St. Jerome, Priest & Doctor of The Church

Today we honor this great saint who was so instrumental in preserving and translating the Sacred Scriptures.  When I realized it was his "day" I was almost afraid to preach.  LOL.

Profile

Born to a rich pagan family, he led a misspent youth. Studied in Rome. Lawyer. Converted in theory, and baptised in 365, he began his study of theology, and had a true conversion. Monk. Lived for years as a hermit in the Syrian deserts. Reported to have drawn a thorn from a lion’s paw; the animal stayed loyally at his side for years. Priest. Student of Saint Gregory of Nazianzen. Secretary to Pope Damasus I who commissioned him to revise the Latin text of the Bible. The result of his 30 years of work was the Vulgate translation, which is still in use. Friend and teacher of Saint Paula, Saint Marcella, and Saint Eustochium, an association that led to so much gossip that Jerome left Rome to return to the desert solitude. He lived his last 34 years in the Holy Land as a semi-recluse. Wrote translations of histories, biographies, the works of Origen, and much more. Doctor of the Church, Father of the Church. Since his own time, he has been associated in the popular mind with scrolls, writing, cataloging, translating, which led to those who work in such fields taking him as their patron - a man who knew their lives and problems.

Here are a few web pages of this great saint's writings:

	The Perpetual Virginity of the Virgin Mary: Against Helvidius - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.vi.v.html A certain Helvidius said that since Jesus had brothers, Mary was not a virgin after his birth. He also maintained that this demonstrates that marriage is better than virginity. Jerome takes the opposite view.
	The Life of Hilarion - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.vi.ii.html In HTML, with notes, at Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
	The Life of Paulus the First Hermit - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.vi.i.html St. Jerome's first published work. From the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, second series, vol. 6.
	The Life of Malchus, the Captive Monk - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.vi.iii.html In HTML, with notes, at Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
	Against Jovinianus - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.vi.vi.html In two books, each in its own file, with notes. The first book is entirely taken up with Jovinian's assertion that virginity is no better than marriage. The latter book examines Jovinian's propositions about abstinence, degrees of sin, the sinlessness of believers, and degrees of punishment or reward in the afterlife.
	The Dialogue Against the Luciferians - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.vi.iv.html A literary dialogue between "Orthodoxus" and "Helladius the Luciferian". The introduction from A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, second series, vol. 6, sets the stage. Lucifer, a bishop, and his party, against the decision of a council of the Church and against SS. Jerome and Athanasius, wished to show no mercy to penitents who had fallen into Arianism.
	Lives of Illustrious Men - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf203.v.html And he does mean men. Ernest Cushing Richardson translation. With notes and introduction ("previous"). From the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, second series, vol. 3.
	To Pammachius Against John of Jerusalem - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.vi.viii.html Unpublished during Jerome's lifetime. An ugly little chapter in Church history. Epiphanius of Salamis, a heresy-hunting bishop, had castigated Jerome's bishop John of Jerusalem for Origenism. Epiphanius then urged Jerome to repudiate John, ordained Jerome's brother by force, and Jerome was effectively excommunicated for approximately four years.
	Against the Pelagians - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.vi.ix.html Dialogue Between Atticus, a Catholic, and Critobulus, a Heretic. In three books, with introduction, notes, and author's prologue.
	Against Vigilantius - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.vi.vii.html Jerome turns on his former friend, who had objected to reverencing relics, vigils, the practice of sending alms to Jerusalem, and an exaggerated (in the opinion of Vigilantius) esteem for virginity.
	Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf203.vi.xii.html W.H. Fremantle translation, from the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, second series, vol. 3. Presented as three books, with notes and links to contents, previous, and next.