Today, September 30, as our Church celebrates the Memorial of Jerome, Priestand Doctor, we are invited to reflect on a passage from Saint Paul's letter to the Philippians (1:27-2:11), entitled "An exhortation to imitate Christ". Our treasure, which follows, is from a commentary on Isaiah, by Saint Jerome, priest.
Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, later known as Jerome, was born 347 in the town of Stridon, somewhere in the Balkans. Thirty years before Jerome's birth, Emperor Constantine legalized the practice of Christianity in the Roman Empire, but many still clung to Roman and Greek religions and philosophies. Jerome had at least one brother, and the two were raised by good Christian parents who believed in the importance of education.
Most of the saints are remembered for some outstanding virtue or devotion which they practiced, but Saint 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.
To be able to do such work, Saint 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 in 419/420 but his writings continue to live. Shortly after his death, he was recognized as a saint through popular consent, which was the method of canonization in the early Church.
In medieval times, Jerome was declared to be one of the four great Doctors of the Latin church. The Council of Trent spoke of him as "the greatest doctor in the explanation of Holy Scripture." Jerome's Commentary on Isaiah is his longest extant work and considered by many to be his magnum opus. Though he has had a profound impact upon the Church ever since, he was not declared a Doctor of the Church until 1724.
The remains of his body now lie buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
Saint Paul, according to Acts, established at Philippi the first Christian community in Europe. Paul's letter to the Christians at Philippi was written while he was in a prison somewhere, indeed in danger of death. Although under guard for preaching Christ, Paul rejoices at the continuing progress of the gospel and expresses gratitude for the Philippians' renewed concern and help in an expression of thanks most clearly found at Phillipi. Much of the letter is devoted to instruction about unity and humility within the Christian community at Philippi and exhortations to growth, joy, and peace in their life together. The letter seems to be drawing to a close at the end of what we number as Philippi II, as Paul reports the plans of his helper Timothy and of Epaphroditus to come to Philippi, and even Paul's own expectation that he will go free and come to Philippi. Yet quite abruptly, Paul erupts into warnings against false teachers who threaten to impose on the Philippians the burdens of the Mosaic law, including circumcision. The section that follows, is a vigorous attack on these Judaizers or Jewish Christian teachers, giving us insights into Paul's own life story and into the doctrine of justification, the Christian life, and ultimate hope.
