Saint Jerome:

Feast day : 30 September

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Jerome, scholar, theologian and Doctor of the Church. He lived during the period 342-420. He was a prolific writer whose writings have had a profound influence on most of the literature of the Church during the Middle Ages. He is best remembered for his masterpiece, the Vulgate Latin Bible , the Holy Bible translated into Latin. It is also called the Vulgate, because the work was a translation into the ‘vulgar’ tongue or common Latin of the people. He spent more than 30 years of his life living in a cave in Bethlehem, reading, writing, directing souls as a teacher and adviser. He is the patron saint of translators, librarians and encyclopedists, archivists, Bible scholars, librarians, libraries, school children, students and translators.

Early life:

Saint Jerome was born in Stridon, Northern Italy around the year 342. He had the privilege to a good education and was sent to Rome where he learned under the famous pagan Donatus and the rhetorician Victorinus. He became a master in Latin and Greek and was a good orator too. He had a thirst for learning and one of his greatest pleasures was to read classics of Cicero and Palutus. He loved to read and collected books and copied and translated several books for this friends. During these years, he chose to follow the worldly ways of life and often indulged in his sinful passions . But he bitterly lamented for his sins and mostly repented when he made his weekly visit to the catacombs of the early martyrs in Rome. There he was often reminded of his eternal life and the possibility of him being damned to hell.

His thirst for more knowledge led him to travel across Gaul and Italy for three years along-with his friend Bonosus. They made their home base in Trier, Germany. It was here that he had a conversion of heart and resolved to devote himself to the service of God. He began to ardently make an attempt to pursue a virtuous life. Later he also travelled to Aquileia and stayed in the famous monastery for three years. During this time he grew in close association to several learned men such as Saint Valerian, St. Chromatius and Rufinus . From there he journeyed through Asia Minor and spent five years as a monk in the desert of Chalcis, southeast of Antioch. He had a great many trials both interior and exterior to endure during this time which he overcame through prayer and penances. He also learnt Hebrew during this period. Around 379 he returned to Antioch and was ordained as a priest by Bishop Paulinus but with the condition that he would continue his monastic and scholarly life.

Vocational life:

He was drawn to the teachings of Saint Gregory Nazianzen and travelled to Constantinople where he spent a few years writing and studying. In 382, on the invitation of Pope Saint Damascus I he came to Rome. There he took the role of secretary and advisor to the Pope and became renowned for his knowledge and abilities. The Pope asked him to revise the existing Latin version of the Gospel based on the Greek manuscripts. He also updated the Psalter then used in Rome, based on the Septuagint. During this time he also undertook the spiritual direction of a group of noble women (the widows Lea, Marcella and Saint Paula, with Saint Paula's daughters Blaesilla and Eustochium) who were keen on leading a monastic life. They often met to hear and learn more about the Scriptures from Saint Jerome. Meanwhile there was also a growing hostility against him and much criticism arose of his translations of the Gospel. He was falsely accused of having an improper relation with Saint Paula and was summoned before a council of clergy to answer the charges against him. Pope Damascus I who was his patron had died by then and though Saint Jerome cleared himself of all the charges before the Council, he left Rome with a bitter heart in 385.

He then travelled through Palestine and Egypt, along the sites in the Bible. During his travels he was accompanied by his brother and his disciples from Rome. He finally settled in a cave in Bethlehem, near the site of the birth of Jesus. Near to the cave, monasteries for men and women and a guest house for pilgrims were also built with the generous support of Saint Paula and his disciples. He spent the remaining years of his life in the cave in Bethlehem, reading, writing, directing souls as a teacher and adviser and was known to work day and night, despite his poor health.

Literary works:

He was a prolific writer and wrote volumes through his commentaries, letters and short biographies. But his literary masterpiece for which he is most remembered is the Latin Vulgate Bible, the Holy Bible translated into Latin. It is also called the Vulgate, because the work was a translation into the ‘vulgar’ tongue or common Latin of the people. The translated Bible could be read and understood by common people. The translation from Hebrew met much opposition and it took nearly a century for it to find favour over the earlier versions. From the Council of Trent (1548-1563) to 1979, the Vulgate was the official Latin Bible of the Catholic Church. The Vulgate influenced most of the literature used in the practice of faith - prayers, books of ceremonies, devotion and even great works of theology in the Middle Ages.

Death & Sainthood:

He is believed to have died in the year 420. He was laid to rest in Bethlehem and later his sacred remains were transferred to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. He is the patron saint of translators, librarians and encyclopedists, archivists, Bible scholars, librarians, libraries, school children, students and translators.