St. Jerome
Feast day: September 30
Born around 342 in present-day Croatia, Jerome studied in Rome. He went to Chalcis, in the Syrian Desert, remaining there for four years, learning Hebrew and writing. He was later ordained at Antioch, and lived in Constantinople, studying under St. Gregory Nazianzus. Returning to Rome, he came to the attention of Pope St. Damasus I, and served as his papal secretary until the pope’s death. Jerome then moved permanently to Bethlehem, where he established a monastery. He devoted the rest of his life to scholarly pursuits, translating the Holy Scriptures, revising the Latin version of the New Testament, the modern Vulgate, and authoring commentaries on the Old and New Testaments. Jerome died in 420 and was declared a Doctor of the Church. He is patron of biblical scholars and of librarians.
Collect
O God, who gave the Priest Saint Jerome
a living and tender love for Sacred Scripture,
grant that your people
may be ever more fruitfully nourished by your Word
and find in it the fount of life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
