St. Jerome: Lover of Scripture

“They please the world most, who please Christ least.” —St. Jerome

Today is the feast of St. Jerome, one of the greatest writers and theologians—and probably the greatest linguist—in Christian history. Jerome was most famous for his translation of the Bible into Latin, called the Vulgate, and used as the standard translation of the Bible for more than a thousand years afterward.

Jerome loved the Bible because, in it, he found the Divine Lord for whom he had turned his back on the world. He found meaning for his suffering and inspiration for his trials. Like St. Jerome, let us turn constantly to the Scriptures to hear the word of God, so that, like Jerome too, each of us might one day hear Christ say (Matt. 25:34), “Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”