Mary
in Christian Tradition
how
St Jerome came to be at Bethlehem
340-420
priest and doctor
feast day: September30
ST. JEROME was
born in 340 in Stridon, a small town in north Italy near today's Italian-Yugoslavian
border. He was given an excellent classical education by his parents
and was tutored in Rome by Donatus, the famous pagan grammarian. As
a result, Jerome became an expert in the Greek and Latin languages.
In 360, at the age of eighteen, he was baptized in Rome by Pope Liberius.
After his baptism, he traveled throughout the Roman Empire and was acquainted
with many of the leading Christians of his day. He settled at Aquileia
in 370 and became acquainted with St. Valerian.
 Jerome
went to Antioch in 374. In a dream, he saw himself in judgment before
Christ, who rebuked him for his vain pursuit of worldly wisdom.
Touched deeply by the dream, Jerome withdrew into the wilderness where,
beset by temptations of many kinds, he "threw himself at the feet of
Jesus, watering his feet with tears of prayers and penance," as he said
later. To occupy himself, he began an intense study of Hebrew under
a Jewish teacher. He found this study extremely difficult, but it prepared
him for one of his great life works. He was ordained by St. Paulinus
and went to Constantinople about 380 to study Scripture under St. Gregory
Nazianzen. When Gregory left Constantinople, Jerome went to Rome in
382.
Pope Damasus asked
him to be his secretary and in this capacity Jerome began his monumental
translation of the Bible from Greek into Latin; it is called the Vulgate.
"Not to know the Scriptures is not to know Christ,"
Jerome said. At the same time, his learned commentaries on the Scriptures
and his conferences and letters won him a devoted following, especially
among the Christian women of Rome.
Jerome had
his share of critics who resented his biting tongue and caustic
comments on Roman society. Stung by their attacks on him, in 385 he
left Rome for the Holy Land, where he established a number of communities
near Bethlehem. There he not only continued his study of Scripture,
but heatedly engaged in the controversies raging in the Church of his
day. Jerome was sometimes ill-tempered and harsh in his dealings with
others, yet he sought God's mercy again and again for himself and those
he had injured.
When Alaric and
his barbarians attacked Rome in 410, great numbers of Roman Christians
fled to Palestine for safety. Jerome tried to arrange shelter for them
and wrote, "I have put aside all my study to help them. Now we must
translate the words of Scripture into deeds, and instead of speaking
holy words we must do them." He died at Bethlehem of a long illness
on September 30, 420. He is buried at St. Mary Major in Rome. St. Jerome
is a Doctor of the Church.
|
ord,
show me your mercy