Św. Hieronim - magister puellarum

Abstract

Letters of St. Jerome occupy an important place among his writings: so important that they should be mentioned immediately after his greatest work, the Latin translation of the Bible - the Vulgate. Some of the letters are addressed at young women and maidens. Despite their epistolary form, they are in fact little treatises presenting the motives that should guide those who devote themselves to chastity, and the rules that should direct their daily activities. These letters must be placed in the context of the campaign for asceticism, conducted by Jerome in Rome. Letter 22, addressed to Eustochium, is a true dissertation on Christian virginity, which is retained for the sake of the Heavenly Kingdom, virginity which is a sign of faith in future eternal life after resurrection, when there will be no marriage. Jerome emphasizes that he is not writing a panegyric in praise of virginity, but, in a matter-of-fact way, on the basis of the Scripture and his personal experience, he presents the ways of conduct that will allow to protect this important and sublime virtue. He shows Eustochium the positive vision of virginity in the image of the spiritual marriage with Christ Letter 130 is written by Jerome to Demetrias, a member of a noble Roman family, who took the decision to live in chastity when the day of her wedding was close. It happened in dramatic circumstances, after Rome had been taken by Alaric, when, as many other Romans, she fled to Africa with her family. In this letter Jerome repeats the suggestions presented in Letter 22. Taking into consideration the high social and material status of the addressee, he emphasizes that, when she inherits the family fortune, she should not devote the money to building magnificent churches, but to helping the poor, especially the monks and nuns in monasteries. He also warns Demetrias against the teaching of heretics, especially against the mistakes of Origen and Pelagius. Letter 107 was sent to Laeta, Paula's daughter-in-law, who had just given birth to a baby girl. Jerome is convinced that marriage and having children is justified as long as the children are devoted to God. Therefore he sketches out the rules that should guide the whole process of upbringing of Paula the Younger, including her literary education. Letter 107 is admired as a text that presents a new Jerome, tender in his love of children and ready to engage in a dialogue with them. There are fragments that reveal his pedagogical insight and intuition. For his concept of upbringing he adapted the suggestions and instructions of Quintilian and he often paraphrases quotes from Institutio Oratoria. In Letter 128 Jerome writes to Gaudentius. The letter contains some advice concerning the upbringing of Pacatula, whom her father dedicated to a life of virginity. The background of the severe educational programme is the image of the world falling in ruin, when the whole western part of the Roman Empire is devastated by the barbarian raids, and Rome has been sacked by Alaric. As a moralist and spiritual guide, Jerome uses the instability and fear characterizing the life of the epoch as an argument for the necessity of renouncing the world and living in asceticism. He teaches what principles should guide an inexperienced girl dedicated to virginity before she herself knows the difference between the good and the evil. The discussed texts of St Jerome are part of the vast literary heritage concerning virginity that was left by the Fathers of the Church of the 4th century. At that time, the interest in the theological aspect of celibacy was caused by the fact that, after the persecution had ceased, Christianity began to promote a new model of sainthood. Still martyrs received the greatest awe, but the important second place was given to the ascetics, in whose lives chastity was perceived as the crucial virtue.