destroying the most inviolate laws of nature. And notwithstanding that these philosophers were at perfect liberty to publish their strange maxims, fearless of danger or persecution, they deemed it necessary to call to their aid the most elegant of phrases, the most pleasing eloquence, in order to impress their own ideas firmly in their minds.
The Gospel which, on the contrary, preached only for the poor and for all those persecuted sinners throughout the world who had been treated as slaves, and who were exposed to all kinds of danger — this Gospel, I say, has all at once been received with every mark of respect by the learned as well as by the ignorant, by warriors and princes, — in a word, by Greeks and Romans, and by every savage nation.
[St. Jerome, one of the most learned and prolific authors of the early Latin Church, was born in Dalmatia about the year 331. The learned epistles which he wrote to St. Marcella and St. Paula are celebrated for their learning and rare monastic piety.
St. Paula accompanied him to Palestine in 386, where he founded a convent at Bethlehem; near this he remained till his death in 420.
His biblical labours are highly valuable, his Latin version of the Old Testament from the original language is the foundation of the Vulgate, and his commentary gave a new impulse to the study of the Holy Scriptures.]
St. Jerome, in writing to the mother of Paula, says: Begin with the Psalter, and teach your daughter how to chant the Psalms. You can read with her the Proverbs, by which she will know the moral precepts.
This can be followed by Ecclesiasticus, a book so capable of inspiring her with a contempt of this world.
You can then proceed to the Gospels — these, your daughter ought ever to have in hand.
