Letter 34
To Theodora [?].
I received your letter telling me of the beautiful and blessed promises and gifts the gods have given us. First I acknowledged the immense gratitude I owe to the heavenly gods, and then I gave thanks to you — for the generosity of your spirit. No one is more zealous than you in entreating the gods on my behalf, and you lose no time in reporting the blessings that have been revealed to you.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
Related Letters
I should be more diligent in writing to you but for my belief that my letters do not always, my friend, reach your own hands. I am afraid that through the naughtiness of those on whose service I depend, especially at a time like this when the whole world is in a state of confusion, a great many other people get hold of them. So I wait to be foun...
Theodora the wife of the learned Spaniard Lucinius (for whom see Letter LXXI.) had recently lost her husband, a bereavement which suggested the present letter. In it Jerome recounts the many virtues of Lucinius and especially his zeal in resisting the gnostic heresy of Marcus which during his life was prevalent in Spain. The date of the letter i...