Jerome

And now that I am writing to you I beseech you. Do not regard the bodily affliction that has befallen you as due to sin. When the apostles speculated concerning the man that was born blind from the womb and asked our Lord and Savior: “Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” they were told “Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” Do we not see numbers of pagans, Jews, heretics and people of various opinions rolling in the mire of lust, bathed in blood, surpassing wolves in ferocity and hawks in rapacity, and “for all this the plague does not come near their dwellings”? They are not struck as other people, and accordingly they grow insolent against God and lift up their faces even to heaven. We know on the other hand that holy people are afflicted with sicknesses, miseries and want, and perhaps they are tempted to say, “Truly I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence.” Yet immediately they go on to reprove themselves, “If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of your children.” If you suppose that your blindness is caused by sin and that a disease [such as blindness] that physicians are often able to cure is an evidence of God’s anger, you will think Isaac a sinner because he was so wholly sightless that he was deceived into blessing one whom he did not mean to bless. You will charge Jacob with sin, whose vision became so dim that he could not see Ephraim and Manasseh, although with the inner eye and the prophetic spirit he could foresee the distant future and the Christ that was to come of his royal line. Were any of the kings holier than Josiah? Yet he was slain by the sword of the Egyptians. Were there ever loftier saints than Peter and Paul? Yet their blood stained the blade of Nero. And to say no more of people, did not the Son of God endure the shame of the cross? And yet you fancy those blessed who enjoy in this world happiness and pleasure? God’s hottest anger against sinners is when he shows no anger. Therefore in Ezekiel he says to Jerusalem, “My jealousy will depart from you, and I will be quiet and will be no more angry.” For “whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.” The father does not instruct his son unless he loves him. The master does not correct his disciple unless he sees in him signs of promise. When once the doctor gives up caring for the patient, it is a sign that he despairs. You should answer thus: “as Lazarus in his lifetime received evil things so will I now gladly suffer torments that future glory may be laid up for me.” For “affliction shall not rise up the second time.” If Job, a man holy and spotless and righteous in his generation, suffered terrible afflictions, his own book explains the reason why.

For our salvation the Son of God is made the Son of man. Nine months he awaits his birth in the womb, undergoes the most revolting conditions and comes forth covered with blood, to be swathed in rags and covered with caresses. “He who clasps the world in his fist” is contained in the narrow limits of a manger. I say nothing of the thirty years during which he lives in obscurity, satisfied with the poverty of his parents. When he is scourged, he holds his peace; when he is crucified, he prays for his crucifiers. “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” The only fitting return that we can make to him is to give blood for blood; and, as we are redeemed by the blood of Christ, gladly to lay down our lives for our Redeemer. What saint has ever won his crown without first contending for it? Righteous Abel is murdered. Abraham is in danger of losing his wife. And, as I must not enlarge my book unduly, seek for yourself: you will find that all holy people have suffered adversity. Solomon alone lived in luxury, and perhaps it was for this reason that he fell. For “whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.” Which is best—for a short time to do battle, to carry stakes for the palisades, to bear arms, to faint under heavy bucklers, that ever afterwards we may rejoice as victors? Or to become slaves forever, just because we cannot endure for a single hour?

[Daniel 7:9] "I beheld until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of days took His seat. His garment was as white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was composed of fiery flames and its wheels were set on fire. From before His presence there issued forth a rushing, fiery stream." We read something similar in John's Apocalypse: "After these things I was immediately in the Spirit, and lo, a throne was set up in heaven, and one was seated upon the throne; and He who sat upon it had the likeness of jasper and sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne like the appearance of emerald. Around the throne there were twenty-four other thrones, and upon the twenty-four thrones there sat twenty-four elders, clothed in shining garments; upon their heads was a golden crown, and lightning flashes issued from the throne, and voices and thunder. And in front of the throne there were seven torches of burning fire, which were the seven spirits of God. And in front of the throne lay a glassy sea like unto crystal." (Revelation 4:2-6) And so the many thrones which Daniel saw seem to me to be what John called the twenty-four thrones. And the Ancient of days is the One who, according to John sits alone upon His throne. Likewise the Son of man, who came unto the Ancient of days, is the same as He who, according to John, is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, and the titles of that sort (Revelation 5:5). I imagine that these thrones are the ones of which the Apostle Paul says, "Whether thrones or dominions..." (Colossians 1:16). And in the Gospel we read, "Ye yourselves shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28). And God is called the One who sits and who is the Ancient of days, in order that His character as eternal Judge might be indicated. His garment is shining white like the snow, and the hair of His head is like pure wool. The Savior also, when He was transfigured on the mount and assumed the glory of His divine majesty, appeared in shining white garments (Matthew 17:2). And as for the fact that His hair is compared to perfectly pure wool, the even-handedness and uprightness of His judgment is shown forth, a judgment which shows no partiality in its exercise. Moreover He is described as an elderly man, in order that the ripeness of His judgment may be established. His throne consists of fiery flames, in order that sinners may tremble before the severity of the torments, and also that the just may be saved, but so as by fire. The wheels of the throne are set aflame, or else it is the wheels of His chariot which are aflame. In Ezekiel also God is ushered on the scene seated in a four-horse chariot (Ezekiel 1:4-28), and everything pertaining to God is of a fiery consistency. In another place also a statement is made on this subject: "God is a consuming fire" (Deuteronomy 4:24), that we might know that wood, hay and stubble are going to burn up in the day of judgment. And in the Psalms we read: "Fire goeth before Him, and He shall set aflame all His enemies round about Him" (Psalm 97:3). A rushing, fiery stream proceeded from before Him in order that it might carry sinners to hell (Gehenna).

But you will say, “I am a girl delicately reared, and I cannot labor with my hands. Suppose that I live to old age and then fall sick, who will take pity on me?” Hear Jesus speaking to the apostles: “Take no thought what you shall eat; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they do not sow, neither do they reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” If clothing should fail you, set the lilies before your eyes. If hunger should seize you, think of the words in which the poor and hungry are blessed. If pain should afflict you, read, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities,” and “There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.” Rejoice in all God’s judgments, for does not the psalmist say, “The daughters of Judah rejoiced because of your judgments, O Lord”? Let the words be ever on your lips: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there”; and “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”

[Daniel 7:10] "There were millions ministering unto Him, and a billion stood by His side." This was not intended to be a specific number for the servants of God, but only indicates a multitude too great for human computation. These are the thousands and tens of thousands of which we read in the Psalms: "The chariot of God is attended by ten thousands; thousands of them that rejoice. The Lord is among them" (Psalm 68:17). And in another place: "He who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire" (Psalm 104:4). Now the duty of angels is twofold: the duty of one group is to bestow rewards upon just men; the duty of the other is to have charge over individual calamities.

"...The court was in session, and the books were opened." The consciences of men, and the deeds of individuals which partake of either character, whether good or bad, are disclosed to all. One of the books is the good book of which we often read, namely the book of the living. The other is the evil book which is held in the hand of the accuser, who is the fiend and avenger of whom we read in Revelation: "The accuser of our brethren" (Revelation 12:10). This is the earthly book of which the prophet says: "Let them be written on earth" (Jeremiah 17:13).

[Daniel 10:2-3] "In those days I, Daniel, mourned for the days of three weeks; I ate no desirable bread, and neither flesh or wine entered into my mouth; neither was I anointed with ointment until the days of three weeks were accomplished." By this example we are taught to abstain from the pleasanter types of food (I think that the term "desirable bread" is that inclusive) during a period of fasting, and that we neither eat flesh nor drink wine, and especially that we desire no anointing with ointments. This custom is maintained among the Persians and Indians even to this day, that they use ointment as a substitute for baths. Also, Daniel afflicted his soul for three consecutive weeks, so that his intercession might not appear cursory or casual. By inference, indeed, we ought to make the observation that a person in mourning who bemourns the absence of one betrothed partakes of no desirable bread though it comes down from heaven itself; neither does he touch solid food, which is to be understood in the sense of meat, nor does he drink any wine, which gladdens the heart of man, or make his face cheerful with oil (as we read in the Psalms: "That he may make the face cheerful with oil" Psalm 104:15). By means of such a fast as this the betrothed girl sheds tears which will be convincing, when her fiance has been taken from her. Daniel also did well to supplicate the Lord with boldness, inasmuch as in the first year of Cyrus's reign the captivity of the Jews had already been somewhat relaxed in its severity.

This is true wisdom in a person: to know that he is imperfect; and, if I may say so, the perfection of all the just, living in the flesh, is imperfect. Whence, also, we read in Proverbs: “To understand true justice.” For unless there were also false justice, the justice of God would never be referred to as true justice. And the apostle continues in the same passage: “And if in any point you think otherwise, this also God will reveal to you.” It is a strange thing that I hear. He who but a moment ago had said “Not that I have already obtained it or have already been made perfect”; he, who was the chosen vessel, who dared to say with the confidence of Christ dwelling within him, “Do you seek a proof of Christ who speaks in me?” and yet frankly confessed that he had not been made perfect, now ascribes to the multitude something that he specifically denied to himself, and he associates himself with the others and says, “Let us then, as many as are perfect, be of this mind.” But he explains in the following verses what he meant by this statement. Let us, he says, who wish to be perfect, according to the measure of human frailty, be of this mind, that we have not yet obtained it; that we have not yet laid hold of it; that we have not yet been made perfect. And because we have not yet been made perfect, and, perhaps, think otherwise than is demanded by true and perfect perfection, if we think of and understand anything that is different from what is consistent with the knowledge of God, this, also, God will reveal to us, so that we may pray with David and say, “Open my eyes, and I will consider the wondrous things of your law.”

But why should that be hard to bear which we must one day ourselves endure? And why do we grieve for the dead? We are not born to live forever. Abraham, Moses and Isaiah, Peter, James and John, Paul, the “chosen vessel,” and even the Son of God have all died; and are we vexed when a soul leaves its earthly tenement? Perhaps he is taken away, “lest wickedness should alter his understanding … for his soul pleased the Lord; therefore he hastened to take him away from the people"—lest in life's long journey he should lose his way in some trackless maze. We should indeed mourn for the dead, but only for one whom Gehenna receives, whom Tartarus devours and for whose punishment the eternal fire burns. But we who, in departing, are accompanied by an escort of angels and met by Christ, should rather grieve that we have to tarry yet longer in this tabernacle of death. For “while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” Our one longing should be that expressed by the psalmist: “Woe is me that my pilgrimage is prolonged, that I have dwelled with them who dwell in Kedar, that my soul has made a far pilgrimage.” Kedar means darkness, and darkness stands for this present world (for, we are told, “the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehends it not”). Therefore we should congratulate our dear Blaesilla, that she has passed from darkness to light, and has in the first flush of her dawning faith received the crown of her completed work. Had she been cut off (as I pray that none may be) while her thoughts were full of worldly desires and passing pleasures, then mourning would indeed have been her due, and no tears shed for her would have been too many. As it is, by the mercy of Christ she, four months ago, renewed her baptism in her vow of widowhood, and for the rest of her days spurned the world and thought only of the religious life.