Thomas Aquinas — on 2Tim 4:13 (Commentary on 2 Timothy)

“Then when he says, "the cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus," he tells him what to carry. Carpus is a saint. According to Jerome, the cloak, or penula, was a volume of the law which he kept on a scroll. Or a penula was an article of clothing; but according to Chrysostom, it was a common article of clothing. And because the Apostle lived as a poor man in Rome, he wanted his clothes brought to him. Haymo says that it was a special garment worn by the nobility; hence in Acts Paul declared that he was a Roman citizen, for Paul's father served the Romans at Tarsus of Cilicia (Acts 22:27). As a result he became a Roman citizen, and the penula was an article of clothing worn by the consul. Perhaps his father was a consul. Or a penula is a handbag for carrying books. This seems to be correct, because he continues, "bring the books." But why did the Apostle need books, if he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and if his dissolution was at hand? I answer that he needed them for two reasons: first, for the consolation they would bring: "we had for our comfort the holy books that are in our hands" (1 Macc 12:9). For in books we find a remedy against tribulations. Or he says this lest they be lost and not available to the faithful. Again, the closer death came, the more he occupied himself with the study of the Scriptures. The same was true of Ambrose, who did not stop writing until his last sickness, so that as he was writing the words of Psalm 47: "great is the Lord and exceedingly to be praised" (Ps 47:2), he passed away. "Especially the parchments": these were blank sheets or charts on which he wrote his epistles or his sermons.”