Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Vol. LVI: Augustini Epistulae Pars III

You have there the holy man Alethius the presbyter, who, with what they call a living voice and with prudent and eloquent speech, could solve what you seek, unless perhaps you desire foreign goods and, for the variety of taste, you are also delighted by the nourishment of our condiments. To some, sweet things are pleasing; some are delighted by the slightly bitter; the stomachs of some are refreshed by the acidic; those of others are sustained by the salty. I have seen nausea and dizziness of the head often cured by the antidote which is called pikra bitter, and according to Hippocrates, the remedies of opposites for opposites. Therefore, cure our bitterness with His nectareous honey and cast the wood of the cross into Merra bitterness, and restrain your aged phlegm with youthful austerity, so that you may be able to sing happily: How sweet are your words to my throat, more than honey to my mouth.

1. Why does John send his own disciples to the Lord to ask Him: Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another? When he himself previously said of the same person: Behold the Lamb of God, behold, who takes away the sins of the world? — Regarding this question, we have spoken more fully in our commentaries on Matthew — hence...

Jerome suggests that Algasia could have consulted local experts like Alethius rather than seeking his distant counsel. He employs the medical analogy of Hippocrates ancient Greek physician to argue that spiritual ailments require different types of scriptural "remedies," ultimately pointing toward the cross.