§ 189. IV. Иероним – пламенный ревнитель духовной жизни. Замечания об отзывах его относительно некоторых предметов. Общее заключение о нем.

IV. As for the doctrine of Christian morality; then, although almost a whole half of the blessed one’s works relate to this subject, it would be in vain for us to look for works from him that would set out the very principles of morality. They all relate to private items. Nevertheless, blzh. Jerome also rendered great services to the Western Church in relation to morality. With fiery jealousy he was jealous of the life of a clergy worthy of the title. He suffered a lot for this jealousy, but did not stop speaking in letters of reproof and instruction to the Western clergy. His letters to Nepotianus contain excellent thoughts about the sacred title and fully deserve to be often read by persons of this title 1418. His letters about raising children 1419 are also beautiful. The letters breathe with living piety and exhortation to repentance, to patience in misfortunes, to a perfect life 1420. Primarily the spread and improvement of monastic life in the West was owed to St. Jerome Western Church. No one wrote as much in defense of effective life as the blessed one wrote. Jerome. The largest part of his letters was written to virgins and virgins, containing either rules and instructions for virgin life, or praise of virginity 1421. Entire books were written about virginity to denounce those who condemned virginity 1422. The best work on this subject is his book against Helvidius, who rejected the virginity of the Most Holy Mother of God and humiliated virginity. Jerome begins his essay with a fiery prayer to the Most Holy. Trinity and Our Lady. Since Helvidius based his opinion primarily on the fact that the brothers of the Lord Jesus are mentioned in the Gospel, Jerome examines the meaning of this word by use and shows that among the evangelists it means nothing more than relatives of the Lord. Helvidius wrote: marriage is not lower than virginity. Jerome responds with the words of the Apostle (1 Cor. 7:29–34). And then he writes: “Do you really consider it one thing to spend days and nights in prayer, devote them to fasting and decorate your face, treat your legs, invent flattery for a man? However, a married woman does this and becomes even more disgusting, since she perverts the gifts of nature. She cleans herself in front of the mirror and strives, to the shame of her Creator, to appear as a better beauty than she was created.” To another denouncer of virginity, who, following the example of the Stoics, equated all sins and all virtues, he explained the Gospel teaching about the difference between sins and between virtues 1423. In the book, against Vigilantius, who passed off the honoring of martyr’s relics as superstition, Bl. Jerome thoroughly denounces the error of Vigilantius, showing how the Church has long honored the Saints of God and their remains, how this honoring is in accordance with Christian principles. Vigilantia denounces the same thing in a letter to the Venerable. Riparia. Jerome, both during his lifetime and to this day, has never ceased to be reproached for certain unjust opinions, especially about marriage and the marital state. But in this case, as in general in his scientific disputes, it is first of all necessary to take into account Jerome’s natural dispositions. He was a man with a strong soul, but irritable and harsh. This character of his soul was not a matter of will, but of nature. That is why in all his political writings he is leo rugiens. Whether he praises or blames, he throws out words that in themselves express much more than what Jerome wanted to express with them; spits out one-liners that can seem caustic. Because of this, you never need to pay as much attention to the time and circumstances of the composition as when reading the works of Jerome, this has long been noticed. Otherwise, you may think that the same person is placed above everyone else in one work, and below everyone else in another; one and the same subject is lofty in one essay and insignificant in another. Meanwhile, the point is not a change in the thoughts of the writer, but a change in the words of the thunderous soul 1424. This is also quite visible in Jerome’s polemics on virginity. He did not condemn marriage, we see this in his writings 1425. But when he clothed the depraved detractors of virginity, many expressions were thrown out that apparently speak ill of marriage. There are, if they will, errors of expression here, but not errors of thought. Thus, a review of Jerome's works shows that his difference lies primarily in his extensive scholarship; Many people surpassed him in thoughtfulness and a consistent view of objects. He called himself a dialectician and philologist, orator and theologian. But his dialectic was not nearly as strong as his eloquent language, especially in his letters, which were often exemplary in the elegance of their style. “The merits of his learning, says Blessed Augustine, are such that one should be called unfortunate who does not respect so many works, and the works of so many saints, and does not thank the Lord God” 1426. The venerable presbyter 1427, a man of God 1428, with his teaching for the glory of God, and with the help of God, contributed as much to the improvement of church Latin education as anyone before him 1429. To study the Holy Scriptures; Blessed Jerome, without any doubt, did as much as any other of the Church Fathers: this merit brings him closer to the level at which Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian stand in the field of morality and dogmatics. Transl. in Chr. Thurs. 1836 2 Ep. 52.58.75. In Chr. Thurs. 1834 and 1838 Ep. 107 and 128. Er. 52. 66. 71. 90. 92. 100. 118. 145. Err. 5. ad Heliodorum de lavde vitae solitariae, ad Pammachium de monachi proposito, ad Lucinium de vitae sancto instituto; ad Julianum de saeculi contemptu; ad Exsuperatum de seculo relinquendo; Ep. 48. ad Evstochium de custodia virginitatis; Ep. 20. ad Pammachium; ad Demetriadem. Next Ep. 49. 95. with monastic rules; Epist. 47. ad Furiam et 85 ad Salvinam de viduftate servanda. Adv. Jovinianum, Adv. defensorem Joviniani ad Dominionem. Advers. Helvedium de perpetua virginitate Mariae. Sunt peccata levia, sunt gravia. Aliud est decem millia talenta de. bere, aliud quadrantem. Et de otioso quidem verbo et adulterio rei tenebimus, sed non est idem suffunti et torqueri, erubescere et longo tempore crutiari Adv. Jovia. lib. 2 T.i. P. 2. p. 222. This is what he expressed when he talks about the method of his polemic: Aliud est γυμναστικως scribere, aliud δογματικῶς. In priori vagam esse disputationem et adversario respondentem nunc haec, nunc illa proponere, argumentari ut libet, aliud loqui, aliud agere, panem, ut dicitur, ostendere, lapidem tenere. Apolog. prolibn. adv. Jovin. T. 2. p. 72. Adv. Jovinianum T. 2. r. 306. Ecclesia matrimonia non damnat, sed subiicit, nec abiicit, sed dispensat sciens, in domo magna non solum esse vasa aurea et argentea, sed et lignea et fictilia at caet. Epist. 30 ad Pammach. Aperiant aures obtrectatores mei et videant, me secundas et tertias, nuptias concessisse in Domino. De natur et grat. Chr. 65. § 78. Epist. 40. § 2. He speaks in exactly the same way about the Monk Jerome Cassiodorus. Inst. Div. cap. 21. r. 521. You might be interested in: