While in Rome, St. Jerome also formed and led a group of noble women
who lived the ascetical life in the house of Marcella. Due to what was
viewed as an imprudent relationship with these ladies, the boldness of his
Scriptural criticism and his sharp criticisms of lax Roman clergymen, St.
Jerome developed many personal enmities. Shortly after the death of
Damasus in 384 AD, St. Jerome and two of his female followers (Paula and
Julia Eustochium) left for Jerusalem. There, he established three
monasteries, one for men and two for women. St. Jerome ruled over the
monastery for men, Paula and Julia over the female convents.
St. Jerome was first and foremost a scholar both of Christian and profane
literature. His work on the Scriptures is without rival in the West. However,
St. Jerome was a tempestuous man who lived in tempestuous times. The
Empire in his time was being strained and ravaged by the various migrating
tribes; controversies raged over Origenism, Pelagianism and personally
with Rufinus, Jovinian and Vigilantius. St. Jerome suffered from being
irascible, sarcastic and arrogant. It has been said that “Jerome, upon
arriving at the heavenly portals, immediately involved St. Peter in a caustic
argument over Origen and the latter’s orthodoxy or lack thereof. Should
that have been the case, the only thing certain is that Jerome will have
accounted himself the winner with the right to audit Peter’s books”
(Jurgens vol. 2, p. 183).
In his last years, St. Jerome suffered from sickness, poverty and the death
of his friends. He died in Bethlehem on September 30, 419 or 420 AD.
Extracts
Letter to Pope Damasus (Inter 374-379 AD):
15, 2
“I speak with the successor of the fisherman...Though I acknowledge none as first
except Christ, I am joined in communion with your Holiness, that is to say, in
communion with the Chair of Peter. I know that it is upon that rock that the
Church has been built. Whoever eats the Lamb outside this house is profane.”
Against Helvidius (C. 383 AD):
17 & 18
“I now ask to which class you consider the Lord’s brethren in the Gospel must be
assigned. They are brethren by nature, you say. But Scripture does not say so; it
calls them neither sons of Mary, nor of Joseph. Shall we say they are brethren by
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