Inside St. Jerome Church

« Back to Stained Glass Index

St. Jerome, Patron Saint

Feast Day September 30 (345-420)

Born in Aquilea, Dalmatia, Jerome was educated in Rome and became one of the great Church scholars. He had a dream telling him the way for him was through the gospels, and he devoted his life to studying the words of God. He became a hermit, studied Hebrew, Latin, Greek and Chaldaic, and wrote. He was ordained in Antioch and became secretary to Pope Damasus who directed Jerome to translate the scriptures from Greek into Latin. This job took him the rest of his life.

Jerome unlike other saints is frequently remembered for his bad temper. He was difficult to get along with, downright cantankerous. But he was brilliant - - St Augustine said of Jerome, "What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known." When Pope Damasus died in 384 the saint lost his protector. He left Rome and traveled to Antioch.

Jerome wrote the "Vulgate" declared the official Latin test of the Bible for Catholics by the Council of Trent in the 16th Century, and used until the end of the 20th century. Pope John Paul II replaced it with the New Vulgate in 1979. Jerome also wrote many commentaries which are sources of scriptural inspiration even today. St Jerome is best known as a scripture scholar and is a Doctor of the Church. He is the patron saint of librarians, students, as well as our church.