St. Jerome
(C. 342 – 419/420 AD)
Historical Note
St. Jerome was born Eusebius Hieronymus in Stridon, northern Dalmatia,
around the year 342 AD of Christian parents. He came to Rome at the age
of twenty to complete his education and had the famous grammarian Aelius
Donatus as one of his teachers. He passionately devoted himself to his
studies and it was while a student that he became acquainted with Rufinus
of Aquileia.
As a youth St. Jerome did not escape temptation but renounced his sins and
was baptized by Pope Liberius c. 364 AD. In his early twenties, St. Jerome
went to France and lived with a community of monks, first in Treves and
then in Aquileia. After a few years, he set out for Jerusalem but due to ill
health he cut short his journey and remained in Antioch. It was there that he
began his studies of Greek. Between 375 and 378 AD, he lived as a hermit
in the desert of Chalcis to the east of Antioch. During these years he
acquired a mastery of Hebrew and earned the reputation as a trilingual
scholar. He also knew some Aramaic.
After being ordained to the priesthood in 379 AD, St. Jerome traveled to
Constantinople where he met and became friends with Sts. Gregory
Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa. In Constantinople, St. Jerome became an
admirer of the commentaries of Origen and began translations of some of
his works.
In 382 AD, St. Jerome was invited together with Paulinus of Antioch and
St. Epiphanius of Salamis to Rome by Pope Damasus to attend a Synod
aimed at healing the Antiochian schism. Afterwards, he remained as
Damasus’ secretary and confidant. It was at the commission of Damasus
that St. Jerome began his monumental 35-year project of studying and
translating the Latin Scriptures.
 |
 |
 |