Letter 22 To Eustochium (Unabridged)

St. Jerome's most famous letter , written to St. Eustochium, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the Roman widow St. Paula. St. Jerome exhorts St. Eustochium to embrace virginity and teaches her the proper conduct of a young woman. It contains his: 1. view that God, though omnipotent, cannot restore a fallen virgin 2. vivid description of fasting and temptation 3. view of abortion, that it is murder 4. term superbiam sanctam, virginity a "holy pride" 5. praise of wedlock, that it gives him virgins 6. further reading recommendations on virginity 7. "Do you read? He speaks to you." 8. dream where the Judge condemns him a Ciceronian, not a Christian 9. description of the three types of monasticism - Summary by Geremia