ACC ~ Mark 1 v15

THE MINGLING OF JOY AND SORROW

JEROME: The sweetness of the apple makes up for the bitterness of the root. The hope of gain makes pleasant the perils of the sea. The expectation of health mitigates the nauseousness of medicine. One who desires the kernel breaks the nut. So one who desires the joy of a holy conscience swallows down the bitterness of penance. [1] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPELS. [2]

[1] Jerome, like most early Christian writers, viewed penance—concrete acts demonstrating repentance and sorrow over postbaptismal sin—as an integral aspect of genuine conversion. Later Protestant critics such as Luther would critique late medieval distortions of earlier medieval penitential doctrine. Cf. EEC 667-669; MLSW, 249-53.

[2] GC 3:370.