Letter 6025: Sapricius, a refined man and a dear friend of mine, would have earned your devoted attention without any endorsement...
Sapricius, a refined man and a dear friend of mine, would have earned your devoted attention without any endorsement from me. But since first meetings are slow to recommend strangers, he asked me to open the door to winning your friendship.
It's only right that you welcome someone so eager for your acquaintance with open arms -- and don't postpone the friendship he's asking for with the usual probationary delays, but meet his desire with an equally willing heart from the very start. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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1. Your letter, dear friend, finds me dwelling in that quarter of the desert which is nearest to Syria and the Saracens. And the reading of it rekindles in my mind so keen a desire to set out for Jerusalem that I am almost ready to violate my monastic vow in order to gratify my affection.
This letter, written in 376 or 377 A.D., illustrates Jerome's attitude towards the see of Rome at this time held by Damasus, afterwards his warm friend and admirer. Referring to Rome as the scene of his own baptism and as a church where the true faith has remained unimpaired (§1), and laying down the strict doctrine of salvation only within the ...
We enjoy your company no less than our own, thanks to these frequent messengers.
The news from the East has been, to put it gently, unsettling.
I had every intention of making the journey, but the late summons left too little time to arrive.