Feminist Interpretations of Augustine

7 Augustine’s Letters to Women

7 Augustine’s Letters to Women Joanne McWilliam Augustine wrote several letters to women, these making up only a small part of his epistolary corpus. They differ little, if at all, in range of content and tone from those written to men. There are letters of condolence, letters of advice, letters on the religious life, and letters (the majority) covering two or three of these categories. There are, finally, letters of theological import. The only category missing is, not surprisingly, that to do with public life. But Letters 124 and 126 deal with ecclesial affairs that became public and in which Albina, to whom they are written, seems to have played a role. I do not consider here all of Augustine’s letters to women but have taken examples from each of these categories.1 In these 190 Feminist Interpretations of Augustine examples we see him dealing with issues of ecclesiastical, doctrinal, and pastoral import. The letters provide pictures of his interactions with Christian women during the three and half decades of his episcopate and his attitudes toward them. Augustine took the women and the issues and questions contained in their letters seriously. He thinks them capable not only of deep and prayerful spiritual lives but also of sound practical judgment and exemplary leadership both in their families and in religious communities. He gives serious and specific advice on how they should fulfill these roles. Despite his respect for women’s capabilities, it is clear that he expected them to heed his advice and admonitions. There are several letters of condolence. Letter 263 (dated 425–30) is one of the last Augustine wrote. He begins by accepting a gift from ‘‘the eminently religious’’ Sapida. We know from a sermon that he did not usually accept those gifts that were suitable for him alone, but sold them and gave the proceeds to the poor (Sermon 356, Benedictine edition), but he makes this exception as a gesture of comfort (1). The gift is a tunic and his reluctance indicates that it was rich in fabric or ornamentation. But it had belonged to Sapida’s dead brother, Timotheus, and she has told Augustine that his wearing it would afford her ‘‘no small consolation ’’ (1).2 He will, he tells her, wear it ‘‘out of affection’’ for her brother, who had been a deacon in the church of Carthage. The letter continues along more ordinary consolatory lines. Sapida’s heart is pierced and her tears are its blood (language reminiscent of Confessions 6.15), but her brother’s love for her and hers for him outlives death and ‘‘is hidden with Christ in God.’’ Sorrow is natural and right, but that of a Christian should not be too lengthy, particularly in the hope of the bodily resurrection that will come. Letters 92 and 99, to Italica, are a pair and more interesting than Letter 263 (except for the light this last sheds on Augustine’s attitude to his clothing and to gifts). Letter 92 (408) replies to a request for a letter on the occasion of Italica’s husband’s death. After a conventional and somewhat perfunctory paragraph, Augustine turns quickly to one of his favorite themes—the superiority of spiritual to bodily sight. This topic takes up the rest of the letter, making it a precursor of the much longer 147. Letter 99, written a year later to the same woman, is different in subject and tone. In the course of business correspondence over a house, Augustine learns that things are not going well in Rome (it would be sacked the next year). He had previously heard only ‘‘vague rumours,’’ ‘‘much less calamitous than [what] we hear now’’ (1). For whatever rea- Augustine’s Letters to Women 191 son, he has been kept in ignorance of the true state of affairs and regrets it. He writes: ‘‘[Pain] suffered by one member is mitigated when all the other members suffer from it. And this mitigation is effected not by actual participation in the calamity, but by the solacing power of love. . . . The tribulation is borne in common by all, seeing they have in common the same experience, hope, and love, and the same divine Spirit.’’ It is interesting that one of the great consolations in bereavement or tribulation— knowledge that the sorrow is shared—is given not for Italica’s husband (perhaps Augustine did not know him), but for the...