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Jerome, Letters 79.2.1-3

   https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/296

Context

Among the voluminous correspondence of St. Jerome is this letter, which he wrote to console Salvina, the widow of Nebridius, whom he had never met. Nebridius, son of a prominent commander and the empress’s sister and prefect of Constantinople under Theodosius I, had suffered an untimely death. Jerome praised his devotion, chastity, and charity, comparing him to Cornelius, the famous centurion at Caesarea whom St. Peter converted.

Text

(1) Alius forsitan laudet Nebridium, quod de sorore generatus Augustae et in materterae nutritus sinu invictissimo principi ita carus fuit, ut ei coniugem nobilissimam quaereret et bellis civilibus Africam dissidentem hac velut obside sibi fidam redderet. mihi a principio statim illud est praedicandum, quod quasi vicinae mortis praescius inter fulgorem palatii et honorum culmina, quae aetatem anteibant, sic vixit, ut se ad Christum crederet profecturum. (2) sacra narrat historia Cornelium, centurionem cohortis Italicae, in tantum acceptum Deo, ut angelum ad eum mitteret et omne mysterium, quo Petrus de circumcisionis angustiis transferebatur ad praeputii latitudinem, ad illius merita pertineret, qui primus ab apostolo baptizatus salutem gentium dedicavit. scriptum que est de eo: “erat vir quidam in Caesarea nomine Cornelius, centurio cohortis, quae dicitur Italica, religiosus et timens deum cum omni domo sua, faciens elemosynas multas plebi et orans deum semper.” (3) quidquid de illo dicitur hoc nomine commutato in Nebridio meo vindico. 1

Textual Note

Ed. Hilberg and Slovak 1996

Translation

(1) Perhaps another would praise Nebridius because, born to the sister of the Empress and brought up in the bosom of his aunt, he was so dear to the unconquered emperor (Theodosius) that he sought out for (Nebridius) a wife of the highest rank, who, as Africa (her homeland) was disrupted by civil wars, became a kind of hostage for its loyalty. I must say at the very outset that Nebridius seems to have been prescient of his coming death. For amid the splendor of the palace and the professional heights that surpassed his natural age, he lived as one who believed he was going to meet Christ. (2) Sacred scripture tells the story that Cornelius, centurion of the Italian cohort, was so well received by God that he sent an angel to him; and (this angel told him) that to his merit was due every rite by which Peter was conveyed from the narrow confines of the circumcised to the wide world of the uncircumcised. As the first (gentile) baptized by the apostle, he guaranteed the salvation of the gentiles. And about him it is written: “There was a certain man in Caesarea by the name of Cornelius, a centurion of the cohort named the Italian, a devote man and god-fearing, along with his whole house, who gave much alms to the poor and always prayed to God.” (3) All this that is said of him I claim—with a change of name only—for my dear Nebridius. 2

Translation Note

Adapted from Fremantle 1893

Works Cited

  • 1 Jerome, S. Eusebii Hieronymi Opera I.2: Epistulae LXXI-CXX, ed. Isidor Hilberg and Conrad Slovak, Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum 55 (Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1996), letter: 79, ch: 2.1-3.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 2 Jerome, Jerome: Letters and Select Works, trans. W. H. Fremantle, Philipp Schaff, and Henry Wace, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: A Select Library of the Christian Church, 2.6 (New York: Christian Literature Publishing, 1893)Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
About This Text

 

How to Cite This Entry

Joseph L. Rife, “Jerome, Letters 79.2.1-3,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/296.

Bibliography:

Joseph L. Rife, “Jerome, Letters 79.2.1-3.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/296.

About this Entry

Entry Title: Jerome, Letters 79.2.1-3

Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:

  • Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
  • Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
  • David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Jerome, Letters 79.2.1-3”
  • Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Jerome, Letters 79.2.1-3”

Additional Credit:

  • TEI encoding by William L. Potter
  • Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
  • Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife
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