St. Jerome
Today, the Church celebrates the life St. Jerome. He was born around AD 340 and was raised in a pagan household. He received an excellent education in Greek, Latin, rhetoric, and philosophy. It’s said that his moral excellence was severely lacking. When in Rome, he lived as the Romans did. He lived a life of excess. Jerome’s guilt moved him to visit the catacombs in Rome and try to frighten himself by imagining hell. Thankfully, he converted and was baptized in AD 366.
Jerome was attracted to the monastic life and began traveling to places like Italy, Gaul, Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land. He lived outside Antioch as a hermit. In Antioch, he fell sick with a disease that left him debilitated. During this illness, he had a vision from God that convinced him to leave his secular studies and devote himself entirely to God. Eventually, he became an ascetic and lived in the desert for five years.
Many people are aware that Jerome had quite the intellect. He was tremendously gifted with languages. He was excellent in Latin and Greek and learned Hebrew. Jerome wanted to read the original languages of Sacred Scripture.
The Church asked him to be a priest, but he preferred to remain aloof from politics and lived as a monk. Eventually, however, he was ordained with the desire that he could practice the faith in a quiet way.
In AD 382, Jerome visited Rome and Pope Damasus I (AD 305 – 384) forced him to stay and serve him as his secretary. The pope sent him to work on translating the Bible. In AD 382, there was a council in Rome where the canon of Sacred Scripture was settled. Today, we take it for granted which books belong in the Bible. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the Church determined which books were divinely inspired.
When Pope Damasus I died (AD 384), Jerome returned to the Holy Land and continued translating the Bible. A couple of women helped him establish a monastery in Bethlehem.
In Bethlehem, he wrote letters arguing for the faith. From his letters, one can see that he had an intense personality with a bit of a temper. At times, he could be quite harsh and sarcastic with those who disagreed with him. In terms of temperament, he was a choleric – someone very difficult to get along with.
When people came to him for spiritual direction, he didn’t want to be disturbed. It’s said that he wouldn’t answer the door and would just throw rocks at them until they went away. A pope is said to have remarked on seeing a picture of Jerome striking his breast with a stone, “You do well to carry that stone, for without it the Church would never have canonized you.”
However, God eventually used that intensity to help spread the gospel. Jerome is most well-known for translating the Sacred Scriptures into Latin. The Latin translation is known as the Vulgate and with the Council of Trent it became the authentic text of the Church. Today, it remains the official Latin translation of Sacred Scripture.
Jerome gave the famous saying that “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” In other words, if you do not know Sacred Scripture, you really don’t know Christ.
Jerome spent the last 34 years his life living in the cave believed to be the birthplace of Christ. In this way, he wanted to be close to Christ. He spent 15 of those years translating the Bible and 15 years commenting on his translation of the Bible. He had two things in his favor. First, he had the original written manuscripts for his translation. Second, he had verbal testimony from the time of Christ. Consequently, he gave the Church the best translation, which made him famous. He died in AD 420 and was subsequently canonized. He is the patron saint of archeologists, biblical scholars, students, and translators.
Interestingly, St. Jerome was one of the favorite subjects to paint during the Middle Ages. He was often depicted with a lion because of a legend that he healed a wounded lion that had a thorn in its paw. St. Jerome was depicted studying with a book because he loved to study.
The saint whom we celebrate today can teach us that despite our shortcomings, God can use them for furthering His kingdom. Jerome had a strong will and a short temper. Some of us certainly can identify with him. However, look at how much God did through him! Our Lord certainly can write straight with crooked lines.
Whatever your struggles, do not be afraid to ask the Lord to continue to heal them and work through them. If you do not believe this is possible, look to Jerome and ask for his intercession.
~St. Jerome, biblical scholar and lover of Christ, pray for us!