Saint Jerome was born Eusebius Hieronymus around 347.
A renowned Father and Doctor of the Church, he’s famed for his monumental contribution: translating the Bible into Latin, thus creating the revered Vulgate edition.
Born in Stridon, a region straddling today’s Slovenia and Croatia, Jerome’s affluent Catholic family ensured he received a robust education. As a youth, he journeyed to Rome, immersing himself in classical literature and, marking a spiritual transformation, was baptized at 19. His thirst for knowledge led him to Trier and Aquileia, where he began exploring theology with fellow ascetics.
The East beckoned Jerome around 373. In Antioch, while deepening his humanistic and monastic pursuits, a dream altered his life’s course: Christ criticized him for valuing Cicero over Christianity. Although his commitment to solely focus on theology was sometimes questioned by peers like Rufinus, this dream undeniably redirected his passions. Jerome’s self-imposed exile to the Chalcis desert saw him embrace asceticism and master Hebrew.
After his ordination by Bishop Paulinus in Antioch and spending time under Gregory of Nazianzus’s tutelage in Constantinople, Rome called him back. Pope Damasus I, recognizing his talents, entrusted him with the formidable task of refining the Latin Bible. But following Damasus’s passing, Jerome’s influence waned, prompting his return to the East.
It was in Bethlehem in 386, supported by his devoted patroness Paula, that Jerome’s literary genius truly flourished. Over the next three decades, he crafted insightful biblical commentaries and the significant portions of the Latin Bible, the Vulgate.
Blending philology, geography, and archaeology, he set the benchmark for Western biblical exegesis. His vast correspondence included exchanges with Saint Augustine.
His two-decade endeavor, the Vulgate, replaced the disordered older Latin translations, becoming the bedrock of Latin Christianity. Reaffirmed by the Council of Trent in 1546, it is still cherished as the quintessential Latin Bible.
Saint Jerome is venerated as the patron of numerous vocations, including librarians, archaeologists, and translators, and even the city of Quebec in Canada.
Editorial credit: Adam Jan Figel / Shutterstock.com
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