St. Jerome – Sun Who Illuminated the Scriptures, Lion in Defence of the Faith

It was a beautiful and pleasant fall afternoon, at the close of the fourth century. In a monastery on the outskirts of Bethlehem, in distant Palestine, only the grave and measured voice of a monk could be heard emanating from a room where the entire community, in silent recollection, listened to the spiritual reading.

Suddenly, an enormous, lame lion shambled into the enclosure. As they caught sight of him, the monks scattered in panic—all but one who remained seated, unmoved: the superior of the house. Getting up, he summoned the beast with a gesture of his hand. The lion approached like a docile lamb and showed him a wounded paw. After examining it, the religious arranged for the brothers to treat the injury and to feed the feline, who behaved with exemplary meekness. The animal was eventually taken on as a border, and in addition to protecting and providing many services to the monks, it became a faithful companion of his benefactor, the rector of the monastery, a famed ascetic, scholar, and writer. Visitors to his cell often found him, pen in hand, bent over a parchment, flanked by the majestic king of the beasts…

Is there truth to this tale that is told by the ancient biographers of St. Jerome? According to some authors, yes; others claim that it amounts to nothing more than a legend. Despite the controversy, they all agree that the image of keeping a lion as a companion transmits an accurate notion of St. Jerome. Indeed, this great Father of the Church was a man of strong and explosive character, filled with zeal for God’s glory, a tireless defender of the Faith, who, by courageously proclaiming the truth, merited being likened to a ­lion by the Church.

Young student in Rome

The Roman Empire of the West was in its decline when Jerome first arrived in Rome, around the year 360. He was then a youth of 12 years of age, intelligent, decisive and headstrong, with a promising future. Born into a prosperous Christian family, he had finished his elementary education in his homeland—the tiny Stridon, a city of Dalmatia—and had come to study in one of the celebrated grammar and rhetoric schools in the capital of the Empire.

Two traits of the new scholar soon caught the eye of professors: his uncommon literary talent and his exuberant enthusiasm for the Latin classics, which, in that epoch, were the foundation for the mastery of letters. Jerome took great pleasure in reading these authors—among whom Cicero was his favourite—sparing neither money nor effort in amassing a private library, copying various works by his own hand. Gifted with an exceptional memory, he memorized the texts with ease and, with his bellicose nature, did not hesitate to proclaim them before the class, defying the mockery of colleagues and the criticism of teachers.

Always drawn to polemics, he became a regular spectator at the forum, where he complemented the lessons received in class by first-hand observation of the noble art of oratory. While it fascinated him, it never deceived him. An astute lad, he perceived that those debates—which often ended in personal insults—were generally fuelled by vanity and the vying for fame and fortune. He aspired to higher things.

Even though he was still a catechumen—for at that time Baptism was normally delayed until after adolescence—, he had adhered with such determination to the religious principles transmitted by his parents, that not even the decadent ambience of the city shook his convictions. Accordingly, during the holidays, he would visit the catacombs with some like-minded friends to venerate the tombs of the martyrs. Perhaps it was in those sacred galleries that his enthusiasm was awakened for the fortitude of the sons of the Church, who, confronting the Caesars, the multitudes, and the wild beasts, had joyfully looked death in the eye for love of the Kingdom of Heaven. He also desired to be admitted into this Holy Institution, font of Saints and heroes.

He requested Baptism when he was about 20 years old. Although he left no description of the circumstances under which he received this Sacrament—generally believed to have been administered by Pope Liberius—, his affirmations in future writings denote how the event marked his life; he even declared that he felt “Roman, not only by language, but for having obtained, close to the Chair of Peter, his consecration into the militia of Christ.”¹

First monastic experience

Having concluded his studies, the young neophyte left for Gaul. The reasons for this voyage are unknown. Nevertheless, a possible motive was his desire to embark on a prestigious career in the city of Trier, which, being the habitual residence of the Emperor Valentinian I, offered numerous opportunities. There he took the first step on his glorious journey, avoiding a post in that Empire on the verge of collapse, instead, serving the immortal Catholic Church.

Some decades earlier, St. Athanasius had arrived in Trier, exiled by Constantine, bringing a novelty to the West: the form of ascetic life of the Eastern monks. And it was undoubtedly through contact with the newly established ascetics in Belgian Gaul that grace spoke to Jerome’s soul, opening it to the monastic vocation.

While in this city, he continued adding to his personal library. However, he copied codices very different from those which, until then, had been the object of his interest: two works of St. Hilary of Poitiers, one of them being the Commentary on the Psalms. With the transcription of the latter, the doors of exegesis opened to Jerome, and it was in this field that he would soon put his talents to use, producing veritable treasures for the Christian world.

His first experience of monastic life followed in Aquileia, with a group of ascetics whom he described as “a virtual choir of the blessed,”² for their ardent love of God and mutual brotherly love. But Providence had other plans for him. In his desire to visit the Holy Land and witness the heroism of the solitaries of the desert, he abandoned that paradisiacal situation and set out toward the East.

Where your treasure is…

The city of Antioch, in the south of present-day Turkey, was on his route. Its population, although composed of Jews and Syrians, as well as Greeks, formed a decidedly Hellenized society. Jerome remained there for some time, lodged in the house of a friend, under conditions that enabled him to pursue his study of the Greek language.

Nevertheless, he felt restless. He wanted to serve Christ; for love of Him he had renounced career, family and all of his goods… except one: “I could not yet bring myself to forsake the library that I had collected for myself at Rome with great care and toil. And so, miserable man that I was, I would fast only that I might afterwards read Cicero. After many nights spent in vigil, after floods of tears drawn forth from my inmost heart, and after pondering my past sins, I would once more take up Plautus. And when at times I returned to my right mind, and began to read the prophets, their style seemed rustic and repellent. I failed to see the light with my blinded eyes; but I attributed the fault not to them, but to the sun.”³

In the throes of this inner conflict, he fell seriously ill, with a fever that obliged him to take to his bed. It was then that an intriguing phenomenon occurred: “Suddenly I was caught up in spirit and dragged before the judgment seat of the Judge. […] Asked who and what I was, I replied: ‘I am a Christian.’ But He who presided said: ‘You lie; you are a follower of Cicero and not of Christ. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:21).’ Instantly I was struck dumb, and amid the strokes of the lash—for He had ordered me to be scourged—I was tortured more severely still by the fire of my conscience, considering with myself that verse, ‘In Sheol who can give Thee praise ?’ (Ps 6:5).”⁴

Jerome’s good dispositions finally attracted God’s mercy and liberation. When he returned to himself, he found lash marks on his back and he was wracked with pain.

“Reprove a wise man, and he will love you” (Prv 9:8), says the Holy Author. This was precisely the reaction of Jerome: “Thenceforth, I read the books of God with a zeal greater than I had previously held for the books of men.”⁵ Such excellent and abundant consequences flowed from his fidelity to this grace that the Church recognizes and venerates St. Jerome as the Greatest Doctor in the interpretation of Scripture.⁶

Precious fruit of the fight against temptations

With “few books and many lofty ideas,”⁷ the itinerant monk set out from Antioch for the desert region of Calcis of Syria, near present-day Aleppo. He sought solitude, but did not long enjoy it, for that desert was home to many hermits, and some of them became his companions.

During this period, he experienced vehement temptations. With the help of grace, he energetically fought against them, joining to prayer and penance an efficacious resource to drive away the devil’s suggestions: he dedicated himself to the study of the Hebrew language, with the help of a brother of Jewish origin. “What labour I spent upon this task,”—he recalled, in his old age—“what difficulties I went through, how often I despaired, how often I desisted; but then, in my eagerness to learn, I started again.”⁸

In addition to winning heavenly merit for him, these arduous studies served as the foundations for the colossal mission that he would build up years later, translating the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. Hence he added: “But I thank the Lord that from this seed of learning, sown in bitterness, I now cull sweet fruits.”⁹

Providence wished to grant him two other important prerogatives: the priesthood, which he received in Antioch, soon after returning from the desert; and the instruction of St. Gregory Nazianzen, of whom he was disciple for three years, in Constantinople. Under the guidance and encouragement of this outstanding master, St. Jerome translated the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea and the Homilies of Origen from Greek into Latin.

Patron of translators

A need of the Holy Church required him to return to Rome in 382, for he was convoked by Pope St. Damasus to participate in the General Council held there that year. However, after the conclusion of the event, the Holy Father kept him by his side, as secretary and counsellor. Love and obedience to the Vicar of Christ surpassed all of the other aspirations of the learned ascetic: only three years later, after the death of the Holy Pontiff, would he return to the East.

During this stay in Rome, more than resolving ecclesiastical problems, he applied himself to works related to Scripture, of which the Pope himself was the great instigator. The Pontiff consulted him on various biblical passages, and the answers were so pleasing to him—not only for their clarity and profundity, but also for their literary beauty—that he immediately commissioned the Saint to review the Latin text of the Gospels, whose versions were imprecise and lacking in literary grace.

Accordingly, St. Jerome began his enormous work of translating the Bible, at first from the Greek text and, years later, using the original Hebrew, from which resulted the famous Vulgate. Because of this masterful undertaking, and the wise rules of translation he left registered in his writings, he is today rightly considered the patron of translators.

Guide, teacher, and true father

Like lilies sprouting from the mire, that decadent Rome, contaminated with paganism, yielded souls that were noble of blood and ideals. They were ladies of high aristocracy, virgins and widows, who, gathered around St. Marcela, desiring to attain Christian perfection. They cared for the poor and the sick, and defended slaves; but the ascetic life also appealed to them: they fasted, practiced pious devotions, and gathered to recite the Psalms and to study the Bible.

In St. Jerome, they found a mentor, guide, teacher, and true father. He directed them along the paths of asceticism, imparted to them knowledge of Scriptures, and even drew up a monastic plan for these chosen souls on a property of St. Marcela, but which was never built.

Among this illustrious assembly of saints, St. Paula and her daughter St. Eustochium stand out. They accompanied St. Jerome on his definitive trip to the East, together with his monk companions. After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and a short sojourn in Egypt, the entourage settled in Bethlehem, where the Saviour had been born, almost four centuries earlier. Over the rustic grotto that had then served as His shelter, stood the imposing Basilica of the Nativity, built by Emperor Constantine.

Before the Manger of the Lord

The holy Doctor spent the last 34 years of his life in this long-sought haven of quietude and recollection; his work habits, however, did not wane: mortifications and long periods of prayer were followed by hours of intense activity, in which he wrote or dictated exegetical commentaries and letters—his correspondents included the famous St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo—and composed biographical works and a history of the Church. It was also there that he produced brilliant apologetic treatises, in which he “energetically and vigorously refuted the heretics who contested the tradition and faith of the Church.”¹⁰

Where did he draw the strength to remain faithful to such a noble mission? Analysis of his long journey reveals an indisputable factor in his sanctity: passionate love for the Mother of God is such a constant in the collection of his works that “one can properly speak of ‘Jeronomite Mariology.’”¹¹ One of his most famous writings, in which he expresses his great love for Our Lady, is the treatise in defence of the virginity of Mary, against Helvidius, a detractor of this privilege. His closing words—in his characteristic trenchant style—denote sincere Marian piety: “And because I think that, finding the truth too strong for you, you will turn to disparaging my life and abusing my character […] I assure you that I shall regard your railing as a high distinction, since the same lips that assail me have disparaged Mary.”¹²

He ended his days in Bethlehem, where the light of the salvation of the world had shone in the hands of Mary Most Holy. His iron character had been forged in the crucible of polemic and monastic asceticism, and in the tenderness of devotion to Our Lady, he had become a “sun who illuminated Scripture,” and a lion who, “defeating heretics,” preserved the “message of the Faith.”¹³ ◊

Notes

¹ PENNA, Angelo. San Jerónimo. Barcelona: Luis Miracle, 1952, p.19.

² ST. JEROME. Eusebii Chronicorum. L.II, ad ann. 379: ML 27, 507.

³ ST. JEROME. Ad Eustochium, Paulæ filiam. De custodia virginitatis. Epistola XXII, n.30: ML 22, 416.

⁴ Idem, ibidem.

⁵ Idem, 417.

⁶ Cf. BENEDICT XV. Spiritus Paraclitus, n.1.

⁷ MORENO, Francisco. São Jerônimo. A espiritualidade do deserto. São Paulo: Loyola, 1992, p.31.

⁸ ST. JEROME. Ad Rusticum monachum. Epistola CXXV, n.12: ML 22, 1079.

⁹ Idem, ibidem.

¹⁰ BENEDICT XVI. General Audience, 7/11/2007.

¹¹ PENNA, op. cit., p.424.

¹² ST. JEROME. Adversus Helvidium. De perpetua virginitate Beatæ Mariæ, n.22. In: Obras Completas. Tratados apologéticos. Madrid: BAC, 2009, v.VIII, p.115.

¹³ MEMORIAL OF ST. JEROME. Hymn for Laudes and Vespers. In: COMISSÃO EPISCOPAL DE TEXTOS LITÚRGICOS. Liturgia das Horas. Petrópolis: Ave Maria; Paulinas; Paulus; Vozes, 1999, v.IV, p.1330.

Hymn from the Office of Lauds

Translator and Bible exegete,
O sun illuminating the Scriptures;
our voices are raised, O Jerome,
to praise your life and your doctrine.

Forsaking authors profane,
you embraced the divine mystery,
like a lion defeating the heretics,
you preserved the message of the Faith.

Scholar of the word divine,
at the sites of Holy Scripture,
and imbibing from the font of Christ,
the sweetness of honey you impart to all.

Aspiring to silence and to poverty,
In the grotto you found refuge;
you gave the veil to widow and virgins,
Paula and Eustochium, your faithful followers.

With the teachings of this great doctor,
we proclaimed the triune God;
and the messages of the sacred Book,
resound across the ages.