ST. JEROME
Name: St. Jerome
Doctor of the Church
Born: ca. 347, Stridon, Dalmatia
Died: 420, Bethlehem, Judea
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Jerome (ca. 347 - September 30, 420; Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus) is best known as the translator of the Bible
from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. He also was a Christian apologist. Jerome's
edition of the Bible, the Vulgate, is still an important text of the Roman
Catholic Church. He is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as a canonized
Saint and Doctor of the Church. He is also recognized as a saint by the Eastern
Orthodox Church, where he is known as St. Jerome of Stridonium or Blessed Jerome
("Blessed" in this context does not have the sense of being less than a saint,
as in the West).
In the artistic tradition of the Roman Catholic Church it has been usual to
represent him, the patron of theological learning, anachronistically, as a
cardinal, by the side of the Bishop Augustine, the Archbishop Ambrose, and the
Pope Gregory I. Even when he is depicted as a half-clad anchorite, with cross,
skull, and Bible for the only furniture of his cell, the red hat or some other
indication of his rank is as a rule introduced somewhere in the picture. He is
also often depicted with a lion, due to a medieval story in which he removed a
thorn from a lion's paw, and, less often, an owl, the symbol of wisdom and
scholarship. Writing materials and the trumpet of final judgment are also
part of his iconography.
Name: St. Jerome
Doctor of the Church
Born: ca. 347, Stridon, Dalmatia
Died: 420, Bethlehem, Judea
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Jerome (ca. 347 - September 30, 420; Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus) is best known as the translator of the Bible
from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. He also was a Christian apologist. Jerome's
edition of the Bible, the Vulgate, is still an important text of the Roman
Catholic Church. He is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as a canonized
Saint and Doctor of the Church. He is also recognized as a saint by the Eastern
Orthodox Church, where he is known as St. Jerome of Stridonium or Blessed Jerome
("Blessed" in this context does not have the sense of being less than a saint,
as in the West).
In the artistic tradition of the Roman Catholic Church it has been usual to
represent him, the patron of theological learning, anachronistically, as a
cardinal, by the side of the Bishop Augustine, the Archbishop Ambrose, and the
Pope Gregory I. Even when he is depicted as a half-clad anchorite, with cross,
skull, and Bible for the only furniture of his cell, the red hat or some other
indication of his rank is as a rule introduced somewhere in the picture. He is
also often depicted with a lion, due to a medieval story in which he removed a
thorn from a lion's paw, and, less often, an owl, the symbol of wisdom and
scholarship. Writing materials and the trumpet of final judgment are also
part of his iconography.