Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 2046
Presbyter Jerome writes works in which he castigates sins of clerics and monks. He also writes a letter to the presbyter Paulinus of Nola, AD 394. Cassiodorus, "Institutions of Divine and Secular Learning", Ravenna, Vivarium, AD 530-560.
Book I
  
21.1. Beatus etiam Hieronymus, Latinae linguae dilatator eximius,— qui nobis in translatione divinae Scripturae tantum praestitit, ut ad Hebreum fontem paene non egeamus accedere, quando nos facundiae suae multa cognoscitur 5 ubertate satiasse,— plurimis libris, copiosis epistulis fecit beatos, quibus scribere Domino praestante dignatus est. planus, doctus, dulcis parata copia sermonum ad quamcumque partem convertit ingenium: modo humilibus suaviter blanditur, modo superborum colla confringit, modo derogatoribus suis vicem necessaria mordacitate restituens, modo virginitatem praedicans, modo matrimonia casta defendens, modo virtutum certamina gloriosa collaudans, modo lapsus in clericis atque monachis pravitatis accusans, sed tamen, ubicumque se locus attulit, gentilium exempla dulcissima varietate permiscuit, totum explicans, totum exornans, et per diversa disputationum genera disertus semper et aequalis incedens, nam cum aliquos libros magna ubertate protendat, tamen pro dulcedine dictorum finis eius semper ingratus est. quem in Bethleem habitasse, otiosum fuisse non arbitror, nisi ut in terra illa miraculorum ad instar solis eius quoque ab Oriente nobis lamparet eloquium.
2. Is epistulam suam ad Paulinum ex senatore presbyterum mirificam destinavit, docens quemammodum Scripturas divinas adhibita cautela perlegeret, ubi breviter virtutem uniuscuiusque libri veteris et novi Testamenti mirabiliter indicavit, quem si ante repperissem, eloquentiae ipsius cedens contentus fortasse fueram de eadem parte nihil dicere, sed quia et ille alia et nos diversa in opere iam confecto Domino largiente conscripseramus, credo quod lector diligens et in hoc opusculo non inutiliter occupetur. ille enim scripsit ad divinae legis novum lectorem, qui tamen erat litteris saeculari­ bus eruditus, ut etiam librum de Theodosio principe prudenter ornateque confecerit [...]
 
(ed. Mynors 1961: 59-60)
Book I
  
21.1. Blessed Jerome also greatly enriched the Latin language. He has given to us in his translation of Divine Scripture so much that we hardly need to go to the Hebrew original since his great richness of eloquence is clearly enough for us. He blessed us with many books and with the ample letters he deigned to write with the Lord's aid. Clear, learned, sweet, and with a ready command of language, in whatever direction he turned his genius. Now he sweetly charms the humble, now he breaks the necks of the proud; now he gives his detractors their own again in a necessarily mordant style, now he preaches virginity, now he defends chaste marriages, now he praises the glorious battles of the virtues, now he reproves the lapses of clerics and monks into wickedness. Nevertheless, wherever a passage allowed him, he added the sweetest variety of examples from pagan writers, explaining all, adorning all, and always moving along learnedly and smoothly through the various types of discussions. For although some of his books are extensive and rich, we do not long for the end of his book because of the sweetness of his style. I do not believe that it was without meaning that he lived in Bethlehem; it must have been so that, in the land of miracles, his eloquence, like the sun, might shine on us from the East.
2. He wrote a marvellous letter to Paulinus, the senator who became a presbyter, explaining how he should carefully and thoroughly read Divine Scripture. In the letter he points out briefly and wonderfully the excellence of each book of the Old and New Testament. If I had found this earlier, I would perhaps have yielded to his eloquence and been content to say nothing on the same material; but since he wrote one thing and I another in the work now completed with the Lord's blessing, I think that the diligent reader will not be unprofitably occupied by this brief book, too, since he wrote for a reader who was inexperienced in the divine law, but so educated in secular literature, that he had even written a shrewd and eloquent book about the Emperor Theodosius.
 
(trans. Halporn 2004: 152-53, lightly adapted)

Discussion:

Gennadius of Marseille in his De viris illustribus 49 also notes Paulinus's work on the victory of the emperor Theodosius. The panegyric is not extant.
 
For Jerome's letter to Paulinus to which Cassiodorus refers, see Jerome, Letter 58, AD 394 [XXX].

Place of event:

Region
  • Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia
City
  • Aquileia

About the source:

Author: Cassiodorus
Title: De institutione divinarum litterarum, Institutiones, An introduction to divine and human readings, Institutions of Divine and Secular Learning
Origin: Ravenna (Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia), Vivarium (Italy south of Rome and Sicily)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
"Institutions of Divine and Secular Learining" of Cassiodorus is a treatise about Christian education and a sort of catalogue of books (in many respects similar to the genre of the De viris illustribus). It is usually connected with the community of Vivarium and the scholarly and literary pursuits of its members. The work, however, was revised several times and therefore, it is probable that the earlier versions were drafted by Cassiodorus already in the 530s when still at office in Ravenna, at the court of the Ostrogothic king. Mommsen (1894: ix) supposed that Cassiodorus borrowed the title from Junilius, the author of Instituta composed in 542 whose works Cassiodorus certainly knew (I.10.1). Moreover, Cassiodorus mentions Pope Vigilius as if he was already dead, therefore after 555. The composition and revision of the Institutions most probably took several decades, and possibly extended even past the 560s. It cannot be, however, more precisely defined (see Cappuyns 1949: 1371-73, Vessey 2004: 22-24).
Edition:
R.A.B. Mynors ed., Cassiodori Senatoris Institutiones, Oxford 1961
 
Translation:
J.W. Halporn, trans., Cassiodorus: Institutions of divine and secular learning and On the soul, Liverpool 2004.
 
Bibliography:
M. Cappuyns, "Cassiodore", Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. 11, Paris 1949, cols. 1349-1408
Th. Mommsen ed., Cassiodori Senatoris Variae, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi 12, Berlin 1894
S. Ruiz, "Bellator", Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. 7, Paris 1934, col. 828
M. Vessey, "Introduction", in: Cassiodorus: Institutions of divine and secular learning and On the soul, Liverpool 2004, 3-101

Categories:

Social origin or status - Social elite
Writing activity - Correspondence
Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
Relation with - Another presbyter
Relation with - Monarch and royal/imperial family
Relation with - Monk/Nun
Writing activity
Education - Theological interest
Devotion - Reading the Bible and devotional literature
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2046, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2046