Editing Jerome (section)

=== Letters ===
[[File:St.-Jerome-In-His-Study.jpg|thumb|left|Saint Jerome depicted in his study being visited by two angels ([[Bartolomeo Cavarozzi |Cavarozzi]], early-17th century)]]

Jerome's letters or [[epistle]]s, both by the great variety of their subjects and by their qualities of style, form an important portion of his literary remains. Whether he is discussing problems of scholarship, or reasoning on cases of conscience, comforting the afflicted, or saying pleasant things to his friends, scourging the vices and corruptions of the time and against [[Pederasty in ancient Greece|sexual immorality]] among the clergy,<ref>"regulae sancti pachomii 84 rule 104.</ref> exhorting to the [[Asceticism|ascetic life]] and renunciation of the [[World (theology)|world]], or debating his theological opponents, he gives a vivid picture not only of his own mind, but of the age and its peculiar characteristics. (See [[Plowboy trope]].) Because there was no distinct line between personal documents and those meant for publication, his letters frequently contain both confidential messages and treatises meant for others besides the one to whom he was writing.<ref>W. H. Fremantle, "Prolegomena to Jerome", V.</ref>

Due to the time he spent in Rome among wealthy families belonging to the Roman upper class, Jerome was frequently commissioned by women who had taken a vow of virginity to write to them in guidance of how to live their life. As a result, he spent a great deal of his life corresponding with these women about certain abstentions and lifestyle practices.{{sfn|Williams|2006|p=}}

[[File:Francescostjerome.jpg|thumb|''[[Francesco St Jerome]]'' by [[Jacopo Palma il Giovane]], {{c.|1595|lk=no}}]]