My son Apodemius has attested to the meaning of his own
name by his long voyage in coming to us. From the ocean’s shore and the far
reaches of Gaul, passing Rome on his way, he sought out Bethlehem to find in it
heavenly bread. And having gorged himself, he belched in the Lord and said: “My
heart has belched a good word; I speak my works to the king.” On a small sheet
of paper he brought me very advanced questions, which he said came from you and
were to be delivered to me. Upon reading them, I understood that the zeal of
the Queen of Sheba was fulfilled in you. She came from the ends of the earth to
hear the wisdom of Solomon. I am surely no Solomon, who excelled in wisdom all
men before and after him. But you deserve to be called the queen of Sheba in
whose mortal body sin does not reign, you who have turned to the Lord with all
your mind and will hear from him: “Turn, turn, O Shunamite.” For in our
language “Sheba” means “turn.” At the same time, I have noted that your brief
questions, which are posed solely from the Gospel and from the Apostle, make
clear that you either do not sufficiently read or do not sufficiently understand
the Old Scripture, which is wrapped in such great obscurities and figures of future
things that the whole thing requires interpretation. And the eastern gate,
from which the true light arises and by which the high priest enters and
exists, is always shut and opens to Christ alone, who “has the key of David who
opens and no one shuts; he closes and no one opens.” Thus, when he unbolts
it, you may enter his chamber and say: “The king has led me into his chamber.” (Jerome,
Epistle 121, in St. Jerome: Exegetical Epistles, 2 vols. [trans. Thomas
P. Scheck; The Fathers of the Church 148; Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University
of America Press, 2024], 2:173-74, emphasis in bold added)
