Jerome remembers Marcella's questioning and scriptural learning
About this date: The year dates Jerome's memorial letter to Principia, written after Marcella's death in 410. The study and community life recalled in it belong to earlier decades.
Jerome's remembrance of Marcella describes a reader who questions his explanations instead of accepting them immediately. He also recalls her life with Principia and the example their community offered to other women.
Historical context
Letter 127 is addressed to Marcella's close companion after the upheavals surrounding Rome's sack. It looks back on a network of scriptural study, correspondence, and ascetic households.
Key points
- Jerome presents Marcella as an active questioner capable of identifying objections to an interpretation.
- Scriptural meditation is connected with conduct rather than the repetition of words alone.
- Principia appears as a close companion within the community whose life Jerome commemorates.
People
- Marcella of Rome
- Principia
- Jerome
Sources and further reading
- Letter 127 to Principia: remembrance of Marcella
Describes scriptural study, Marcella's questioning, and her shared life with Principia; the introduction dates the letter.