Saint Jerome

Jerome was born around 347 in Stridon, on the border of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia, and studied classical rhetoric and philosophy in Rome before turning decisively toward ascetic Christian life. He spent time as a hermit in the Syrian desert, learning Hebrew from a Jewish convert, before eventually settling in Bethlehem. There, at the invitation of Pope Damasus I, he undertook the translation of the entire Bible into Latin directly from the original Hebrew and Greek texts rather than from earlier Latin versions — a monumental scholarly achievement known as the Vulgate, which became the standard biblical text of the Western Church for over a millennium. He was known for a sharp, uncompromising temperament alongside his scholarship, and for deep personal devotion to a life of study and prayer.