In this Friendly Word, Friar Alfonso Davila invites us to discover the friendship between St. Jerome and St. Augustine. A sincere relationship, with differences and debates, but always sustained by respect, charity and the shared search for Christ.
A friendship across differences
Today we celebrate Saint Jeromeand I want to share a reflection on his relationship with another great saint: St. Augustine. Sometimes they are spoken of as if they had been bitter enemies, but nothing could be further from the truth. Although they had their frictions and disagreements they had their frictions and disagreementsbut they were united by something much deeper: the hope and the desire to share Christ everywhere. Their correspondence and their dealings show a sincere sincere friendshipan honest dialogue full of charity, which can inspire us even today.
A friendship forged in affection and respect
When one reads the letters exchanged between Augustine and Jerome, one can see the deep affection and mutual respect the deep affection and mutual respect they had for each other.they had for each other. Jerome, for example, begins one letter by addressing Augustine with great tenderness, calling him “truly holy and most blessed father” and telling him that he sends him greetings “with a singular warmth of affection.”. Augustine responds with the same fraternal closeness, referring to Jerome as “my beloved brother” and expressing his desire to be close to him as one who converses with a close friend. These are not the words of two bitter rivals, but of two brothers in faith. brothers in the faith who truly esteem each other.
It was clear to both saints that their epistolary exchanges were to serve to edify in the faithnot to quarrel. In their letters they explicitly said to each other that hopefully their debates and consultations would serve to deepen together in Scripture, “without hurting each other”, and not to generate empty polemics. That is to say, from the beginning they agreed to dialogue with honesty, but always with fraternal charityseeking the truth but caring for each other.What a great example of respectful discussion they give us!
Mutual admiration and learning
Another beautiful aspect of this relationship is the recognition of the intellectual gift of the other. In spite of being both brilliant men, they did not fall into jealousy or contempt. Jerome admired Augustine’s intelligence and spiritual depth. In a letter he even said to him: “I admire you, I respect you and I defend you as my own… our common goal is the advancement of understanding”. It is clear that Jerome saw in Augustine a companion on the way, someone from whom he could also learn. could also learn from.
Augustinepraised Jerome’s scholarship, especially his tireless work in translating the Bible into Latin (what we know today as the Vulgate). Vulgata). He writes to him recognizing the need for this great translation directly from the original sources. In fact, Augustine asks Jerome for a copy of his translation of the Greek Bible (the Septuagint) into Latin, implicitly praising its quality, in order to “free us,” he says, “from the unreliable versions” that were circulating . In other words, Augustine had confidence in the talent of Jerome and considered his work an enormous service to the whole Church.
Notice what a healthy attitude: each valued the other’s contribution to the knowledge of God’s Word. They did not see the other as a rival, but as a gift of God to the Church. a gift of God for the Church.. This mutual appreciation helped them to get through even the most heated arguments, because deep down they knew they were on the same side. they were on the same side seeking the truth.
Sincere differences, not enmity
Of course, not everything was rosy between them. They had differencessome quite serious at the time. But here’s the key: they never let those disagreements destroy their unity in Christ. Rather, they addressed them frankly and, although at times with a certain passionate tonealways with a desire to clear up misunderstandings and maintain communion. maintain communion..
One of the main controversies arose because of the Bible. St. Jerome, an expert in biblical languages, had set himself the task of translating the Old Testament directly from Hebrew into Latin. directly from Hebrew into Latininstead of relying on the ancient Greek version of the Seventy (the Septuagint) which the Church traditionally used. Augustine understood Jerome’s good intention-wanting more fidelity to the original text-but he was concerned about the pastoral impact on the Church. he was concerned about the pastoral impact. He feared that introducing new readings where people were accustomed to another version might confuse the faithful. confuse the faithful .. He would say to him something like this: “Let us not bring in something new that will end up scandalizing the sheep of Christ who are accustomed to the old apostolic version”. Augustine even went so far as to ask in a very honest way how reliable were those Hebrew manuscripts that Jerome used, for he suspected (wrongly, of course) that perhaps the Jews themselves might have altered something over time to contradict the Christian interpretations. Imagine the scene! On the one hand, Jerome convinced of the quality of his work, and on the other, Augustine with the heart of a shepherd, cautious for the good of his community. Both were looking for the bestbut they saw the matter from different perspectives.
This tension became almost symbolic in one famous detail: the discussion of the “gourd” of Jonah. Jonah’s “gourd”.. In the book of Jonah (Jon 4:6), the traditional version said that God made a gourd (Latin cucurbita) grow to shade Jonah; Jerome, translating from the Hebrew, put it as an ivy (Latin hedera) or some other kind of climbing plant. Augustine clung to the “gourd” of all life – he said that surely the Seventy translators of the Bible into Greek would not have chosen that word at random -, while Jerome defended that the original Hebrew term did not mean gourd andthat it was necessary to be faithful to the text, even if it was a different type of plant. Who would have thought that two saints would write letters to each other exchanging arguments on biblical botany! Yes, they even argued over a plantbut what is important is how they did it: with passion for the passion for the truth, but without losing respect for the truth.. They sent each other several corrections and observations on the subject; there could be an intense tone, but always within a fraternal correctionwithout insults or contempt. Both understood that the aim of the debate was not to see who would win, but to come closer together to the truth of the truth. to come closer together to the truth of Scripture..
Another notable run-in was a misunderstanding misunderstanding with a misplaced letter. It turns out that Augustine wrote a long letter to Jerome about these matters, but before it reached Jerome’s hands, copies of the letter were circulated among other people. When Jerome found out, he seems to have been upset (and rightly so!), perhaps thinking that Augustine had made his correction public. Augustine, for his part, was very sorry and immediately told him: “Believe me that it was totally against my will that my letter reached others before it reached you; there was no bad intention on my part”. He was hurt by the idea that Jerome thought he wanted to make a fool of him. Jerome accepted the explanation and only asked that henceforth their exchanges not be used to create discord. They both reaffirmed the importance of writing to each other with freedom and brotherly lovewithout fear of third parties taking their words out of context. In other words, they took great care trust between them. They knew that, without trust, any disagreement could turn into a rupture, and they did not want that.
United in essentials: Christ and the Church
In spite of all these occasional disagreements, both Jerome and Augustine kept their eyes on the kept their eyes on the essentials. They both shared one conviction: they worked for the same Lord and loved the same Church. In their letters they encouraged each other to continue studying and deepening their knowledge of the Bible, but “without hurting each other ” – as Jerome said – that is, without their study breaking their charity. Moreover, they spoke of their collaboration as a common front. Augustine wrote hoping that. “our work together will be the defense of the faith” against those who might misinterpret it. against those who might misunderstand their relationship. This indicates to us that the two saints were very conscious of bearing good witness: they wanted their combined effort, each with his gifts, to serve to edify others in the faith and not to give scandal of rivalry or jealousy. Instead of competing, they aspired to complement each other.
In the end, the relationship between St. Augustine and St. Jerome leaves us with a clear message of unity in diversity. unity in diversity. They had different personalities (Jerome was sometimes more explosive; Augustine, more serene), they came from different backgrounds, and they did not always have the same opinion on biblical or pastoral issues. But they knew how to dialogue with openness. As we would say today, they practiced a true Christian dialogueone in which one can express one’s thoughts with sincerity, listen to what the other says even if one does not fully agree, recognizing the value of the other and, above all, keeping alive fraternal love. fraternal love during the discussion. None of them tried to crush the other or to disqualify him personally; on the contrary, they recognized each other as brothers seeking the same Truth.
A model for today
The correspondence correspondence between these two Church Fathers shows that true Christian friendship true Christian friendship theological disagreements without breaking down. Jerome and Augustine managed to combine charity and frankness in an admirable way: they had enormous respect and affection for each other, they praised each otherand at the same time they were not afraid to debate honestly even the most difficult points. And all with an eye to serving Christ and the Church. serving Christ and the Church..
Isn’t this a wonderful example for us, in our times? We live in an age where it is easy to get into heated arguments (just look at social networks!) and where sometimes differences separate us. These two saints teach us that it is possible to dialogue without losing love. They invite us to to recognize the value of the othernot to fall into gossip or disqualification when we do not think alike, and to always seek unity in what is and to always seek unity in what is essential. They remind us that discussing ideas does not have to mean disrespect or enmity; on the contrary, it can be an opportunity to grow together if done with humility.
On this day of St. Jerome, celebrating his dedication to the Word of God, let us also remember this precious friendship between him and St. Augustine. May his example inspire us all to have conversations that are both more sincere and more full of charity. charity. May we learn from them to to have an open heartwilling to listen and to correct (ourselves) with love. In the end, both Jerome and Augustine wanted the same thing: Christ to be known and loved everywhere .. That shared goal kept them united. May we too, sharing hope in Christ, know how to stand together even when we do not agree on everything.
St. Jerome and St. Augustinetwo great saints who show us that truth and charity truth and charity must go hand in hand. Their friendship leaves us with a golden lesson: “Unity does not mean uniformity, and difference need not lead to division when we are united by the love of Christ.” May we live this out in our own relationships, always with God’s help.