Celebrated on September 30th
Monk and doctor of the Church. Saint Jerome is considered to be one of the greatest Biblical scholars. Born of Christian parents, at Strido in Dalmatia, around 348, after being educated at his local school he went to Rome to study rhetoric for eight years. He then set up a community of ascetics in Aquilea. When the community broke up, he travelled east where he met a hermit called Malchis who inspired him to live in a bare cell, dressed in sackcloth and studying the Scriptures.
St Jerome learned Hebrew from a rabbi and then returned to Antioch where he was ordained priest. He travelled to Constantinople and became friends with St Gregory of Nazianzen and St Gregory of Nyssa. He became personal secretary of Pope Damasus and struck up a lifelong friendship with a widow called Paula, her daughter Eustochium and another woman called Marcella.
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