Who was Saint Jerome?
Saint Jerome in his Study, by Domenico Ghirlandaio
Born Eusebius Hieronymous Sophronius, Saint Jerome was a prolific writer and a powerful voice in the Christian community who lived from 342 B.C to 420 B.C. Considered both a great doctor and Father of the Church, he is most renowned for his translation of large parts of the Bible from Hebrew to Latin, and his version, called the Vulgate, is still in use today.
Saint Jerome, raised in a well-to-do Christian home in his birth town of Stridonius, was sent off to Rome when he was a young man to learn and study, which he did quite well. Gifted with an aptitude towards languages, Jerome, whose native tongue was a dialect of Illyrian, learned Greek and Latin fluently, deriving great pleasure from reading the popular pagan books of the time. Not unlike students of a modern college or university, Jerome indulged in all manner of pleasures and wine, learning worldly ideas, and turning his back on his religious upbringing. Nevertheless in the year 360 at the age of 22 he was baptized by Pope Liberius and, conscious stricken over his lack of self-control, renounced such pleasures to pursue an austere life of spiritual devotion.
Jerome spent three years living and studying in Rome, where his intellectual curiosity got the better of him and his life of travel began. Due to his own many journeys abroad to gather knowledge and rather nomadic lifestyle until the later part of his career, Jerome is credited as strongly encouraging the undertaking of spiritual pilgrimages, if not fathering them altogether. After returning home for a visit and gathering his childhood friend Bonosus, Jerome struck out for Aquileia, an ancient Roman city on the Adriatic, making friends with the monks there, especially one named Rufinus. With Bonosus still in tow, Jerome traveled on to Treves and Gaul (modern day Western Europe).
About this time, Jerome settled into his calling and refused further secular pursuits, instead devoting himself to God entirely. His love of reading never faltered, and in order to feed this passion, he copied out the books of Saint Hilary, and gathered other literary treasures. Again, he returned home to Stridonius, and eventually settled for a time in Aquileia. Many prominent and eminent scholars had gathered there, some to be sainted and canonized later, many of them becoming friends with Jerome and engaging him in intellectual and Godly reflection. Unfortunately for Jerome, he made enemies with his sarcastic tongue and sardonic wit, and this would cause him strife and turmoil his entirelife. After a few years in scholarly pursuits, he again uprooted and headed eat with some friends, looking for a solitude he couldn’t find in Rome.
He chose to settle in Syria, but on the way he paused at Pontus and Athens in modern day Greece and Galatia, Cilicia, Bithynia and Cappadocia in modern day Turkey. Around 373, he and his three friends arrived in Antioch, a Biblically important city. Shortly after arrival there, he trekked about 50 miles southeast, to the desert city of Chalcis. Two of his friends died there not long after, and the third returned home to the west. Monks lived in the desert, and Jerome set up with them, practicing austerity and studying for four years. While there, he continued to battle his lustful desires of youth, submerging himself into the learning of his most difficult language yet, Hebrew. It was here that he had a dream so vivid to him, that he renounced his pagan reading ever after. Realizing he had not truly dedicated himself wholly, he set aside the secular books.
Jerome continued to move about quite a bit every few years, including living in Jerusalem, learning more languages, and voicing his opinions or arguments about the Christian faith as he saw it and how other peers saw it. What would in modern times be considered Protestant views were cropping up and Jerome, best summed as a devout Catholic, defended his beliefs. He was a great champion, in that sense, ever eloquent and intelligent.
He finally settled in Bethlehem and stayed there for the remainder of his days. Jerome would eventually pass away, quite old and worn, but happy and satisfied, having conquered his passions with help from His Lord. Saint Jerome entered eternal life on September 30th, 420. He died peacefully after a two-year struggle with illness and his remains were buried under the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. These were later exhumed and moved to the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City in the 13th century.
The Church owes a great deal to Saint Jerome; by the time of his death, he had translated the whole of the New Testament into Latin, and turned to the majority of the Old Testament, as well, directly from the Hebrew. His peers had encouraged this to better discuss the Torah with Jewish scholars who refused any translations that were not from the original source. Jerome revised his works several times to gain the best translations of the day, still existing and in use now. He produced a great body of literature from his own correspondence, and wrote a number of reviews, opinions, and commentaries, though the quality of these works vary, and if one can be said to have pioneered holy pilgrimages, the honor would belong to Jerome. Certainly, he encouraged them, and was a man to practice what he preached. Jerome was canonized sometime shortly after his death as a result of service to Pope Damascus, who had first commissioned his New Testament translations.
August 24 2010 08:40 am | Uncategorized