destroyed, and by whom, and we do not forget it.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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