Our Saint of the Day was a Scripture scholar ✝️ translating most of the Old Testament from Hebrew.
September 30, 2024
Dear John,
Sometimes it can be difficult to remember that even the saints had their flaws. Take today's saint, St. Jerome, for instance. He was known for having quite the temper and would chastise anyone who he thought was teaching anything that was incorrect about God. He also was aware of this flaw and often remorseful for his anger.
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Most of the saints are remembered for some outstanding virtue or devotion which they practiced, but Jerome is frequently remembered for his bad temper! It is true that he had a very bad temper and could use a vitriolic pen, but his love for God and his son Jesus Christ was extraordinarily intense; anyone who taught error was an enemy of God and truth, and Saint Jerome went after him or her with his mighty and sometimes sarcastic pen.
He was above all a Scripture scholar, translating most of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. Jerome also wrote commentaries which are a great source of scriptural inspiration for us today. He was an avid student, a thorough scholar, a prodigious letter-writer and a consultant to monk, bishop, and pope. Saint Augustine said of him, “What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known.”
Saint Jerome is particularly important for having made a translation of the Bible which came to be called the Vulgate. It is not the most critical edition of the Bible, but its acceptance by the Church was fortunate. As a modern scholar says, “No man before Jerome or among his contemporaries and very few men for many centuries afterwards were so well qualified to do the work.” The Council of Trent called for a new and corrected edition of the Vulgate, and declared it the authentic text to be used in the Church.
In order to be able to do such work, Jerome prepared himself well. He was a master of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Chaldaic. He began his studies at his birthplace, Stridon in Dalmatia. After his preliminary education, he went to Rome, the center of learning at that time, and thence to Trier, Germany, where the scholar was very much in evidence. He spent several years in each place, always trying to find the very best teachers. He once served as private secretary to Pope Damasus.
After these preparatory studies, he traveled extensively in Palestine, marking each spot of Christ’s life with an outpouring of devotion. Mystic that he was, he spent five years in the desert of Chalcis so that he might give himself up to prayer, penance, and study. Finally, he settled in Bethlehem, where he lived in the cave believed to have been the birthplace of Christ. Jerome died in Bethlehem, and the remains of his body now lie buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
Reflection
Jerome was a strong, outspoken man. He had the virtues and the unpleasant fruits of being a fearless critic and all the usual moral problems of a man. He was, as someone has said, no admirer of moderation whether in virtue or against evil. He was swift to anger, but also swift to feel remorse, even more severe on his own shortcomings than on those of others. A pope is said to have remarked, on seeing a picture of Jerome striking his breast with a stone, “You do well to carry that stone, for without it the Church would never have canonized you” (Butler’s Lives of the Saints).
Saint Jerome is the Patron Saint of:
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Delve into the alternative way of St. Francis and the newly released Companion Guide!
When he came one day to a city called Alviano to preach the word of God, he went up to a higher place [Judges 13:16] so that he could be seen by all and he began to ask for silence. But when all the people had fallen silent and were standing reverently at attention, a flock of swallows, chattering and making a loud noise, were building nests in that same place.
Since the blessed Francis could not be heard by the people over the chattering of the birds, he spoke to them saying: “My sisters, swallows, it is now time for me to speak, for you have already spoken enough. Listen to the word of the Lord and be silent and quiet until the word of the Lord is finished.” And those little birds, to the astonishment and wonder of the people standing by, immediately fell silent, and they did not move from that place until the sermon was finished. When these men therefore saw this miracle, they were filled with the greatest admiration and said: “Truly this man is a saint and a friend of the Most High.” And they hastened with the greatest devotion to at least touch his clothing, praising and blessing God [Luke 24:53]. (Celano, First Life of St. Francis, 59)
Francis treated animals kindly because they pointed toward God. Do you allow the animal stories about Francis to point you toward God?
Do you remember being in grade school and the time for lunch and recess came? A sensation of exuberance and liberation would wash over me as I’d book it for the jungle gym and slide. As children get ready to go back to school—or try to soak up every last bit of summer left—may we recall the excitement of a grade school recess and find ways to tap into that same energy today. With all of the fire-and-brimstone images of a wrathful God, it can be easy to forget that God can be like a playful child, smiling and inviting us to join in a recess of divine proportions.
Pray
God of childlike wonder and play, I’m taking things too seriously again. I wear a frown on my face, and I’m busily checking things off my never-ending to-do list. I’m “adulting,” as they say, and it’s no fun. You, on the other hand, are full of surprises and energy, May I turn away from the sullen seriousness of my life and the “important” things I need to take care of. Guide me, instead, to the jungle gym, wherever and whatever it might be in my life today. It is a place of play and freedom, and you want all of us to be there, having fun again. Amen.
Act
OK, so you might be a little old for the monkey bars—at least, I am. That’s no problem! Fun for one person might be torture for another, so it’s important to give some thought to what activities you truly enjoy and who, if anyone, you’d want to include. For today, just identify one thing you can do for fun. But here’s the trick: Actually do it. That’s where I constantly fail. It just ends in thought. Perhaps it can be something small, so it’s not too hard to make a commitment: Get an ice cream cone, listen to a favorite song, or go out to a sporting event or play. It’s recess time!
Today's Pause+Pray was written by Daniel Imwalle. Learn more here!
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