Christopher Paudiß (circa 1618–1666/1667), Jérôme de Stridon (Saint Jérôme). circa 1656, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienne (Autriche). Inv Nr GG 395.
Saint Jérôme
Père et Docteur de l'Église (+ 420)
Martyrologe
romain
Priez-vous ? vous parlez au Seigneur. Lisez-vous
l'Ecriture sainte ? C'est Lui qui vous parle. - Ignorer les Ecritures, c'est
ignorer le Christ. - On ne naît pas chrétien. On le devient. - Ce qui a de la
valeur, c'est d'être chrétien et non de le paraître.
Paroles de saint Jérôme
_(collezione_Palazzo_Roverella%2C_Rovigo)_01.jpg)
Anonimo
pittore Veneto-Bizantino, San Gerolamo e il leone, XIV secolo, collezione
Palazzo Roverella, Rovigo
« Que le jeûne du
corps nous prépare au festin de l’âme »
« Les invités de la
noce pourraient-ils donc être en deuil pendant le temps où l’Époux est avec
eux ? Mais des jours viendront où l’Époux leur sera enlevé ; alors
ils jeûneront. » L’époux, c’est le Christ, l’épouse, l’Église :
union sainte et spirituelle qui donna naissance aux Apôtres, et ils ne peuvent
être en deuil tant qu’ils voient l’épouse dans la chambre, tant qu’ils savent
l’époux avec l’épouse. Mais une fois le temps des noces fini, quand sera venu
celui de la Passion et de la Résurrection, alors les fils de l’Époux jeûneront.
La coutume de l’Église est de s’acheminer à la Passion de notre Seigneur et à
la Résurrection en humiliant la chair, pour que le jeûne du corps nous prépare
au festin de l’âme.
« Personne ne pose
une pièce d’étoffe neuve sur un vieux vêtement, car le morceau ajouté tire sur
le vêtement, et la déchirure s’agrandit. » Voici le sens de ces
paroles : qui n’est pas encore rené, qui n’a pas encore dépouillé le vieil
homme et, par l’effet de ma Passion, revêtu l’homme nouveau ne peut supporter
les jeûnes trop austères et les préceptes de la continence, de peur que l’excès
d’austérité ne lui fasse perdre même la foi qu’il montre maintenant.
Saint Jérôme
Prêtre de Rome, saint
Jérôme († 420) partit pour Bethléem, où il vécut comme moine. Il est connu
notamment comme exégète et traducteur de la Bible en latin. / Commentaire
sur s. Matthieu 9, 15-16, trad. É. Bonnard, Paris, Cerf, 1977, Sources
Chrétiennes 242, p. 173-175.
SOURCE : https://fr.aleteia.org/daily-prayer/samedi-2-juillet/meditation-de-ce-jour-1/
Antonello de Messine, Saint Jérôme (Panneaux
de Palerme), 1472-1473,
Tempera
grasse sur bois transférée sur toile, 39 x 41, Palerme, Galleria Regionale
della Sicilia di Palazzo Abatellis
Saint Jérôme
Docteur de l'Eglise
Je suis à la fois, disait
Jérôme, philosophe, rhéteur, grammairien, dialecticien, expert en hébreu, grec
et latin ; il fut aussi un polémiste redoutable, parfois injuste, tel ce jour
où il invectiva saint Augustin, son cadet d’à peine cinq ans : Ecoute mon
conseil, jeune homme : ne viens pas, dans l'arène des Ecritures, provoquer un
vieillard ! Tu troubles mon silence. Tu fais la roue avec ta science.
« Hierônumos en grec
(celui dont le nom est sacré) ; Hieronymus, en latin, fils d'Eusèbe, je naquis
à Stridon, ville maintenant détruite par les Goths, mais qui se situait alors
sur les confins de la Dalmatie et de la Pannonie (Hongrie) », écrit-il, en 392,
à la dernière page du De viris illustribus, ajoutant : « Je suis né chrétien,
de parents chrétiens. Dès le berceau, je fus nourri du lait catholique. » Il
dit encore de lui-même : « Je suis à la fois philosophe, rhéteur, grammairien,
dialecticien, expert en hébreu, grec et latin. »
Enfant unique pendant
treize ans, Jérôme fut terriblement gâté par les siens jusqu’à ce que
naquissent sa sœur et son frère. Il étudia à Milan, puis à Rome où il suivit
les cours du célèbre grammairien Aelius Donatus. Elève doué mais difficile et
facétieux, Jérôme respira les parfums de cette ville puissante, maîtresse du
monde, alors gouvernée par Julien l'Apostat. Admirateur de Cicéron, il
déclamait les grands plaidoyers les exordes sonores qui lui servirent lors d’un
stage auprès des tribunaux. Il se lia avec Bonose et Rufin, deux compagnons
d'étude. Avec soin et à grands frais, il acquit des livres et, peut-être,
goûta-t-il de furtifs amours au milieu des danses des jeunes filles romaines.
Cependant, confia-t-il
dans son commentaire d’Ezéchiel (XI 5) « Quand j’étais à Rome, jeune étudiant
ès-arts libéraux, j’avais accoutumé, le dimanche, avec d’autres de même âge et
de même résolution, de visiter les tombeaux des apôtres et des martyrs. Souvent
nous entrions dans ces cryptes creusées dans les profondeurs de la terre où
l’on avance entre des morts ensevelis à droite et à gauche le long des parois.
Tout est si obscur que la parole du Prophète est presque réalisée : qu’ils
descendent vivants dans les enfers ! Ici et là, une clarté venue d’en-haut
tempère l’horreur des ténèbres : moins une fenêtre qu’un trou foré,
croirait-on, par la clarté qui tombe. Puis, pas à pas, on revient, et dans la
nuit noire qui vous entoure, le vers de Virgile est obsédant : Tout suscite
l’horreur et le silence même. » Il reçut le baptême, en 366, sans doute des
mains du pape Libère.
Jérôme, hébergé par son
ami Bonose, séjourna d'abord à Trèves, résidence impériale de Valentinien I°,
où il approfondit la théologie ; en 373, il était à Aquilée, centre économique
et littéraire, où, avec Rufin et Bonose, il fonda une académie sous l'égide de
l'évêque Chromatius ; « les clercs d’Aquilée forment comme un chœur de
bienheureux », dira-t-il dans la Chronique.
Quand, pour d’obscures
raisons, le groupe se disloqua, Jérôme partit à Antioche de Syrie où, un jour
du carême 375, il tomba si gravement malade qu'on le crut aux portes de la
mort. Ce lui fut une expérience mystique : « En esprit, je m'imaginai
transporté devant le tribunal du Souverain Juge. Voici la confrontation.
Interrogé sur ma conduite, je déclare : Je suis chrétien. - Tu mens, me
réplique le Juge suprême : Tu es cicéronien, non pas chrétien ; là où est ton
trésor, là aussi est ton cœur. Je m'exclame alors : Seigneur, si jamais je
retiens les livres du siècle, c'est que je t'aurai renié. » (Epître XX 30).
Rétabli mais sans cesse taraudé par fautes passées, il se retira dans la
solitude de Chalcis, au sud de Beroea (Alep) ; il s’imposait une rude ascèse
mais, en même temps, il s’adonnait à l’étude du grec et de l'hébreu. « Combien
de fois, installé au désert, en cette vaste solitude torréfiée d'un ardent
soleil, affreux habitat offert aux moines, je me suis cru mêlé aux plaisirs de
Rome ! ... Les jeûnes avaient pâli mon visage, mais les désirs enflammaient mon
esprit, le corps restant glacé. Devant ce pauvre homme déjà moins chair vivante
que cadavre, grondaient seulement les incendies de la volupté. » (Lettre
CCXXVII, à Eustochium)
Dans sa solitude, les
âpres controverses sur la Trinité, ne manquèrent pas de lui parvenir ; il
écrivit par deux fois au pape Damase, sans recevoir la moindre réponse. Pour
accepter d’être ordonné prêtre par Paulin d'Antioche, en 378, Jérôme, soucieux
de son indépendance, avait posé deux conditions aussi singulières que
paradoxales : ne pas être astreint aux fonctions ministérielles pastorales et
demeurer libre de ses mouvements. Cependant, se jugeant indigne de monter à
l'autel, il ne célébra jamais la messe.
En 379, il partit auprès
de saint Grégoire de Nazianze qui réorganisait l’Eglise de Constantinople.
Jérôme traduisit et compléta la Chronique d'Eusèbe de Césarée et les Homélies
d’Origène. Epiphane de Salamine et Paulin d’Antioche, convoqués à Rome pour un
concile sur les affaires d'Orient, emmenèrent Jérôme qu’ils présentèrent au
Pape (382). Le pape Damase vit tout le parti qu’il pouvait tirer de ce moine
érudit, en provenance de Constantinople qui venait de lui dédier une traduction
des Deux homélies d'Origène sur le Cantique ; il l’engagea comme conseiller
pour les affaires d'Orient et consulteur biblique : Révisez donc le texte peu
satisfaisant des Evangiles, lui demanda-t-il : Je m'y appliquerai d'après les
sources complémentaires : manuscrits grecs et textes en hébreu. Ce fut fait,
avec une correction complète du Psautier.
Connaissez-vous Jérôme,
demandait-on à Rome, ce stupéfiant érudit ? Savez-vous qu'il donne des
conférences très doctes et fort suivies ? - En quel lieu je vous prie ? - Mais
sur l'Aventin, au palais de la veuve Marcella et de la noble Albine, sa mère.
Bientôt, les dames de la société dont Paula et ses deux filles, Eustochium et
Blésilia, coururent se faire conseiller par le savant personnage, rassembleur
de matrones qui ne manqua pas de se faire de solides ennemis parmi les jaloux
qui, à la mort de Damase (11 décembre 384) dénoncèrent ce moine, coqueluche des
dames ; ulcéré, Jérôme qui proclamait que la virginité consacrée doit rester
reine, rugit contre Helvidius qui prétendait que tous les états de vie se
valent. Sois la cigale des nuits ! Veille comme le passereau, sur un toit
désert... Ne faut-il pas pleurer et gémir, quand le serpent nous présente
encore le fruit défendu ? Que me veux-tu, volupté qui passe si vite ? ... Je t'en
conjure, ma chère Eustochium, ma fille, ma souveraine, ma compagne, ma soeur...
Je t'appelle de ces noms puisque mon âge, ta vertu, notre profession, me le
permettent ... Laisse, au-dehors, errer les vierges folles (S. Matthieu XXV
8-13). Reste au dedans. Ferme la porte et prie(Epître XXII 18 : Voeux à
Eustochium, vierge fidèle).
Au mois d’août 385,
calomnié et persécuté, à bout de patience, il secoua sur l'ingrate Rome la
poussière de sessandales (Matthieu VI 11) : D'après eux, je serais donc : fourbe,
séducteur, suppôt de Satan... Il en est qui me baisent les mains et, d'autre
part, me déchirent d'une langue de vipère. Ils affectent de me plaindre mais,
au tréfonds, ils se réjouissent de mon malheur... l'un calomnie ma démarche et
mon rire ; l'autre soupçonne ma simplicité... Et je vécus près de trois ans
avec ces Romains ! C'est à la hâte que je vous confie ces souffrances. Je
m'embarque aujourd'hui, triste et les yeux gonflés de larmes (Epître XLV à
Asella).
Parti vers la Palestine
avec une dizaine de dames romaines, il logea chez Epiphane de Salamine, à
Chypre, où Paula et Eustochium vinrent le rejoindre avant qu’il partît pour
l’Egypte. En Alexandrie, il consulta Didyme l'aveugle, voyant spirituel,
exégète subtil et vulgarisateur génial (Lettre CXII 4). Les pèlerins
enthousiasmèrent et édifièrent les monastères de Nitrie, puis ils entrèrent en
Terre-Sainte. Notre chère Paula y fit visite de la crèche du Sauveur. Quand
elle vit la sainte retraite de la Vierge et l'étable, elle protesta en ma présence
qu'elle voyait, comme si elle les eût sous les yeux : l'Enfant enveloppé de
langes, le Seigneur vagissant dans l'étable, les mages l'adorant, l'étoile
brillant sur la crèche, la Vierge devenue mère, Joseph lui prodiguant ses
soins, les pasteurs veillant de nuit, pour contempler la vérité du Verbe
(Epître CVIII 6, 14 : éloge funèbre de Paula).
Depuis 377, après avoir
séjourné six ans en Egypte, près de Didyme l’aveugle, Tyrannius Rufin
d'Aquilée, l’ami de Jérôme, ordonné prêtre par l’évêque Jean, s’était établi à
Jérusalem comme conseiller spirituel de Mélanie l'ancienne, noble dame romaine,
avec qui, sur le Mont des Oliviers, il animait un monastère double (moines d'un
côté et moniales de l'autre) ; en 386, Jérôme et Paula imitèrent son exemple à
Bethléem : Jérôme priait, se mortifiait, étudiait, travaillait manuellement,
faisait la direction spirituelle de ses moniales : Cette solitude m'est un vrai
paradis !
Dès 389, il a révisé la
version latine de l'Ancien Testament, selon les Hexaples d'Origène (du grec
Hexaplos, sextuple : texte en hébreu, même version en lettres grecques, quatre
versions grecques différentes). Vint ensuite un seconde révision du Psautier
pour le rendre plus conforme à la Septante (version grecque établie, entre 250
et 130 avant J. C., par 70 rabins d'Alexandrie), puis le Livre de Job, les
Paralipomènes et les livres salomoniens.
En même temps, sous la
conduite du juif Baranina, Jérôme se remit à l'étude systématique de l'hébreu
et entreprit une nouvelle relecture annotée de l'Ancien Testament, recherchant
à en rendre le mot, la pensée et le style, mais se heurtant à la pauvreté du
latin, soit pour sauvegarder l'hebraïca veritas, soit pour rendre la nuance
grecque. Pour ma part, non seulement je confesse mais encore je professe, sans
gêne et tout haut : quand je traduis les Grecs - sauf dans les Saintes
Ecritures où l'ordre des mots est aussi un mystère - ce n'est pas un mot par un
mot mais une idée par une idée que j'exprime. (Lettre LVII 5, adressée à
Pammachius ).
Origène (+ 254), fut un
puissant génie dont l'œuvre gigantesque fut amplement exploitée par les Pères
cappadociens et latins : saint Athanase l’opposa aux ariens, saint Grégoire de
Nysse y puisa sa mystique, saint Hilaire de Poitiers s’en imprégna, saint
Ambroise le plagia, et saint Augustin s'en pénétra ; saint Jérôme lui-même se
déclara tributaire d’Origène le Grand, après que saint Grégoire de Naziance le
réputa la pierre qui nous aiguise tous, et que Didyme l’aveugle l’appela le
maître des églises après l’apôtre. Il n’en reste pas moins que la doctrine
origéniste, conservée par Evagre le Pontique et professée par des moines
égyptiens et palestiniens est hétérodoxe[1].
Au début de 393, le moine
Artabius visitant les monastères, présenta un formulaire accablant contre
Origène qui erra, sur les questions dogmatiques : trinité, incarnation,
résurrection, jugement dernier. Jérôme signa la condamnation que Rufin refusa.
A Pâque, Epiphane de Salamine, en pèlerinage à Jérusalem, accusa l'évêque Jean
d'origénisme. L'opinion publique s'agita, des bagarres éclatèrent dans la
basilique du Saint-Sépulcre entre moines de clans opposés. Soutenu par Rufin
Jean durcit sa position, tandis qu’Epiphane se retirait à Bethléem, dans un
monastère hiéronymite. Pour conjurer le schisme, le subtil Théophile,
patriarche d'Alexandrie, força Rufin et Jérôme à la réconciliation, mais, en
réalité, tous deux campaient sur leurs positions.
Retourné à Rome, Rufin
publia une traduction des Principes d'Origène, en biffant les passages qu'il
jugeait contraires à la foi chrétienne, réputés simples interpolations faites
par des mains étrangères. Il écrivit à Jérôme : Jadis admiratif d'un génie,
premier mainteneur de l'Eglise après les apôtres, tu le pourfends aujourd'hui !
Indigne volte-face ! A quoi Jérôme répliqua : J'ai loué sa doctrine et son
intelligence, non pas sa foi : j'approuve le philosophe et je désapprouve
l'apôtre. Rufin adressa sa première Apologie au pape Anastase (400) et, cinq
ans plus tard, il rédigea la deuxième pour répondre aux objections de Jérôme.
Rufin poursuivit ses travaux jusqu'à sa mort (410), laissant vociférer le lion
de Bethléem qui le qualifiait de scorpion, hydre, serpent, porc aux grognements
indécents. La question dogmatique ne sera close qu'en 553, au II° concile de Constantinople.
Voilà qu’un dangereux
exalté, le moine Pélage (360-422), venu de Grande-Bretagne, s’établit
successivement à Rome, en Afrique et en Palestine. C’était un disciple
d'Origène qui commentait les épîtres de saint Paul selon une exégèse fallacieuse
dont on pouvait conclure que le péché originel ne serait qu'un mythe, puisque,
même avant sa faute, Adam aurait été créé mortel et déjà sujet à la
concupiscence ; donc, après la chute, parce que le vouloir et le faire de
l'homme serait demeurés intacts, le baptême n’effacerait que les péchés actuels
et ce serait une simple d'entrée dans l'Eglise.
Dans les Dialogues contre
les pélagiens, Jérôme réfuta ces propositions hérétiques et accentua ses
critiques dans la Lettre à Ctésiphon. Il félicitera saint Augustin de ses
pamphlets antipélagiens. Les hérétiques réagirent vivement, surtout Julien
d'Eclane, réfugié en Orient, et la lutte fut si féroce que certains
commentateurs attribuèrent aux troupes pélagiennes une expédition punitive
contre les monastères hiéronymiens (416) où l’on tua un diacre et incendia les
bâtiments ; assiégé dans une tour fortifiée, Jérôme échappa de justesse : Notre
maison, par rapport aux ressources matérielles, fut complètement ruinée par les
persécutions des hérétiques. Toutefois, le Christ est avec nous. La demeure
reste donc remplie de richesses spirituelles. Mieux vaut mendier son pain que
de perdre la foi (Conclusion de l'épîtreCXXIV).
Pendant quinze ans, de
rudes coups accablèrent le vieil exégète acharné à son travail, mais taraudé
par des maux d'estomac. Paula mourut le 26 janvier 404 : Adieu, Paula. Par tes
prières, tu soutenais la viellesse défaillante d'un homme qui tant te vénéra.
Maintenant que ta foi et tes oeuvres t'unissent au Christ, tu intercèderas plus
facilement pour lui. En 410, quand le wisigoth Alaric envahit l'Italie et pilla
Rome. le vieux patriote vit, dans ce crépuscule des aigles, l'écroulement d'un
monde : Elle s'est donc éteinte, la lumière la plus brillante de tous les
continents. Plus précisément, l'empire vient d'avoir la tête tranchée. Pour
dire l'entière vérité : en une ville, c'est l'univers entier qui périt
(Prologue au commentaire sur Ezéchiel ", XXV 16 a). A la fin de l'année
418, la deuxième fille de Paula, Eustochium, meurt subitement : Cette mort
soudaine me laisse désemparé. Elle a changé ma vie. Effectivement, à partir de
là, et pendant deux ans, Jérôme, d'ordinaire si loquace, se tait. Nous ne
savons rien des derniers jours de Jérôme qui mourut en 419 ou en 420, âgé, dit
la Chronique de Prosper, de quatre-vingt-onze ans.
[1] La création est
conçue comme un acte éternel. La toute puissance et la bonté de Dieu ne
peuvent jamais rester sans objet d’activité. Dans une émanation éternelle, le
Fils procède de Dieu et du Fils procède le Saint-Esprit. Un monde d’esprits
également parfaits a précédé le monde visible actuel, mais a fait défection une
partie de ces esprits à qui appartenaient aussi les âmes préexistantes, et
c’est pourquoi ces esprits ont été exilés dans la matière créée seulement
alors. Les différences entre les hommes sur la terre et la mesure des grâces
que Dieu donne à chacun, se règlent sur leur culpabilité dans un monde
antérieur. Les âmes de ceux qui ont commis des péchés sur la terre, vont après
la mort dans un feu de purification, mais peu à peu toutes, aussi les démons,
montent de degré en degré pour, finalement, entièrement purifiées, ressusciter
dans des corps éthérés, et Dieu sera tout en tous.
Antonio da Fabriano (1420–1490), Saint Jerome in His Study, tempera on wood, 88 x 52, Walters Art Museum
Lettre à Fabiola
Quiconque est versé dans
la science des divines écritures et reconnaît dans leurs lois et leurs
témoignages des liens de vérité, pourra combattre ses adversaires, les
enchaîner, les réduire en captivité, puis, d'anciens ennemis et de misérables
captifs, faire des enfants de Dieu.
Saint Jérôme
Giovanni Angelo d'Antonio (–1481), Saint
Jerome, circa 1463, tempera and gold on panel, 154 x
43, Pinacoteca di Brera
C'est dans les eaux profondes et vivifiantes de la Vulgate que nos littérateurs se sont abreuvés... L'auteur a inventé cette syntaxe, ce style et cette langue à la fois très populaire et très noble, qui anticipe sur les langues romanes et a sûrement joué un grand rôle dans leur constitution... Pontife, en vérité, celui qui a donné la Bible hébraïque au monde occidental et construit un large viaduc qui relie Jérusalem à Rome et Rome à tous les peuples
Valéry Larbaud : Sous l'invocation de Saint Jérôme
Michael Pacher (1435–1498), Szene innen: Hl. Hieronymus, Kirchenväteraltar (Altarpiece of the Church Fathers), 1471-1475, color on wood, Bavarian State Painting Collections, Alte Pinakothek
Michael Pacher (1435–1498), Les Pères de l'Église : Jérôme, Augustin, Grégoire, Ambroise -Kirchenväteraltar (Altarpiece of the
Church Fathers), 1471-1475, color on wood, Bavarian State Painting
Collections, Alte Pinakothek
« Celui qui hait son
frère est un meurtrier » (S. Jean III 15). Telle est la claire affirmation de
Jean, apôtre et évangéliste, et il la fait à juste titre car il n’est que trop
vrai que le meurtre naît souvent de la haine. Son épée peut n’avoir jamais
frappé un coup et pourtant celui qui hait, est déjà, dans son cœur, un
meurtrier. Je vous en prie, dites-vous, pourquoi tout ce préambule ? Simplement
pour vous demander avec insistance que nous enterrions les vieux ressentiments
et préparions à Dieu un cœur pur où il puisse établir sa demeure. « Frémissez,
nous dit David, mais ne péchez pas » (Psaume IV 5). L’apôtre explique ce verset
avec plus de détails : « Que le soleil ne se couche pas sur votre colère » (S.
Paul aux Ephésiens IV 26). Dites-moi, comment allons-nous affronter le jour du
jugement ? Le soleil est témoin qu’il s’est couché sur notre co1ère non pas un
jour, mais pendant bien des années. « Si tu présentes ton offrande à l’autel,
dit Notre-Seigneur dans l’Evangile et que là tu te souviennes que ton frère a
quelque chose contre toi, laisse là ton offrande devant l’autel et va d’abord
te réconcilier avec ton frère, puis viens présenter ton offrande » (S. Matthieu
V 23). Malheur à moi, vil misérable ! dois-je dire. Mais malheur également à
vous ? Pendant tant d’années, ou nous n’avons point présenté d’offrandes à
l’autel, ou nous en avons présenté tout en continuant à nourrir des griefs sans
motif. Comment avons-nous jamais pu faire nôtre la prière quotidienne «
Pardonnez-nous nos offenses comme nous pardonnons à ceux qui nous ont offensés
» (S. Matthieu VI 12), alors que le cœur et la langue étaient tellement en
désaccord, la supplication en contradiction avec la conduite ? C’est pourquoi
je renouvelle maintenant la requête que je vous ai adressée dans ma précédente
lettre l’an dernier. Conservons tous deux cette paix que nous a léguée
Notre-Seigneur, et puisse le Christ jeter un regard favorable sur mon désir et
sur votre intention. Bientôt l’harmonie rétablie ou l’harmonie brisée recevra
sa récompense ou sa punition devant son Tribunal. Mais si vous me repoussez
maintenant, ce qu’à Dieu ne plaise, la faute n’en retombera pas sur moi ; car
une fois que vous l’aurez lue, cette lettre assurera mon acquittement.
Lettre de saint Jérôme à la sœur de sa mère, Castorina
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/09/30.php
Theodoric of Prague (fl. 1359–1368),
Hl. Hieronymus / Saint Jerome, circa 1370, 114 x 105, National gallery in
Prague
Saint Jérôme
Prêtre, Docteur de
l'Église
(340-420)
Saint Jérôme naquit en
Dalmatie, de parents riches et illustres, qui ne négligèrent rien pour son
éducation. Le jeune homme profita si bien de ses années d'études, qu'on put
bientôt, à la profondeur de son jugement, à la vigueur de son intelligence, à
l'éclat de son imagination, deviner l'homme de génie qui devait un jour remplir
le monde de son nom. Les séductions de Rome entraînèrent un instant Jérôme hors
des voies de l'Évangile; mais bientôt, revenant à des idées plus sérieuses, il
ne songea plus qu'à pleurer ses péchés et se retira dans une solitude profonde,
près d'Antioche, n'ayant pour tout bagage qu'une collection de livres précieux
qu'il avait faite dans ses voyages.
L'ennemi des âmes
poursuivit Jérôme jusque dans son désert, et là, lui rappelant les plaisirs de
Rome, réveilla dans son imagination de dangereux fantômes. Mais l'athlète du
Christ, loin de se laisser abattre par ces assauts continuels, redoubla
d'austérités; il se couchait sur la terre nue, passait les nuits et les jours à
verser des larmes, refusait toute nourriture pendant des semaines entières. Ces
prières et ces larmes furent enfin victorieuses, et les attaques de Satan ne
servirent qu'à faire mieux éclater la sainteté du jeune moine.
Avec des auteurs sacrés,
Jérôme avait emporté au désert quelques auteurs profanes; il se plaisait à
converser avec Cicéron et Quintillien. Mais Dieu, qui réservait pour Lui seul
les trésors de cet esprit, ne permit plus au solitaire de goûter à ces sources
humaines, et, dans une vision célèbre, Il lui fit comprendre qu'il devait se
donner tout entier aux études saintes: "Non, lui disait une voix pendant
son sommeil, tu n'es pas chrétien, tu es cicéronien!" Et Jérôme s'écriait
en pleurant: "Seigneur, si désormais je prends un livre profane, si je le
lis, je consens à être traité comme un apostat."
Son unique occupation fut
la Sainte Écriture. À Antioche, puis en Palestine, puis à Rome, puis enfin à
Bethléem, où il passa les années de sa vieillesse, il s'occupa du grand travail
de la traduction des Saints Livres sur le texte original, et il a la gloire
unique d'avoir laissé à l'Église cette version célèbre appelée la Vulgate,
version officielle et authentique, qu'on peut et doit suivre en toute sécurité.
Une autre gloire de saint Jérôme, c'est d'avoir été le secrétaire du concile de Constantinople, puis le secrétaire du Pape saint Damase. Après la mort de ce Pape, l'envie et la calomnie chassèrent de Rome ce grand défenseur de la foi, et il alla terminer ses jours dans la solitude, à Bethléem, près du berceau du Christ.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame,
1950
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_jerome.html
Jacopo Bassano (1510–1592), Saint Jerome,
1556, oil on canvas, 119 x 154, Gallerie dell'Accademia
Jérôme, un géant de la
foi qui avait le sang chaud
La
rédaction d'Aleteia | 29 septembre 2019
Fêté par l'Église le 30
septembre, saint Jérôme a vécu au Ve siècle après Jésus-Christ. Il laisse
l'image d'un intellectuel brillant assaisonné d'un tempérament bouillonnant. Sa
façon d'être peut encore nous inspirer aujourd'hui.
Il est connu pour son
caractère bien trempé. Père et docteur de l’Église, saint Jérôme est pourvu
d’un tempérament explosif. Il passe d’ailleurs dans l’histoire de l’Église pour
l’un des plus mauvais caractères de la communion des saints ! On peut dire, en
d’autres mots, qu’il était habité par une intransigeance associée à une nature
de feu qui ne supportait pas la demi-mesure.
Après avoir demandé le
baptême à 19 ans, le jeune Romain fougueux n’a plus qu’une idée en tête :
consacrer sa vie à Dieu. Tel un Gulliver des premiers siècles, il fait son
balluchon et passe d’abord deux années dans le désert de Chalcis en Syrie.
Là-bas, il expérimente la vie d’ermite. Mais Jérôme a besoin d’action : il
reprend donc son bardas et part cette fois pour Antioche, où il apprend le grec
et l’hébreu et reçoit le sacerdoce.
Être chrétien tel que
l’on est
Après un passage à
Constantinople, le brillant intellectuel revient à Rome où il devient le
secrétaire du pape Damase. Il est particulièrement aimé des laïcs, et notamment
d’un petit cercle de dames de la noblesse chrétienne dont il est le père
spirituel. À la mort dudit pape, Jérôme doit quitter les lieux. Il faut dire
que son sang chaud lui a valu beaucoup d’ennemis. Il se retire alors à Bethléem
où il trouve enfin sa vocation : étudier la Bible et la traduire en latin —
c’est ce qu’on appelle la « Vulgate ». Il fait de nombreux
commentaires des Écritures et s’applique à les vivre quotidiennement. Saint
Jérôme peut nous inspirer. Son émotivité exacerbée ne l’a pas empêché d’aimer
Dieu de tout son cœur. Il témoigne que l’on peut être chrétien avec la nature
qui est la sienne, en s’accueillant humblement tel que l’on est.
Antonello de Messine, Saint Jérôme dans son étude, 1474-1475, peinture à l'huile sur panneau de tilleul, 45,7 x 36,2, National Gallery, Londres
BENOÎT XVI
AUDIENCE GÉNÉRALE
Mercredi 7 novembre 2007
Saint Jérôme
Chers frères et soeurs!
Nous porterons
aujourd'hui notre attention sur saint Jérôme, un Père de l'Eglise qui a placé
la Bible au centre de sa vie: il l'a traduite en langue latine, il l'a
commentée dans ses œuvres, et il s'est surtout engagé à la vivre concrètement
au cours de sa longue existence terrestre, malgré le célèbre caractère
difficile et fougueux qu'il avait reçu de la nature.
Jérôme naquit à Stridon
vers 347 dans une famille chrétienne, qui lui assura une formation soignée,
l'envoyant également à Rome pour perfectionner ses études. Dès sa jeunesse, il
ressentit l'attrait de la vie dans le monde (cf. Ep 22, 7), mais en lui
prévalurent le désir et l'intérêt pour la religion chrétienne. Après avoir reçu
le Baptême vers 366, il s'orienta vers la vie ascétique et, s'étant rendu à
Aquilée, il s'inséra dans un groupe de fervents chrétiens, qu'il définit comme
un "chœur de bienheureux" (Chron. ad ann. 374) réuni autour de
l'Evêque Valérien. Il partit ensuite pour l'Orient et vécut en ermite dans le
désert de Calcide, au sud d'Alep (cf. Ep 14, 10), se consacrant sérieusement
aux études. Il perfectionna sa connaissance du grec, commença l'étude de
l'hébreu (cf. Ep 125, 12), transcrivit des codex et des œuvres patristiques
(cf. Ep 5, 2). La méditation, la solitude, le contact avec la Parole de Dieu
firent mûrir sa sensibilité chrétienne. Il sentit de manière plus aiguë le
poids de ses expériences de jeunesse (cf. Ep 22, 7), et il ressentit vivement
l'opposition entre la mentalité païenne et la vie chrétienne: une opposition
rendue célèbre par la "vision" dramatique et vivante, dont il nous a
laissé le récit. Dans celle-ci, il lui sembla être flagellé devant Dieu, car
"cicéronien et non chrétien" (cf. Ep 22, 30).
En 382, il partit
s'installer à Rome: là, le Pape Damase, connaissant sa réputation d'ascète et
sa compétence d'érudit, l'engagea comme secrétaire et conseiller; il
l'encouragea à entreprendre une nouvelle traduction latine des textes bibliques
pour des raisons pastorales et culturelles. Quelques personnes de l'aristocratie
romaine, en particulier des nobles dames comme Paola, Marcella, Asella, Lea et
d'autres, souhaitant s'engager sur la voie de la perfection chrétienne et
approfondir leur connaissance de la Parole de Dieu, le choisirent comme guide
spirituel et maître dans l'approche méthodique des textes sacrés. Ces nobles
dames apprirent également le grec et l'hébreu.
Après la mort du Pape
Damase, Jérôme quitta Rome en 385 et entreprit un pèlerinage, tout d'abord en
Terre Sainte, témoin silencieux de la vie terrestre du Christ, puis en Egypte,
terre d'élection de nombreux moines (cf. Contra Rufinum 3, 22; Ep 108, 6-14).
En 386, il s'arrêta à Bethléem, où, grâce à la générosité de la noble dame
Paola, furent construits un monastère masculin, un monastère féminin et un hospice
pour les pèlerins qui se rendaient en Terre Sainte, "pensant que Marie et
Joseph n'avaient pas trouvé où faire halte" (Ep 108, 14). Il resta à
Bethléem jusqu'à sa mort, en continuant à exercer une intense activité: il
commenta la Parole de Dieu; défendit la foi, s'opposant avec vigueur à
différentes hérésies; il exhorta les moines à la perfection; il enseigna la
culture classique et chrétienne à de jeunes élèves; il accueillit avec une âme
pastorale les pèlerins qui visitaient la Terre Sainte. Il s'éteignit dans sa
cellule, près de la grotte de la Nativité, le 30 septembre 419/420.
Sa grande culture
littéraire et sa vaste érudition permirent à Jérôme la révision et la
traduction de nombreux textes bibliques: un travail précieux pour l'Eglise
latine et pour la culture occidentale. Sur la base des textes originaux en grec
et en hébreu et grâce à la confrontation avec les versions précédentes, il
effectua la révision des quatre Evangiles en langue latine, puis du Psautier et
d'une grande partie de l'Ancien Testament. En tenant compte de l'original
hébreu et grec, des Septante et de la version grecque classique de l'Ancien
Testament remontant à l'époque pré-chrétienne, et des précédentes versions
latines, Jérôme, ensuite assisté par d'autres collaborateurs, put offrir une
meilleure traduction: elle constitue ce qu'on appelle la "Vulgate",
le texte "officiel" de l'Eglise latine, qui a été reconnu comme tel
par le Concile de Trente et qui, après la récente révision, demeure le texte
"officiel" de l'Eglise de langue latine. Il est intéressant de
souligner les critères auxquels ce grand bibliste s'est tenu dans son œuvre de
traducteur. Il le révèle lui-même quand il affirme respecter jusqu'à l'ordre
des mots dans les Saintes Ecritures, car dans celles-ci, dit-il, "l'ordre
des mots est aussi un mystère" (Ep 57, 5), c'est-à-dire une révélation. Il
réaffirme en outre la nécessité d'avoir recours aux textes originaux:
"S'il devait surgir une discussion entre les Latins sur le Nouveau
Testament, en raison des leçons discordantes des manuscrits, ayons recours à
l'original, c'est-à-dire au texte grec, langue dans laquelle a été écrit le
Nouveau Pacte. De la même manière pour l'Ancien Testament, s'il existe des
divergences entre les textes grecs et latins, nous devons faire appel au texte
original, l'hébreu; de manière à ce que nous puissions retrouver tout ce qui
naît de la source dans les ruisseaux" (Ep 106, 2). En outre, Jérôme
commenta également de nombreux textes bibliques. Il pensait que les
commentaires devaient offrir de nombreuses opinions, "de manière à ce que
le lecteur avisé, après avoir lu les différentes explications et après avoir
connu de nombreuses opinions - à accepter ou à refuser -, juge celle qui était
la plus crédible et, comme un expert en monnaies, refuse la fausse
monnaie" (Contra Rufinum 1, 16).
Il réfuta avec énergie et
vigueur les hérétiques qui contestaient la tradition et la foi de l'Eglise. Il
démontra également l'importance et la validité de la littérature chrétienne,
devenue une véritable culture désormais digne d'être comparée avec la
littérature classique: il le fit en composant le De viris illustribus, une
œuvre dans laquelle Jérôme présente les biographies de plus d'une centaine
d'auteurs chrétiens. Il écrivit également des biographies de moines, illustrant
à côté d'autres itinéraires spirituels également l'idéal monastique; en outre,
il traduisit diverses œuvres d'auteurs grecs. Enfin, dans le fameux
Epistolario, un chef-d'œuvre de la littérature latine, Jérôme apparaît avec ses
caractéristiques d'homme cultivé, d'ascète et de guide des âmes.
Que pouvons-nous
apprendre de saint Jérôme? Je pense en particulier ceci: aimer la Parole de
Dieu dans l'Ecriture Sainte. Saint Jérôme dit: "Ignorer les Ecritures,
c'est ignorer le Christ". C'est pourquoi, il est très important que chaque
chrétien vive en contact et en dialogue personnel avec la Parole de Dieu qui
nous a été donnée dans l'Ecriture Sainte. Notre dialogue avec elle doit
toujours revêtir deux dimensions: d'une part, il doit être un dialogue
réellement personnel, car Dieu parle avec chacun de nous à travers l'Ecriture
Sainte et possède un message pour chacun. Nous devons lire l'Ecriture Sainte
non pas comme une parole du passé, mais comme une Parole de Dieu qui s'adresse
également à nous et nous efforcer de comprendre ce que le Seigneur veut nous
dire. Mais pour ne pas tomber dans l'individualisme, nous devons tenir compte
du fait que la Parole de Dieu nous est donnée précisément pour construire la
communion, pour nous unir dans la vérité de notre chemin vers Dieu. C'est
pourquoi, tout en étant une Parole personnelle, elle est également une Parole
qui construit une communauté, qui construit l'Eglise. Nous devons donc la lire
en communion avec l'Eglise vivante. Le lieu privilégié de la lecture et de
l'écoute de la Parole de Dieu est la liturgie, dans laquelle, en célébrant la
parole et en rendant présent dans le Sacrement le Corps du Christ, nous
réalisons la parole dans notre vie et la rendons présente parmi nous. Nous ne
devons jamais oublier que la Parole de Dieu transcende les temps. Les opinions
humaines vont et viennent. Ce qui est très moderne aujourd'hui sera très vieux
demain. La Parole de Dieu, au contraire, est une Parole de vie éternelle, elle
porte en elle l'éternité, ce qui vaut pour toujours. En portant en nous la
Parole de Dieu, nous portons donc en nous l'éternel, la vie éternelle.
Et ainsi, je conclus par
une parole de saint Jérôme à saint Paulin de Nola. Dans celle-ci, le grand
exégète exprime précisément cette réalité, c'est-à-dire que dans la Parole de
Dieu, nous recevons l'éternité, la vie éternelle. Saint Jérôme dit:
"Cherchons à apprendre sur la terre les vérités dont la consistance
persistera également au ciel" (Ep 53, 10).
* * *
Je salue cordialement les
personnes de langue française, particulièrement les pèlerins de la diaconie du
Var et les jeunes. À la suite de saint Jérôme, je vous invite à lire et à
méditer la Parole de Dieu, qui nous est donnée dans la Bible. Faites-en tous
les jours votre nourriture spirituelle ! Que Dieu vous bénisse et vous garde
dans l’espérance !
© Copyright 2007 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Vittore Crivelli (1440–1501),
Saint Jerome,
75,9 x 38,3, Harvard Art Museums, Fogg
Museum
BENOÎT XVI
AUDIENCE GÉNÉRALE
Mercredi 14 novembre 2007
Saint Jérôme
Chers frères et sœurs,
Nous poursuivons
aujourd'hui la présentation de la figure de saint Jérôme. Comme nous l'avons
dit mercredi dernier, il consacra sa vie à l'étude de la Bible, au point d'être
reconnu par l'un de mes prédécesseurs, le Pape Benoît XV, comme "docteur
éminent dans l'interprétation des Saintes Ecritures". Jérôme soulignait la
joie et l'importance de se familiariser avec les textes bibliques: "Ne te
semble-t-il pas habiter - déjà ici, sur terre - dans le royaume des cieux,
lorsqu'on vit parmi ces textes, lorsqu'on les médite, lorsqu'on ne connaît ni
ne recherche rien d'autre?" (Ep 53, 10). En réalité, dialoguer avec Dieu,
avec sa Parole, est dans un certain sens une présence du Ciel, c'est-à-dire une
présence de Dieu. S'approcher des textes bibliques, surtout du Nouveau
Testament, est essentiel pour le croyant, car "ignorer l'Ecriture, c'est
ignorer le Christ". C'est à lui qu'appartient cette phrase célèbre,
également citée par le Concile Vatican II dans la Constitution Dei Verbum (n.
25).
Réellement
"amoureux" de la Parole de Dieu, il se demandait: "Comment
pourrait-on vivre sans la science des Ecritures, à travers lesquelles on
apprend à connaître le Christ lui-même, qui est la vie des croyants" (Ep
30, 7). La Bible, instrument "avec lequel Dieu parle chaque jour aux
fidèles" (Ep 133, 13), devient ainsi un encouragement et la source de la
vie chrétienne pour toutes les situations et pour chaque personne. Lire
l'Ecriture signifie converser avec Dieu: "Si tu pries - écrit-il à une
noble jeune fille de Rome -, tu parles avec l'Epoux; si tu lis, c'est Lui qui
te parle" (Ep 22, 25). L'étude et la méditation de l'Ecriture rendent
l'homme sage et serein (cf. In Eph., prol.). Assurément, pour pénétrer toujours
plus profondément la Parole de Dieu, une application constante et progressive
est nécessaire. Jérôme recommandait ainsi au prêtre Népotien: "Lis avec
une grande fréquence les divines Ecritures; ou mieux, que le Livre Saint reste
toujours entre tes mains. Apprends-là ce que tu dois enseigner" (Ep 52,
7). Il donnait les conseils suivants à la matrone romaine Leta pour l'éducation
chrétienne de sa fille: "Assure-toi qu'elle étudie chaque jour un passage
de l'Ecriture... Qu'à la prière elle fasse suivre la lecture, et à la lecture
la prière... Au lieu des bijoux et des vêtements de soie, qu'elle aime les
Livres divins" (Ep 107, 9.12). Avec la méditation et la science des
Ecritures se "conserve l'équilibre de l'âme" (Ad Eph., prol.). Seul
un profond esprit de prière et l'assistance de l'Esprit Saint peuvent nous
introduire à la compréhension de la Bible: "Dans l'interprétation des
Saintes Ecritures, nous avons toujours besoin de l'assistance de l'Esprit
Saint" (In Mich. 1, 1, 10, 15).
Un amour passionné pour
les Ecritures imprégna donc toute la vie de Jérôme, un amour qu'il chercha
toujours à susciter également chez les fidèles. Il recommandait à l'une de ses
filles spirituelles: "Aime l'Ecriture Sainte et la sagesse t'aimera;
aime-la tendrement, et celle-ci te préservera; honore-la et tu recevras ses
caresses. Qu'elle soit pour toi comme tes colliers et tes boucles
d'oreille" (Ep 130, 20). Et encore: "Aime la science de l'Ecriture,
et tu n'aimeras pas les vices de la chair" (Ep 125, 11).
Pour Jérôme, un critère
de méthode fondamental dans l'interprétation des Ecritures était l'harmonie
avec le magistère de l'Eglise. Nous ne pouvons jamais lire l'Ecriture seuls.
Nous trouvons trop de portes fermées et nous glissons facilement dans l'erreur.
La Bible a été écrite par le Peuple de Dieu et pour le Peuple de Dieu, sous
l'inspiration de l'Esprit Saint. Ce n'est que dans cette communion avec le
Peuple de Dieu que nous pouvons réellement entrer avec le "nous" au
centre de la vérité que Dieu lui-même veut nous dire. Pour lui, une
interprétation authentique de la Bible devait toujours être en harmonieuse
concordance avec la foi de l'Eglise catholique. Il ne s'agit pas d'une exigence
imposée à ce Livre de l'extérieur; le Livre est précisément la voix du Peuple
de Dieu en pèlerinage et ce n'est que dans la foi de ce Peuple que nous sommes,
pour ainsi dire, dans la juste tonalité pour comprendre l'Ecriture Sainte. Il
admonestait donc: "Reste fermement attaché à la doctrine traditionnelle
qui t'a été enseignée, afin que tu puisses exhorter selon la saine doctrine et réfuter
ceux qui la contredisent" (Ep 52, 7). En particulier, étant donné que
Jésus Christ a fondé son Eglise sur Pierre, chaque chrétien - concluait-il -
doit être en communion "avec la Chaire de saint Pierre. Je sais que sur
cette pierre l'Eglise est édifiée" (Ep 15, 2). Par conséquent, et de façon
directe, il déclarait: "Je suis avec quiconque est uni à la Chaire de
saint Pierre" (Ep 16).
Jérôme ne néglige pas,
bien sûr, l'aspect éthique. Il rappelle au contraire souvent le devoir
d'accorder sa propre vie avec la Parole divine et ce n'est qu'en la vivant que
nous trouvons également la capacité de la comprendre. Cette cohérence est
indispensable pour chaque chrétien, et en particulier pour le prédicateur, afin
que ses actions, si elles étaient discordantes par rapport au discours, ne le
mettent pas dans l'embarras. Ainsi exhorte-t-il le prêtre Népotien: "Que
tes actions ne démentent pas tes paroles, afin que, lorsque tu prêches à
l'église, il n'arrive pas que quelqu'un commente en son for intérieur:
"Pourquoi n'agis-tu pas précisément ainsi?" Cela est vraiment
plaisant de voir ce maître qui, le ventre plein, disserte sur le jeûne; même un
voleur peut blâmer l'avarice; mais chez le prêtre du Christ, l'esprit et la
parole doivent s'accorder" (Ep 52, 7). Dans une autre lettre, Jérôme
réaffirme: "Même si elle possède une doctrine splendide, la personne qui
se sent condamnée par sa propre conscience se sent honteuse" (Ep 127, 4).
Toujours sur le thème de la cohérence, il observe: l'Evangile doit se traduire
par des attitudes de charité véritable, car en chaque être humain, la Personne
même du Christ est présente. En s'adressant, par exemple, au prêtre Paulin (qui
devint ensuite Evêque de Nola et saint), Jérôme le conseillait ainsi: "Le
véritable temple du Christ est l'âme du fidèle: orne-le, ce sanctuaire,
embellis-le, dépose en lui tes offrandes et reçois le Christ. Dans quel but
revêtir les murs de pierres précieuses, si le Christ meurt de faim dans la
personne d'un pauvre?" (Ep 58, 7). Jérôme concrétise: il faut "vêtir
le Christ chez les pauvres, lui rendre visite chez les personnes qui souffrent,
le nourrir chez les affamés, le loger chez les sans-abris" (Ep 130, 14).
L'amour pour le Christ, nourri par l'étude et la méditation, nous fait
surmonter chaque difficulté: "Aimons nous aussi Jésus Christ, recherchons
toujours l'union avec lui: alors, même ce qui est difficile nous semblera
facile" (Ep 22, 40).
Jérôme, défini par
Prospère d'Aquitaine comme un "modèle de conduite et maître du genre
humain" (Carmen de ingratis, 57), nous a également laissé un enseignement
riche et varié sur l'ascétisme chrétien. Il rappelle qu'un courageux engagement
vers la perfection demande une vigilance constante, de fréquentes
mortifications, toutefois avec modération et prudence, un travail intellectuel
ou manuel assidu pour éviter l'oisiveté (cf. Epp 125, 11 et 130, 15), et
surtout l'obéissance à Dieu: "Rien... ne plaît autant à Dieu que
l'obéissance..., qui est la plus excellente et l'unique vertu" (Hom. de
oboedientia: CCL 78,552). La pratique des pèlerinages peut également appartenir
au chemin ascétique. Jérôme donna en particulier une impulsion à ceux en Terre
Sainte, où les pèlerins étaient accueillis et logés dans des édifices élevés à
côté du monastère de Bethléem, grâce à la générosité de la noble dame Paule,
fille spirituelle de Jérôme (cf. Ep 108, 14).
Enfin, on ne peut pas
oublier la contribution apportée par Jérôme dans le domaine de la pédagogie
chrétienne (cf. Epp 107 et 128). Il se propose de former "une âme qui doit
devenir le temple du Seigneur" (Ep 107, 4), une "pierre très
précieuse" aux yeux de Dieu (Ep 107, 13). Avec une profonde intuition, il
conseille de la préserver du mal et des occasions de pécher, d'exclure les
amitiés équivoques ou débauchées (cf. Ep 107, 4 et 8-9; cf. également Ep 128,
3-4). Il exhorte surtout les parents pour qu'ils créent un environnement serein
et joyeux autour des enfants, pour qu'ils les incitent à l'étude et au travail,
également par la louange et l'émulation (cf. Epp 107, 4 et 128, 1), qu'ils les
encouragent à surmonter les difficultés, qu'ils favorisent entre eux les bonnes
habitudes et qu'ils les préservent d'en prendre de mauvaises car - et il cite
là une phrase de Publilius Syrus entendue à l'école - "difficilement tu
réussiras à te corriger de ces choses dont tu prends tranquillement
l'habitude" (Ep 107, 8). Les parents sont les principaux éducateurs des
enfants, les premiers maîtres de vie. Avec une grande clarté, Jérôme,
s'adressant à la mère d'une jeune fille et mentionnant ensuite le père,
admoneste, comme exprimant une exigence fondamentale de chaque créature humaine
qui commence son existence: "Qu'elle trouve en toi sa maîtresse, et que sa
jeunesse inexpérimentée regarde vers toi avec émerveillement. Que ni en toi, ni
en son père elle ne voie jamais d'attitudes qui la conduisent au péché, si
elles devaient être imitées. Rappelez-vous que... vous pouvez davantage
l'éduquer par l'exemple que par la parole" (Ep 107, 9). Parmi les
principales intuitions de Jérôme comme pédagogue, on doit souligner
l'importance attribuée à une éducation saine et complète dès la prime enfance,
la responsabilité particulière reconnue aux parents, l'urgence d'une sérieuse
formation morale et religieuse, l'exigence de l'étude pour une formation humaine
plus complète. En outre, un aspect assez négligé à l'époque antique, mais
considéré comme vital par notre auteur, est la promotion de la femme, à
laquelle il reconnaît le droit à une formation complète: humaine, scolaire,
religieuse, professionnelle. Et nous voyons précisément aujourd'hui que
l'éducation de la personnalité dans son intégralité, l'éducation à la
responsabilité devant Dieu et devant l'homme, est la véritable condition de
tout progrès, de toute paix, de toute réconciliation et d'exclusion de la
violence. L'éducation devant Dieu et devant l'homme: c'est l'Ecriture Sainte
qui nous indique la direction de l'éducation et ainsi, du véritable humanisme.
Nous ne pouvons pas
conclure ces rapides annotations sur cet éminent Père de l'Eglise sans mentionner
la contribution efficace qu'il apporta à la préservation d'éléments positifs et
valables des antiques cultures juive, grecque et romaine au sein de la
civilisation chrétienne naissante. Jérôme a reconnu et assimilé les valeurs
artistiques, la richesse des sentiments et l'harmonie des images présentes chez
les classiques, qui éduquent le cœur et l'imagination à de nobles sentiments.
Il a en particulier placé au centre de sa vie et de son activité la Parole de
Dieu, qui indique à l'homme les chemins de la vie, et lui révèle les secrets de
la sainteté. Nous ne pouvons que lui être profondément reconnaissants pour tout
cela, précisément dans le monde d'aujourd'hui.
* * *
Je suis heureux de saluer
les francophones, notamment les jeunes prêtres de Belley-Ars, avec leur Évêque,
Mgr Bagnard. J’adresse un salut tout particulier aux pèlerins de France venus
avec les reliques de sainte Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus et de la Sainte-Face,
accompagnés par Mgr Pican, Évêque de Bayeux et Lisieux. Nous nous souvenons qu’il
y a cent vingt ans, la petite Thérèse est venue rencontrer le Pape Léon XIII,
pour lui demander la permission d’entrer au Carmel malgré son jeune âge. Il y a
quatre-vingt ans, le Pape Pie XI la proclamait Patronne des Missions et, en
1997, le Pape Jean-Paul II la déclarait Docteur de l’Église. Après cette
audience, j’aurai la joie de prier devant ses reliques, comme de nombreux
fidèles peuvent le faire pendant toute la semaine dans différentes églises de
Rome. Sainte Thérèse aurait voulu apprendre les langues bibliques pour mieux
lire l’Écriture. À sa suite et à l’exemple de saint Jérôme, puissiez-vous
prendre du temps pour lire la Bible de manière régulière. En devenant familiers
de la Parole de Dieu, vous y rencontrerez le Christ pour demeurer en intimité
avec lui. Avec ma Bénédiction apostolique.
© Copyright 2007 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Saint Jérôme de Stridon,
exégète et patron des traducteurs
Publié le 18/2/24
Chapeau rouge de
cardinal, face amaigrie de vieillard usé par les jeûnes, un lion à ses pieds,
le livre des Saintes Ecritures dans les mains, le canon iconographique de saint
Jérôme est des plus constants. Difficile de démêler la part d’amplification légendaire
et la part de vérité historique.
Saint Jérôme « a
placé la Bible au centre de sa vie, disait Benoît XVI ; il l’a traduite en
langue latine, il l’a commentée dans ses œuvres, et il s’est surtout engagé à
vivre concrètement en conformité avec elle au cours de sa longue existence
terrestre, malgré le célèbre caractère difficile et fougueux qu’il avait reçu
de la nature » (Audience générale du 7 novembre 2007). Ce
Père de l’Église (ainsi sont désignés les saints qui, par leur doctrine et leur
exemple, ont comme nourri l’Église dans son enfance) se définit
lui-même en ces termes : « Je suis à la fois philosophe, rhéteur,
grammairien, dialecticien, expert en hébreu, grec et latin. » Voilà les armes
du polémiste dont la fougue va jusqu’à invectiver l’évêque d’Hippone, saint
Augustin – son benjamin de dix ans –, comme s’il s’adressait à un étudiant : «
Écoute mon conseil, jeune homme. Ne viens pas, dans l’arène des Écritures,
provoquer un vieillard ! Tu troubles mon silence. Tu fais la roue avec ta
science. »
Saint Jérôme est né vers
345, à Stridon, bourgade fortifiée située aux confins des provinces de Dalmatie
et de Pannonie (actuelle Hongrie). Son père, Eusèbe, est un riche propriétaire
foncier. Jérôme mentionne avec fierté : « Je suis né chrétien de parents
chrétiens, et portant sur mon front l’étendard de la Croix. » On lui
donne pourtant un nom païen, Hieronymus (qui signifie : celui dont le nom est
sacré), en français : Jérôme. Conformément à une pratique courante à l’époque,
l’enfant n’est pas baptisé, mais simplement inscrit sur le registre des
catéchumènes. De son enfance, Jérôme dira : « Je me rappelle avoir gambadé
à travers les chambrettes des petits esclaves, avoir passé à jouer mon jour de
congé et m’être fait arracher aux bras de ma grand-mère pour être livré captif
à la fureur d’un Olibrius. » Cet Olibrius est, en effet, un maître
d’école aux méthodes d’éducation brutales, et l’enfant « a pleuré sous le
claquement de la férule ». Élève turbulent, espiègle, à
l’intelligence très vive, à la mémoire fidèle, Jérôme possède un caractère
extrêmement sensible, qui le rendra susceptible, ombrageux, mais aussi
profondément affectueux et ouvert aux rencontres.
« Un chœur de bienheureux
»
Ses parents l’envoient à
Rome pour y parachever sa formation. Là, sous la conduite des meilleurs
professeurs, il s’initie aux secrets de la rhétorique (art de bien parler)
et de la dialectique (art de la discussion). Il se constitue une
bibliothèque en recopiant de sa main, « avec beaucoup de soin et de peine
», quelques œuvres de ses auteurs préférés : Plaute, Virgile, Cicéron.
Toutefois, il est aussi avide de distractions : sa nature ardente le porte à
s’extérioriser, et, s’il ne se jette pas dans le plaisir avec l’ardeur
d’un Augustin, il sacrifie cependant quelque peu à ses passions naissantes. Il
évoquera plus tard son égarement d’alors, « au milieu des danses des
jeunes filles romaines ». Malgré cela, son esprit religieux le porte,
le dimanche, à visiter les catacombes, avec des amis. Finalement, touché par la
grâce, il se décide en 366 à recevoir le Baptême. Puis il se rend à
Trèves, où l’empereur Valentinien s’est installé. Pour répondre aux vœux de sa
famille, Jérôme cherche, en effet, un poste dans l’administration. Mais
là, il découvre la vie monastique qui lui inspire de graves pensées.
Profondément touché, il décide de renoncer au monde, et commence à s’intéresser
à la littérature chrétienne. Animé de ces dispositions nouvelles, il retourne
en Italie, à Aquilée, où il s’insère dans un groupe de fervents chrétiens,
qu’il définit comme un « chœur de bienheureux » réuni autour de
l’évêque Valérien. En 374, il décide soudain de partir en Orient, dans le
dessein de s’y consacrer à la vie monastique.
Après un long et pénible
voyage, épuisé par la fièvre, Jérôme arrive à Antioche de Syrie chez un ami
rencontré à Aquilée, le prêtre Évagre. Il y mène avec joie une vie
paisible et studieuse ; ce n’est pourtant pas à proprement parler une vie
monastique. Lors du carême de 375, atteint par la maladie, il s’entend
reprocher, au cours d’un songe, son attachement excessif aux lettres profanes :
« En esprit, je m’imaginais transporté devant le tribunal du souverain
Juge. Interrogé sur ma religion : “Je suis chrétien, répondis-je. – Tu mens, me
réplique le Juge suprême : Tu es cicéronien, pas chrétien. Où est ton trésor,
là est ton cœur !” » Intensément tourmenté par sa conscience, Jérôme
renonce aux livres profanes. Retiré dans le désert de Chalcis, au sud d’Alep
(Syrie), il pratique une rude ascèse, se consacrant sérieusement à l’étude
du grec et de l’hébreu. La méditation, la solitude, le contact avec la
Parole de Dieu ouvrent son goût à la lecture de la Bible. Cependant, sa
santé fragile souffre des privations qu’il s’impose : « Les jeûnes
avaient fait pâlir mon visage, mais les désirs enflammaient pourtant mon esprit
dans mon corps glacé, et devant le pauvre homme que j’étais, chair à moitié
morte, seuls bouillonnaient les incendies des voluptés. »
Une direction éclairée
L’Église d’Antioche est
alors déchirée par un schisme. Jérôme, pressé de prendre position, en
appelle au Pape, mais la réponse se fait attendre. Les moines ariens, eux,
n’attendent pas : ils l’importunent par leurs querelles au point de lui
rendre le désert odieux. Désabusé, Jérôme rentre en 377 à Antioche, où
l’évêque Paulin l’ordonne prêtre. En 379, il se rend à Constantinople, où
il continue ses études bibliques sous la direction éclairée de Grégoire de
Nazianze, théologien et exégète. Une amitié sincère s’établit entre eux
deux. À cette époque, il découvre Origène, et commence à développer une exégèse (c’est-à-dire
une étude du texte sacré) à partir des textes originaux en hébreu et en grec.
En 382, l’évêque Paulin et Épiphane de Salamine l’invitent à les accompagner
jusqu’à Rome, où ils veulent informer le Pape Damase des événements qui agitent
l’Orient. Jérôme accepte de grand cœur. Le saint Pape, qui connaît sa
réputation d’ascète et sa compétence d’érudit, se l’adjoint comme secrétaire et
le consulte sur le sens de passages obscurs des Écritures. Il l’engage à
entreprendre une nouvelle traduction latine des textes bibliques.
« Sa grande culture
littéraire et sa vaste érudition permirent à Jérôme la révision et la
traduction de nombreux textes bibliques : un travail précieux pour l’Église
latine et pour la culture occidentale. Sur la base des textes originaux en
hébreu et en grec, et grâce à la confrontation avec les versions précédentes,
il effectua la révision des quatre Évangiles en langue latine, puis du Psautier
et d’une grande partie de l’Ancien Testament… Jérôme put offrir une meilleure
traduction : elle constitue ce qu’on appelle la “Vulgate”, le texte officiel de
l’Église latine, qui a été reconnu comme tel par le Concile de Trente » et qui,
après la récente révision (1979), le demeure encore aujourd’hui (Benoît
XVI, 7 novembre 2007).
Une veuve romaine,
Marcella, en quête d’un directeur spirituel et d’un maître qui puisse lui
expliquer les Écritures, s’adresse à Jérôme. Un cercle d’études formé de
riches veuves s’organise bientôt dans le palais de Marcella. On y trouve
Marcellina, la sœur d’Ambroise
de Milan, Paula et ses filles Blésilla, Eustochium et Paulina, et bien d’autres
encore. Certaines d’entre elles seront honorées comme saintes. Jérôme
dispense à ses élèves empressées la fine fleur de ses recherches et le bienfait
de sa direction spirituelle. Une lettre à Eustochium est devenue célèbre :
« L’épouse du Christ ressemble à l’arche d’Alliance, qui était dorée
extérieurement et intérieurement. Elle est la gardienne de la Loi du Seigneur.
Dans l’Arche, il n’y avait rien d’autre que les Tables de la Loi. Il ne doit y
avoir non plus en vous aucune pensée étrangère… Personne ne doit vous retenir :
ni mère, ni sœur, ni parente, ni parent. Le Seigneur a besoin de vous. S’ils
veulent vous arrêter, qu’ils craignent ces fléaux dont nous parle la Sainte
Écriture, et que Pharaon eut à subir pour avoir refusé au peuple de Dieu la
liberté de l’adorer. » Véritable plaidoyer pour la vie monastique et la
virginité, cette lettre connaît une diffusion importante ; mais elle choque la
haute société romaine. Certains clercs se sentent visés par ce manifeste pour
une vie évangélique ; ils ne pardonnent pas à son auteur de les avoir trop
vivement pris à partie en mettant ostensiblement le doigt sur leurs défauts.
Jaloux de son influence, ils le traitent de faussaire et de sacrilège pour
avoir osé introduire des modifications dans les textes bibliques reçus jusque-là.
Finalement, leur colère explose en grossières calomnies contre lui et ses
saintes amies : que vient faire ce moine au milieu de ces dames ? « Si les
hommes m’interrogeaient sur l’Écriture, répond finement Jérôme, je parlerais
moins aux femmes ! »
Voyage enthousiasmant
Après la mort du Pape
Damase, le 11 décembre 384, Jérôme décide de mettre à exécution son rêve de
toujours et s’embarque pour le Moyen-Orient en août 385, avec son frère
Paulinien et quelques moines décidés à s’installer avec lui en Terre Sainte.
Quelques temps après, Paula et sa fille Eustochium les rejoignent à
Antioche. Une caravane est mise sur pied qui doit, en plein hiver, les
acheminer vers la Judée. Jérôme décrira dans une lettre l’enthousiasme de
Paula pour la visite des lieux saints. Les pèlerins continuent ensuite
vers l’Égypte et se rendent à Alexandrie, où se trouve une grande école
biblique héritière de l’enseignement d’Origène et
d’Athanase
le Grand. Didyme l’Aveugle la dirige ; Jérôme se range parmi ses
disciples. Les pèlerins profitent de leur séjour pour rendre visite aux
moines d’Égypte, les fameux “Pères du désert”.
En 386, le petit groupe
revient s’installer à Bethléem, où, grâce à la générosité de Paula, sont
bientôt construits un monastère pour les moines, un autre pour les moniales,
une tour fortifiée et un hospice pour les pèlerins qui se rendent en Terre
Sainte, « car ils se souvenaient que Marie et Joseph n’y avaient pas
trouvé où faire halte. » À la faveur de la tranquillité dont il jouit
maintenant, Jérôme reprend avec allégresse ses travaux : traductions et
commentaires bibliques, histoire, polémique, hagiographie… Paula dirige le
monastère des femmes et Jérôme celui des hommes, mais lui-même donne à tous une
direction spirituelle appropriée, à partir de la Sainte Écriture. La Bible, qu’il
assimile au Christ, tient une place primordiale dans la vie communautaire :
« Aime les Saintes Écritures, dit-il, et la Sagesse t’aimera ; il faut que
ta langue ne connaisse que le Christ, qu’elle ne puisse dire que ce qui est
saint. »
Benoît XVI a mis en
relief l’amour du saint docteur pour la Parole de Dieu : « Pour saint
Jérôme, “ignorer les Écritures, c’est ignorer le Christ”. C’est pourquoi, il
est très important que chaque chrétien vive en contact et en dialogue personnel
avec la Parole de Dieu qui nous a été donnée dans l’Écriture Sainte. Notre
dialogue avec elle doit être réellement personnel, car Dieu parle avec chacun
de nous à travers l’Écriture Sainte et livre un message pour chacun. Nous
devons lire l’Écriture Sainte non pas comme une parole du passé, mais comme une
Parole de Dieu qui s’adresse également à nous, et nous efforcer de comprendre
ce que le Seigneur veut nous dire… La Parole de Dieu transcende les temps. Les
opinions humaines vont et viennent ; ce qui est très moderne aujourd’hui sera
très vieux demain. La Parole de Dieu, au contraire, est une Parole de vie
éternelle, elle porte en elle l’éternité, ce qui vaut pour toujours. En portant
en nous la Parole de Dieu, nous portons donc en nous l’éternel, la vie
éternelle » (7 novembre 2007).
« Aime-la tendrement »
Saint Jérôme «
recommandait à l’une de ses filles spirituelles : “Aime l’Écriture Sainte…
aime-la tendrement, et celle-ci te préservera.” Et encore : “Aime la science de
l’Écriture, et tu n’aimeras pas les vices de la chair.” Pour lui, un point
fondamental de méthode pour interpréter correctement les Écritures est
l’harmonie avec l’enseignement de l’Église. Nous ne pouvons jamais lire
l’Écriture seuls. Nous trouvons trop de portes fermées et nous glissons
facilement dans l’erreur… Pour lui, une interprétation authentique de la
Bible devait toujours être en concordance avec la foi de l’Église catholique…
Il admonestait donc : “Reste fermement attaché à la doctrine traditionnelle qui
t’a été enseignée, afin que tu puisses exhorter selon la saine doctrine et
réfuter ceux qui la contredisent.” En particulier, étant donné que Jésus-Christ
a fondé son Église sur Pierre, chaque chrétien doit être en communion “avec la
Chaire de saint Pierre. Je sais que sur cette pierre l’Église est édifiée”. Par
conséquent, et de façon directe, il déclarait : “Je suis avec quiconque est uni
à la Chaire de saint Pierre” » (Audience générale du 14 novembre 2007).
Mais bientôt les
querelles origénistes (occasionnées par les erreurs des disciples d’Origène niant
le caractère définitif du jugement de Dieu), puis la lutte contre le
pélagianisme (qui prétendait que l’initiative du salut vient de l’homme, et qui
niait le péché originel), amènent Jérôme à défendre la foi avec vigueur
: en certaines occasions, sa plume devient comme un stylet acéré. D’autre
part les invasions barbares, en faisant affluer en Terre Sainte des foules de
réfugiés, l’obligent à mettre au second plan ses chères études et à
satisfaire aux devoirs de la charité. Il n’en persévère pas moins dans
l’œuvre sainte à laquelle il s’est voué. Sa cellule devient une sorte de
phare pour le monde chrétien tout entier : vers lui se tournent les âmes avides
de perfection. Il en résulte une correspondance aussi abondante que variée
avec les meilleurs esprits de son temps. À l’un d’eux, qui demande
conseil, Jérôme montre quelle importance il donne à la vie en communauté :
« Je préférerais que tu sois dans une sainte communauté, que tu ne
t’enseignes pas toi-même et que tu ne t’engages pas sans maître dans une voie
entièrement nouvelle pour toi. » Il recommande la modération dans les
jeûnes corporels : « Une nourriture modique, mais raisonnable, est
salutaire au corps et à l’âme. » Il rappelle qu’un courageux
engagement vers la perfection demande une vigilance constante, de fréquentes
mortifications, avec discrétion toutefois, un travail intellectuel ou manuel
assidu pour éviter l’oisiveté, et surtout l’obéissance à Dieu : « Rien ne
plaît autant à Dieu que l’obéissance, qui est la plus excellente et l’unique
vertu » (Homélie sur l’obéissance : CCL 78, 552).
« Orne ce sanctuaire ! »
«L’Évangile, disait
Benoît XVI, doit se traduire par des attitudes de charité véritable… En s’adressant,
par exemple, au prêtre Paulin (qui devint ensuite le saint évêque de Nole),
Jérôme le conseillait ainsi : “Le véritable temple du Christ est l’âme du
fidèle : orne-le, ce sanctuaire, embellis-le, dépose en lui tes offrandes et
reçois le Christ. Dans quel but revêtir les murs de pierres précieuses, si le
Christ meurt de faim dans la personne d’un pauvre ?” Jérôme est concret : il
faut “vêtir le Christ chez les pauvres, lui rendre visite chez les personnes
qui souffrent, le nourrir chez les affamés, le loger chez les sans-abri.”
L’amour pour le Christ, nourri par l’étude et la méditation, nous fait
surmonter chaque difficulté : “Aimons, nous aussi, Jésus-Christ, recherchons
toujours l’union avec lui : alors, même ce qui est difficile nous semblera facile” »
(14 novembre 2007).
Le Pape émérite
soulignait aussi la contribution de saint Jérôme « dans le domaine de
la pédagogie chrétienne. Il se propose de former “une âme qui doit devenir le
temple du Seigneur”, une “pierre très précieuse” aux yeux de Dieu. Avec une
profonde intuition, il conseille de la préserver du mal et des occasions de
pécher, d’exclure les amitiés équivoques ou débauchées. Il exhorte surtout les
parents pour qu’ils créent un environnement serein et joyeux autour des
enfants, les incitent à l’étude et au travail, également par la louange et
l’émulation, les encouragent à surmonter les difficultés, favorisent entre eux
les bonnes habitudes et les préservent d’en prendre de mauvaises… Les parents
sont les principaux éducateurs des enfants, les premiers maîtres de vie. Avec
une grande clarté, Jérôme, s’adressant à la mère d’une jeune fille, admoneste :
“Qu’elle trouve en toi sa maîtresse, et que sa jeunesse inexpérimentée regarde
vers toi avec émerveillement. Que ni en toi, ni en son père, elle ne voie
jamais d’attitudes qui la conduisent au péché, si elles devaient être imitées.
Rappelez-vous que vous pouvez davantage l’éduquer par l’exemple que par la
parole.”… En outre, un aspect assez négligé à l’époque antique, mais considéré
comme vital par notre auteur, est la promotion de la femme, à laquelle il
reconnaît le droit à une formation complète : humaine, scolaire, religieuse,
professionnelle. Et nous voyons précisément aujourd’hui que l’éducation de la
personnalité dans son intégralité, l’éducation à la responsabilité devant Dieu
et devant l’homme, est la véritable condition de tout progrès, de toute paix,
de toute réconciliation et d’exclusion de la violence. L’éducation devant Dieu
et devant l’homme : c’est l’Écriture Sainte qui nous en indique la direction et
ainsi celle du véritable humanisme » (Ibid.).
Mendier son pain plutôt
que perdre la foi
Dans les dernières années
de sa vie, Jérôme est assailli par une accumulation d’épreuves. En 404,
sainte Paula, l’amie fidèle, meurt. En 410, le Wisigoth Alaric Ier envahit
l’Italie et met Rome à sac. Dans cette tragédie, Jérôme perçoit l’écroulement
d’un monde et il en gémit : « L’Empire vient d’avoir la tête tranchée.
Pour dire l’entière vérité : en une seule ville, c’est l’univers entier qui périt. »
Le couvent de sainte Marcella est pillé ; elle-même est torturée et meurt peu
après. En 416, des moines favorables à Pélage organisent en Judée une
expédition punitive contre les monastères hiéronymiens. Un diacre est tué,
les bâtiments sont incendiés. On se réfugie dans la tour fortifiée ; Jérôme
échappe de justesse à la mort. Non sans fierté, il écrit : « Notre
maison, pour ce qui est des ressources matérielles, fut complètement ruinée par
les persécutions des hérétiques. Toutefois, le Christ est avec nous. La demeure
reste donc remplie de richesses spirituelles. Mieux vaut mendier son pain que
de perdre la foi. » En 418, la mort imprévue d’Eustochium, qui avait
succédé à sa mère Paula à la tête du monastère féminin, l’accable. Elle
était son soutien dans ses travaux. Cette mort, écrit-il, « a presque
changé les conditions de notre existence, parce que bien des choses que nous
voudrions faire, nous en sommes maintenant incapable : l’esprit est ardent,
mais il est vaincu par la débilité de la vieillesse. »
Sa dernière lettre sera
pour Augustin et pour son ami Alypius : « Pour moi, écrit-il, je suis
ravi de trouver quelque occasion de vous écrire, et je n’en laisse échapper
aucune. Dieu m’est témoin que, si je pouvais, je prendrais des ailes de colombe
pour satisfaire à l’empressement que j’ai de vous embrasser. C’est ce que j’ai
toujours ardemment souhaité, tant je fais de cas de votre vertu ; mais je le
souhaite aujourd’hui avec plus de force que jamais, pour me réjouir avec vous
de la victoire que vous avez remportée sur l’hérésie de Célestius (disciple de
l’hérétique Pélage), que vous avez entièrement étouffée par votre zèle et par
vos soins… Je vous conjure aussi, mes saints et vénérables pères, de ne me pas
oublier, et je prie le Seigneur de vous conserver en santé » (Lettre
143). Perclus d’infirmités, presque aveugle, le serviteur fidèle s’endort
paisiblement en Dieu le 30 septembre 420. Il est enterré près de la grotte
de la Nativité à Bethléem. Ses restes, ramenés à Rome au VIIIe siècle, reposent
dans la basilique Sainte-Marie-Majeure, près des reliques de la Crèche du
Seigneur que Jérôme avait précieusement rassemblées.
Davide Ghirlandaio (1452–1525),
Saint Jérôme, fresco,
circa 1475, Vatican Library
Saint JÉRÔME
I. Vie
- 1. Naissance et famille
- 2. Brillant étudiant à Rome
- 3. Passant distrait en Gaule
- 4. Apprenti ascète à Aquilée
- 5. Anachorète novice en Syrie
- 6. Étudiant ecclésiastique à Constantinople
- 7. Secrétaire du pape Damase
- 8. Il se lie d’amitié avec de saintes femmes
- 9. Il regagne l’Orient
- 10. Il se fixe à Bethléem
II. Œuvres
- 1. L’œuvre essentielle : les travaux bibliques
- 2. Traductions d’auteurs ecclésiastiques
- 3. Œuvres polémiques
- 4. Œuvres historiques
- 5. Homélies
- 6. Lettres
- Conclusion : L’homme des Écritures et un maître de d’ascèse
• Ignorer les Écritures, c’est ignorer le Christ.
Commentaire sur Isaïe, prologue
• Lis assez souvent et étudie le plus possible. Que le sommeil te surprenne un
livre à la main ; qu’en tombant, ton visage rencontre l’accueil d’une page
sainte.
Lettre 22 à Eustochium
• Pour ce qui est des Écritures saintes, fixe-toi un certain nombre de versets.
Acquitte-toi de cette tâche envers ton Maître et n’accorde pas de repos à tes
membres avant d’avoir rempli de ce tissu la corbeille de travail qu’est ton
cœur. Après les Écritures saintes, lis les traités des savants, mais de ceux-là
seulement dont la foi est notoire. Tu n’as pas besoin de chercher de l’or dans
la boue ; au prix de perles nombreuses, achète la perle unique. Comme dit
Jérémie (6, 16), tiens-toi au débouché de plusieurs chemins, mais pour arriver
à ce chemin qui conduit au Père.
Lettre 54 à la veuve Furia
I. Vie
1. Naissance et famille
Saint Jérôme nous
l’apprend lui-même : il est « né chrétien de parents chrétiens » [1]. Les
savants, tout en renonçant à dater sa naissance, la situent entre 340 et 347.
Tout en avouant de même qu’il n’est pas possible de trouver l’emplacement de sa
ville natale Stridon, détruite de fond en comble par les Goths en 392, ils la
localisent aux confins de la Pannonie ou Hongrie actuelle et de la Dalmatie. De
toute façon, par sa culture, Jérôme est un Romain. Aîné de trois enfants, il
eut un frère Paulinien et une sœur. Un des meilleurs connaisseurs de saint
Jérôme, Dom Paul Antin, résume si bien sa vie en la survolant que nous le
citons et que nous en reprendrons les termes comme divisions caractérisées de
cette notice :
• « Brillant étudiant à
Rome, passant distrait en Gaule, apprenti ascète à Aquilée, anachorète novice
en Syrie, derechef étudiant mais étudiant ecclésiastique à Constantinople sous
Grégoire de Nazianze, secrétaire du pape Damase à Rome où il se lie d’amitié avec
de saintes femmes, il regagne l’Orient définitivement en 385 et se fixe à
Bethléem » [2].
2. Brillant étudiant à
Rome
Jeune encore, peut-être
même vers l’âge de douze ans déjà, Jérôme est à Rome pour y étudier. Toute sa
vie, il aima l’étude et étudia fort bien. Il ne se lassera pas de vanter le
maître très aimé qui le forma à la grammaire, le célèbre Donat. De chers condisciples
allaient devenir de grands amis, Bonose et Rufin. Ce dernier est le futur
traducteur d’Origène et… le futur ennemi de Jérôme !
Jérôme s’accusera de la
vie dissolue qu’il mena à Rome et le souvenir des tentations que lui offrait la
grande ville aux mœurs décadentes le hantera souvent :
• Combien de fois moi qui étais installé dans le désert, dans cette vaste solitude torréfiée d’un soleil ardent, affreux habitat offert aux moines, je me suis cru mêlé aux plaisirs de Rome ! J’étais assis, solitaire… et moi-même qui, par crainte de la géhenne, m’étais personnellement infligé une si dure prison, sans autre société que les scorpions et les bêtes sauvages, souvent je croyais assister aux danses des jeunes filles.
Lettre 22 à Eustochium (vers 384)
Jérôme reçut le baptême à
Rome, sans doute en 366.
3. Passant distrait en
Gaule
Ses études finies, Jérôme
inaugure par la Gaule une longue suite de voyages. Il parcourt la Gaule et fait
étape à Trèves, la capitale de l’Occident. Il y découvre la vie monastique et
en ressent l’attrait. La Vie d’Antoine avait été traduite en latin à Trèves,
lors de l’exil de saint Athanase dans cette ville [3], par un certain Evagrios
dont nous allons bientôt devoir reparler. L’ami Bonose est auprès de Jérôme et
il partage son enthousiasme pour la vie monastique. Pour son ami Rufin, Jérôme
transcrit des œuvres d’Hilaire de Poitiers : le Commentaire des psaumes et le
recueil Sur les synodes.
4. Apprenti ascète à
Aquilée
Jérôme regagne son pays
natal qu’il ne semble d’ailleurs pas apprécier :
• Dans mon pays natal, vu
la grossièreté du terroir, on a pour dieu le ventre. On vit au jour le jour. Le
plus riche est réputé le plus saint.
Lettre 7, 5
Il se montre empressé à
réaliser son désir de vie monastique et il se rend à Aquilée, colonie italienne
et grand port sur l’Adriatique, où il s’adjoint, avec ses amis Bonose et Rufin,
à une communauté de clercs et de laïcs qui menaient la vie ascétique, sous la
direction du prêtre Chromace :
• Les clercs d’Aquilée
forment comme un chœur de bienheureux.
Chronique
Cependant sept membres de
la communauté, dont Jérôme, durent la quitter. Que s’était-il passé ? On ne le
sait trop, malgré les suppositions qu’on avance : Jérôme avait-il été imprudent
ou son langage cinglant avait-il froissé ? On doit seulement reconnaître que
tout au long de sa vie, Jérôme eut, par sa franchise brutale, le don de
susciter des inimitiés… [4]
• Un cyclone soudain
m’emporta loin de toi dans son tourbillon. À la liaison d’un cher attachement
succéda ce déchirement impie qui nous sépara.
Lettre 3 à Rufin
5. Anachorète novice en
Syrie
Jérôme s’enfuit vers
l’Orient. Il traverse la Thrace, le Pont et la Bithynie, la Galatie, la
Cappadoce et la Cilicie et il arrive, épuisé, en Syrie :
• J’étais fourbu ! La
Syrie s’offrait à moi comme un port très sûr à un naufragé.
Lettre 3 à Rufin
Jérôme s’arrête à
Antioche, la prestigieuse capitale, il y résidera à la villa du prêtre
Evagrios, le traducteur de la Vie d’Antoine. Il se livre alors à corps perdu à
ses études : il perfectionne sa connaissance du grec, il lit Plaute, Cicéron,
son Virgile et la Bible !
• Misère de moi ! Je
jeûnais puis je lisais Cicéron : après nombre de nuits passées à veiller, après
les larmes que le souvenir de mes fautes anciennes arrachait du plus profond de
mon cœur, c’était Plaute que je prenais entre mes mains ! Si d’aventure, me
ressaisissant, je me mettais à lire les prophètes, leur style sans élégance me
rebutait [5]. Mes yeux aveuglés ne voyaient plus la lumière et j’accusais non
pas mes yeux mais le soleil !
Lettre 22 à Eustochium
Il y a donc conflit
intérieur. Or voici que Jérôme, déjà épuisé, tombe gravement malade : « Déjà on
préparait les funérailles », nous dit-il [6]. Un terrible cauchemar révèle la
profondeur de la crise et la dénoue :
• Soudain, je suis ravi en esprit et entraîné au tribunal du Juge… Interrogé sur ma condition, je répondis que j’étais chrétien.
Tu mens, répondit celui qui siégeait. Tu es cicéronien, non pas chrétien. Là où
est ton trésor, là est ton cœur (Mt 6, 21).
Aussitôt je me tus.
Le juge avait ordonné
qu’on me frappât, mais sous les coups c’était ma conscience qui me brûlait
davantage : quelle torture !… Je criais, je gémissais : « Pitié pour moi,
Seigneur, pitié pour moi ». Ces mots retentissaient parmi les coups. Les assistants
prosternés à genoux suppliaient le président de pardonner à ma jeunesse,
d’accorder à ma faute le temps du repentir, quitte à reprendre plus tard le
supplice mérité si jamais je lisais encore des livres de littérature païenne.
Quant à moi, dans une
passe si critique, j’étais prêt à promettre bien davantage : Seigneur, si
jamais je possède des ouvrages profanes ou si j’en lis, c’est toi que j’aurai
renié !…
Et ce n’était pas là un
songe, un de ces vains rêves dont nous sommes souvent les jouets…
Lettre 22
Dix-sept ans plus tard, à
Bethléem, Jérôme professeur expliquait Virgile et Cicéron à de jeunes élèves !
Rufin s’en indigna et Jérôme, reniant son extrémisme d’autrefois, s’indigna de
cette indignation !
• Si Rufin m’incrimine au
nom d’un songe, qu’il écoute l’enseignement des prophètes : on ne doit pas
croire aux songes… que de fois ne me suis-je pas vu volant dans les airs et
franchissant terre et mer par monts et par vaux !
Apologie contre Rufin, 1,
30
Imprudence de langage ?
Versatilité ? Jérôme passionné est excessif dans son langage ! Ses ennemis ne
lui pardonnent pas ses volte-face déconcertantes mais ses amis en trouvent
d’excellentes raisons : « La future grandeur de Jérôme sera de retrouver
Cicéron après avoir consenti à le perdre » [7]. La finale du récit en demeure
l’essentiel :
• Depuis lors, j’ai donné
aux livres divins les soins que je mettais à lire ceux des hommes.
Lettre 22
Jérôme restera fidèle
toute sa vie à cette préférence absolue accordée aux livres divins et les
fruits de son étude de l’Ecriture demeurent.
Assoiffé d’absolu, Jérôme
prit le chemin du désert de Chalcis situé au sud-est d’Antioche. Il allait y
demeurer près de deux ans et demi, c’était en 374. Les peintres, tel Léonard de
Vinci, nous ont laissé des tableaux effrayants de l’ermite ascète décharné !
Jérôme a posé pour eux, ils furent fidèles à leur modèle, qu’on en juge :
• J’étais assis tout
seul, rempli d’amertume, hideux sous le cilice horripilant, avec une pellicule
de crasse qui me faisait une peau d’Ethiopien. Chaque jour, des larmes, chaque
jour, des gémissements. Si le sommeil, malgré ma résistance, m’écrasait, mes os
qui ne se tenaient presque plus, se heurtaient à la terre nue… J’étais pâle de
jeûnes, ma mémoire bouillonnait de désirs dans un corps glacé… Je criais jour
et nuit et je ne cessais de me frapper la poitrine qu’au retour de la paix sur
l’ordre du Seigneur.
… Voyais-je un creux de
vallon, un escarpement de montagne, un roc abrupt, j’en faisais mon oratoire et
le cachot de cette chair si misérable. Et, j’en atteste le Seigneur après avoir
longuement pleuré et contemplé le ciel, je me croyais parmi les troupes des
anges ; heureux et joyeux, je chantais : « Après toi, nous courons à l’odeur de
tes parfums (Ct. 1, 3) ».
Lettre 22
L’affreux désert est un
paradis, aux cris d’horreur de Jérôme succèdent ses élans de ravissement. Il
n’y a pas contradiction mais les points de vue diffèrent : l’austérité est le
prix du bonheur !
• O désert où brillent
les fleurs du Christ ! O solitude où naissent les pierres fameuses qui d’après
l’Apocalypse servent à bâtir la cité du grand Roi ! O ermitage où l’on jouit de
la familiarité divine !
Lettre 14 à Héliodore
Jérôme apprend l’hébreu auprès
d’un Juif converti :
• J’appris l’alphabet
hébreu, m’exerçant à prononcer les sifflantes et les gutturales. Ce que je
subis de fatigue ! Ce que j’éprouvai de difficultés ! Que de fois, par
désespoir, j’ai arrêté mon effort que je reprenais, décidé à vaincre dans le
combat ! J’en ai pour témoin ma conscience à moi qui ai souffert et celle de
mes compagnons. Mais combien je remercie le Seigneur d’avoir tiré des fruits si
doux de l’amertume de cette initiation.
Lettre 124
Jérôme travaille : il a pris
avec lui sa chère bibliothèque qui trouve place dans sa caverne ! Il entretient
une correspondance suivie et sans cesse, il réclame l’envoi de livres : il s’en
fait copier par une équipe de jeunes garçons. Il rédige très probablement au
désert sa Vie de saint Paul ermite.
Cependant, autour de lui,
les moines s’agitaient. Les querelles théologiques suscitées par les remous de
l’arianisme divisaient les esprits. On en vint à soupçonner d’hérésie Jérôme,
cet étranger, cet occidental ! Jérôme en appelle par deux fois au nouveau pape
Damase (Lettres 15 et 16) mais le pape ne répond pas un mot à ce « franc-tireur
sans mandat » ! [8] Vers 377-378, Jérôme quitte l’affreux désert, il reprend la
route d’Antioche.
Il y est à nouveau l’hôte
de son ami et mécène Evagrios, futur évêque d’Antioche. Ayant pris le parti de
l’évêque Paulin dans sa position théologique contre l’arianisme, celui-ci
voulut l’ordonner prêtre, Jérôme qui désirait être moine d’abord n’accepta qu’à
la condition de ne pas devoir exercer son sacerdoce.
Toujours désireux
d’approfondir sa connaissance de la Bible, il assista aux conférence d’exégèse
d’Apollinaire de Laodicée :
• J’ai souvent à Antioche
écouté Apollinaire de Laodicée. Je l’ai fréquenté. Mais lorsqu’il m’enseignait
l’exégèse biblique, je n’ai jamais accepté sa doctrine si discutable sur le
dogme [9].
Lettre 84
Jérôme partit alors à
Constantinople.
6. Étudiant
ecclésiastique à Constantinople
Jérôme devait rester à
Constantinople près de trois ans : de 379 à 382. Il y connut Grégoire de
Nazianze, alors évêque d’une petite communauté de chrétiens restés fidèles à la
doctrine de Nicée. Il assistait à toutes les homélies et discours de celui qu’il
aimait avec ferveur et qu’il appellera un jour « homme fort éloquent, mon
maître - praeceptor meus - dans l’étude de l’Écriture sainte » [10].
Il apprit à bien
connaître les œuvres d’Origène dont il traduisit en latin 28 homélies sur
Ézéchiel et Jérémie. Il écrivit aussi neuf homélies personnelles Sur le
chapitre 6 d’Isaïe. Il traduisit la Chronique historique d’Eusèbe de Césarée.
En 381 s’ouvre le Concile
de Constantinople. Lassé par les rivalités et les intrigues, Grégoire de
Nazianze se retire, il quitte Constantinople où plus rien dès lors ne retient
Jérôme.
7. Secrétaire du pape
Damase à Rome
Jérôme arrivait à Rome en
compagnie de deux évêques venus d’Orient pour assister à un synode romain,
Paulin d’Antioche qui l’avait ordonné prêtre et Épiphane de Salamine. Jérôme
connaissait bien l’Orient, il savait l’hébreu, il était moine, prêtre, rhéteur
et érudit : il ne pouvait en aucune façon passer inaperçu. Le pape Damase le
remarqua et le choisit comme secrétaire particulier, archiviste et conseiller.
Par un trait de génie, il comprit la vocation de Jérôme et lui confia
officiellement le soin de réviser la traduction latine des Évangiles et du
psautier qui était en usage à Rome. Le pape mourut, très âgé, le 11 décembre
384, Jérôme perdait en lui un ami et un protecteur. Il suffit de parcourir la
correspondance du pape Damase pour y lire la familière affection et la
confiance que le vieux pape témoignait à son secrétaire :
• À son très cher fils
Jérôme, Damase.
Tu dors ? Depuis
longtemps, tu lis plus que tu n’écris ! Voici des petites questions que je me
suis décidé à t’envoyer pour te tirer du sommeil ! Non pas que tu ne doives
point lire : la lecture est le pain quotidien qui nourrit et engraisse le
style, mais il faut que lecture fructifie en écriture.
Lettre 35 du pape Damase
Écoutons encore Jérôme
qui parle de sa traduction de la Bible, conscient des critiques qu’elle lui
vaudra ! Il s’adresse au pape Damase :
• Avec du vieux, tu
m’obliges à faire du neuf ? En arbitre, je dois confronter des exemplaires de
l’Écriture dispersés à travers le monde. Comme ils divergent entre eux, je suis
chargé de décider quels sont ceux qui concordent avec l’original grec (des
Évangiles)…. Juger les autres quand on est soi-même en butte au jugement de
tous !… Le premier venu… criera que je suis un faussaire et un sacrilège… Pour
que mes textes ne soient pas trop différents des lectures latines dont on a
pris l’habitude, j’ai freiné ma plume.
Introduction aux
Évangiles, Épître dédicatoire
8. Il se lie d’amitié
avec de saintes femmes
Jérôme fit la
connaissance de la veuve Marcella. Cette grande dame romaine vivait avec sa
mère Albina dans un palais de l’Aventin et, avide de perfection, elle groupait
autour d’elle tout un cercle d’amies. Il y avait surtout Paula, restée veuve à
31 ans. Elle était la mère de Blésilla, jeune veuve très mondaine, d’Eustochium
âgée alors de seize ou dix-sept ans et de Paulina qui épousera le sénateur
Pammachius, ancien condisciple de Jérôme. Il y avait la veuve Léa, la jeune
Asella et d’autres encore.
Jérôme deviendra le guide
intellectuel et spirituel, l’animateur du groupe. Il « prodiguait monitions et
exhortations » (Lettre 39 à Paula), il commentait le psautier, il donnait des
cours d’hébreu. Inlassablement, il répondait aux billets impatients de l’ardente
Marcella qui multipliait les consultations bibliques. Aimé et respecté, Jérôme
était heureux de commenter l’Écriture devant cet auditoire de choix !
C’était trop beau pour
durer ! Les critiques, les soupçons, les calomnies allaient pleuvoir !
La jeune veuve Blésilla,
guidée par Jérôme, avait embrassé un genre de vie très austère. Elle tomba
gravement malade, elle guérit, puis soudain la fièvre violente reprit et
l’emporta en quelques jours au mois de novembre 384. Aux funérailles, la foule
murmurait :
• N’est-ce pas ce que
nous ne cessions de répéter ? Paula pleure sa fille tuée par les jeûnes, elle
pleure parce qu’elle n’a pu en obtenir, par un second mariage, de
petits-enfants !
Cette détestable engeance
de moines, qu’attend-on pour l’expulser de la Ville ou la lapider ou la
précipiter dans les flots ?
Lettre 39 à Paula
C’est du moins ce que
prétend Jérôme dans la lettre très dure, somme toute, qu’il écrit à Paula pour
lui reprocher des larmes qu’il juge indignes d’une chrétienne :
• Si je songe que tu es
mère, je ne te blâme pas de pleurer, si je songe que tu es chrétienne et
moniale chrétienne, ces titres me semblent exclure celui de mère…
Lettre 39
Paula cependant acceptait
ce langage où l’affection alterne avec la sévérité, et elle connaissait bien
celui qui se disait « père par l’esprit et éducateur par l’affection » de sa
fille Blésilla.
Mais la foule grondait,
attisée d’ailleurs par des clercs ulcérés des critiques - justifiées souvent -
mais cinglantes de Jérôme.
Pour la vierge
Eustochium, Jérôme avait écrit tout un petit Traité sur la virginité - connu
surtout sous la mention de la Lettre 22. Il y caricaturait sans pitié les
vierges folles, les faux moines et les prêtres gloutons.
• Quelle quantité de
femmes veuves avant même d’être mariées ! Leur conscience coupable n’est voilée
que par un vêtement menteur… Leurs furtives œillades entraînent derrière elles
un troupeau de jeunes gens…
Il en est qui briguent le
sacerdoce ou le diaconat pour avoir plus aisément accès auprès des dames… Je
n’en décrirai qu’un… Remarque-t-il un coussin, une étoffe élégante ou n’importe
quelle draperie de l’appartement, il la loue, l’admire, la palpe. Il se plaint
de n’en point posséder de pareille et l’obtient moins qu’il ne l’extorque, car
chacun redoute d’offenser ce concierge de Rome !
Lettre 22
Celles et ceux qui se
sentaient visés par de telles paroles ne pouvaient pas supporter
l’insupportable Jérôme qui renchérissait, car voici toute sa défense :
• J’ai dit que par le
crime, le parjure et le mensonge, certains étaient parvenus à je ne sais quelle
dignité ! Que t’importe puisque tu t’estimes sans reproche ! Je me suis ri d’un
avocat qui a besoin d’être patronné. Je raille une éloquence de quatre sous.
Qu’est-ce que cela te fait à toi qui es si verbeux ? Quel que soit le vice
contre lequel je brandis la pointe de mon stylet, tu hurles qu’on te désigne !
Lettre 40 à Marcella
Marcella cependant osait
lui dire son fait et le mettre en garde.
• Je le sais bien, en
lisant ces invectives, ton front va se rider. Tu crains que ma franchise ne
soit encore à l’origine de nouvelles disputes. Tu voudrais, si c’était
possible, de ton doigt, me fermer la bouche pour que je n’ose dire ce que
d’autres ne rougissent pas de faire !
Lettre 27 à Marcella
Après la mort de Damase,
on osa tenir tête à Jérôme, une cabale se ligua contre lui. Une sorte de
tribunal ecclésiastique le jugea et l’acquitta car la conduite de Jérôme était
sans reproche. Le clergé romain n’en exigea pas moins que Jérôme quittât Rome
et au plus tôt !
Au mois d’août 385, ce
fut chose faite.
• Un groupe nombreux de
jeunes filles m’entourait souvent. De mon mieux, fréquemment, je leur ai
expliqué l’Écriture sainte. L’enseignement créa l’assiduité, l’assiduité la
familiarité, et la familiarité causa la confiance. Qu’elles disent donc si
elles ont jamais remarqué en moi quoi que ce soit d’étranger aux convenances
chrétiennes ?
Lettre 45 à Asella
• Avant que je connaisse
la maison de Paula, la sainte, Rome tout entière était d’accord pour
m’apprécier ; presque tous me jugeaient digne du souverain pontificat. La
bouche de Damase, de bienheureuse mémoire, tenait, disait-on, mon langage même.
On m’appelait saint, on me trouvait humble et savant… mais j’ai perdu,
paraît-il, toutes mes vertus. O envie qui te déchires à première, ô ruse de
Satan qui toujours persécutes la sainteté !
Lettre 45 à Asella
• Trois ans ou presque
j’ai vécu avec ces gens-là !
Lettre 45
9. Il regagne l’Orient
Jérôme regagne l’Orient
en 385. Il est accompagné de son jeune frère Paulinien, de quelques moines et
d’un ami. Il fait halte à Antioche, y retrouvant l’accueil de son ami et mécène
Evagrios et l’affection de l’évêque Paulin qui l’avait ordonné.
A Antioche, Paula et sa
fille Eustochium suivies de quelques moniales viennent rejoindre Jérôme : « La
constellation changeait de ciel [11] » ! Et une petite caravane s’organise :
ensemble, Jérôme et les pieuses moniales vont faire un grand pèlerinage en Palestine
et en Égypte, le pays de la Bible et la terre d’élection du monachisme primitif
!
Quelques escales
importantes : Sidon, Tyr, Césarée - à Césarée le souvenir d’Origène est évoqué
- Jérusalem.
• Paula visita avec tant
d’ardeur et de zèle tous les lieux de la ville, et seul le désir de ceux
qu’elle n’avait point encore vus était capable de l’arracher à ceux où elle
était. Prosternée devant la croix, elle adora le Seigneur comme si elle l’y eût
vu attaché. Pénétrant dans le sépulcre, elle baisa la pierre de la
résurrection, la pierre que l’ange écarta de l’ouverture du tombeau. Et quand
on lui montra le lieu même où avait reposé le corps du Seigneur, elle le baisa,
y pressant ses lèvres comme si elle eût voulu se désaltérer à des eaux
longtemps désirées.
Lettre 108 à Eustochium après
la mort de sa mère Paula
Après Jérusalem,
Bethléem.
• Je l’écoutais me jurer
qu’elle contemplait avec les yeux de la foi l’enfant enveloppé de langes,
vagissant dans sa crèche, les mages adorant Dieu, l’étoile qui brillait
au-dessus, la Vierge-Mère, le père nourricier empressé, les bergers accourant
de nuit pour voir ce qui était arrivé.
Lettre 108
Ensuite Cana, Capharnaüm.
• On regarde l’Écriture
sainte avec d’autres yeux si l’on a parcouru la Judée et si l’on connaît les
villes et les paysages anciens, que leur dénomination ait ou non changé depuis.
Préface au livre des
Paralipomènes traduit du grec.
Ce fut alors le
pèlerinage monastique en Égypte.
• Dirais-je les Macaire,
les Arsène, les Sérapion, et ces autres colonnes de la foi au Christ ? Y eut-il
un seul d’entre eux dans la cellule de qui elle (Paula) ne soit entrée et aux
pieds duquel elle ne se soit prosternée ? Elle croyait voir le Christ en la
personne de chacun de ces saints et tout ce qu’elle faisait à leur égard elle
le faisait en se disant avec joie : c’est au Seigneur que je le fais [12].
Lettre 108
Jérôme séjourne un petit
temps à Alexandrie et, trente jours durant, il y fréquente celui qui fut le
dernier didascale de l’école théologique dont Origène fut la gloire, Didyme
l’Aveugle, son maître « très clairvoyant », il l’interroge « sur tout ce qui
lui paraît obscur dans l’Écriture » [13].
10. Il se fixe à Bethléem
Jérôme nous raconte que
lors de son pèlerinage en Terre sainte, Paula s’était écriée à Bethléem :
• Moi, pauvre pécheresse,
j’ai été jugée digne de baiser la crèche où le Seigneur a vagi tout petit
enfant, de prier dans l’étable où la Vierge l’a mis au monde ! « Ah ! c’est ici
mon repos, c’est la patrie de mon Dieu ! C’est là que j’habiterai puisque le
Sauveur l’a choisie ! J’ai préparé une lumière à mon Christ. Mon âme vivra pour
lui et ma race le servira » (Ps 131 et 21).
Lettre 108 à Eustochium,
Éloge funèbre de Paula
Or, voici qu’en 386
Jérôme et quelques moines, Paula, sa fille Eustochium et quelques moniales se
fixent définitivement à Bethléem pour y mener, dans l’austérité, la prière et
l’étude, la vie monastique. Cette stabilité au pays de la Bible assurera aux
études scripturaires de Jérôme des conditions de travail exceptionnelles.
Paula consacra sa fortune
à l’édification des deux monastères, celui des moniales comprenait trois logis
distincts. La construction dura trois ans, pendant lesquels on habita dans de
très modestes logis :
• Dans la petite ferme du
Christ, tout est champêtre, hors les psaumes, c’est le silence.
Lettre 46 de Paula et
Eustochium à Marcella
• Les moniales étaient
obligées de savoir les psaumes et devaient tous les jours apprendre quelque
chose des saintes Écritures.
Lettre 108
Le monastère de Jérôme
compta jusqu’à cinquante moines, Jérôme en était l’animateur, une sorte d’Abbé
de cénobites [14], son frère Paulinien était l’économe. Jérôme faisait des
homélies aux moines, visitait le monastère des moniales, recevait de très
nombreux hôtes, ce dont il se plaint à la fois et se réjouit, sans cesse
interrompu dans son travail auquel il consacre une grande partie de ses nuits,
mais entouré d’admirateurs et d’amis. On le pense bien cependant, Jérôme
n’avait pas que des amis !
Quelques orages vinrent
bouleverser la vie studieuse de Jérôme : ce fut d’abord la terrible querelle
origéniste qui ruina l’amitié de Jérôme et de Rufin. Ce n’est pas sans
tristesse qu’on assiste à sa rupture. En vain, saint Augustin et sainte Paula
s’interposèrent pour ménager une réconciliation qui fût définitive. En 375,
écrivant à Rufin avec tendresse, Jérôme lui disait :
• L’affection n’a pas de
prix. Une amitié qui peut cesser ne fut jamais sincère.
Lettre 3
Maintenant, au contraire,
Jérôme ne peut plus souffrir Rufin qui à Jérusalem, sur le Mont des Oliviers,
menait la vie monastique non loin du monastère de moniales dirigé par Mélanie
l’Ancienne. La querelle origéniste exaspéra une inimitié déjà latente. Voici, à
titre d’exemple, comment Jérôme parle de Rufin plus de dix ans après sa grande
colère causée par la lutte origéniste :
• J’apprends qu’un
scorpion, animal muet et venimeux, murmure je ne sais quoi au sujet de ma
réponse… ou plutôt qu’il s’efforce de tourner contre moi une piqûre dont il
crèvera lui-même.
Commentaire sur Isaïe 10
Et tandis que Jérôme
était lui-même « chef d’école » enseignant malgré le « songe » d’autrefois les
auteurs profanes à de jeunes garçons, il met un malin plaisir à caricaturer
Rufin professeur, et cela après le décès de celui-ci survenu en 410 :
• Pour parler, c’était
une tortue ! À longs intervalles, il trouvait à peine quelques mots, vous
auriez dit des sanglots plutôt que des phrases. Dans sa chaire, derrière une
barricade de livres, les sourcils froncés, les narines contractées, le front
ridé, il claquait des deux doigts pour attirer l’attention des élèves et puis
il proférait de pures inepties et déclamait contre chacun !
Lettre 125
Voici en quels termes il
annonce la mort de Rufin survenue en Sicile :
• Le Scorpion est écrasé
sur le sol de Sicile !
Commentaire sur Ézéchiel,
Prologue
A la querelle origéniste
succédèrent les polémiques contre des détracteurs de l’idéal monastique,
Jovinien qui rabaissait la virginité et blâmait le jeûne et Vigilantius, ce
vigilant que Jérôme appelle l’« endormi » ou « le bonnet de nuit » qui s’en prenait
aussi au culte des saints. Querelle pélagienne aussi, Pélage en personne étant
venu en 415 en Palestine. Des bandes de pélagiens attaquèrent les deux
monastères de Bethléem et incendièrent les bâtiments… Les nouvelles d’Italie
étaient tragiques, les incursions de barbares ruinaient l’empire, Rome fut
prise et mise à sac en 410 par Alaric. La veuve Marcella mourut, peu de temps
après avoir été brutalisée par les Goths :
• La voix me manque. Les
sanglots entrecoupent mes paroles pendant que je dicte. Elle est prise, la
Ville qui s’empara de l’Univers.
Lettre 126
Paula était morte en 404.
En 418, après une brève et soudaine maladie, Eustochium mourut à son tour. Ce
décès inattendu brisa le vieux Jérôme :
• La dormition soudaine
de la sainte et vénérable vierge Eustochium nous a tout à fait désolé et elle a
presque changé notre manière de vivre car nous ne pouvons plus en bien des
choses réaliser nos desseins et l’ardeur de l’esprit est mise en échec par
l’infirmité de la vieillesse.
Lettre à Riparius
On ne sait rien des
derniers jours de Jérôme. Il mourut le 30 septembre 419 ou 420.
San
Girolamo
Maestro del Parral, San
Jerónimo en el Scriptorium, circa 1480, Monasterio
de Santa María del Parral, Lázaro Galdiano Museum, https://ceres.mcu.es/pages/ResultSearch?txtSimpleSearch=Maestro%20del%20Parral&simpleSearch=0&hipertextSearch=1&search=simpleSelection&MuseumsSearch=MLGM%7C&MuseumsRolSearch=1&<
II. Œuvres
1. L’œuvre essentielle :
les travaux bibliques
Les révisions de textes
bibliques
À la demande du pape
Damase qui orienta ainsi son labeur scientifique, Jérôme remania le texte latin
des évangiles, celui aussi du psautier d’après les Septante (en 384).
Jérôme révise aussi le
texte latin de l’Ancien Testament d’après les Septante et l’original hébreu :
il se base sur les Hexaples d’Origène. De cet immense travail, presque rien ne
subsiste : le livre de Job et celui des psaumes. On vola ce texte à Jérôme de
son vivant (Lettre 134). On comprend que ce travailleur acharné qui consacrait
ses nuits à un labeur incroyable en ait été ulcéré !
Les traductions de textes
bibliques
De 391 à 406, Jérôme
entreprend de traduire tout l’Ancien Testament sur le texte original hébreu :
avec amour et respect, il s’efforce de retrouver le texte même de l’Écriture,
la vérité hébraïque pour laquelle il a un culte mérité :
• Nous avons l’obligation
d’interpréter l’Écriture telle qu’elle est lue à l’église, mais d’autre part
nous n’avons pas le droit de sacrifier la vérité hébraïque.
Comm. sur Michée, 1,
16
La Vulgate, c’est-à-dire
le texte latin officiel de la Bible utilisé dans l’Église et dont l’autorité a
été sanctionnée au Concile de Trente, est composée en majeure partie par les
traductions de Jérôme. En 1933, le pape Pie XI confia au monastère bénédictin
de saint Jérôme à Rome la tâche de réaliser une édition critique de la Vulgate.
Les Commentaires
exégétiques
On se souviendra que
Jérôme fut d’abord un disciple d’Origène et qu’il le répudia ensuite : en
conséquence, on remarque dans son œuvre exégétique un glissement progressif du
sens allégorique vers le seul sens littéral [15].
Dans l’ensemble, le
travail de commentateur de Jérôme est très rapide et quelque peu superficiel :
• Aussi vite que va la main
du scribe court ma dictée.
Comm. sur Isaïe V,
Prologue
Jérôme a commenté tous
les prophètes et avec prédilection Isaïe sur lesquels il a plusieurs ouvrages :
son grand commentaire, six homélies Sur la Vision d’Isaïe (en 381), un
commentaire de Dix visions d’Isaïe (en 397). Le commentaire sur Jérémie a été
interrompu par la mort de Jérôme.
• Je tâcherai d’exposer
Isaïe de façon qu’il apparaisse non seulement comme prophète mais en même temps
comme évangéliste et comme apôtre.
Comm. sur Isaïe, Prologue
• Eustochium, vierge du
Christ, toi qui m’as soutenu de tes prières pendant ma maladie, implore pour
moi la grâce du Christ afin qu’animé de l’esprit dans lequel les prophètes ont
prédit l’avenir, je puisse pénétrer leur nuée obscure et comprendre la parole
de Dieu que n’entendent pas les oreilles du corps mais celles du cœur.
Comm. sur Isaïe, XI
Le grand Commentaire sur
Ezéchiel fut écrit entre 410 et 414 tandis que les réfugiés fuyant l’Italie
dévastée par les barbares affluent. Comme celui sur Isaïe, ce commentaire est
dédié à la chère Eustochium.
• Je dicte ces pages à la
tremblotante lueur de ma lampe. L’exégèse me permet de dissiper un peu la
tristesse de mon âme bouleversée… Comment rester insensible au spectacle de la
cruauté des barbares ?
Comm. sur Ezéchiel VIII
Il faut mentionner encore
les commentaires Sur les psaumes, l’Ecclésiaste, et, pour le Nouveau Testament,
les Commentaires sur saint Matthieu, et quatre épîtres de saint Paul : la
lettre à Philémon, l’épître aux Galates, celle aux Ephésiens et celle à Tite.
Relevons cette louange à la veuve Marcella qui vient de perdre sa mère Albina :
• Je sais qu’elle oublie
tout ce qui est humain et qu’au son éclatant des lettres sacrées, elle traverse
hardiment la mer Rouge du siècle.
Comm. de l’ép. aux Gal.
Préface
Ailleurs, ce mot charmant
sur Virgile, le poète tant aimé maintenant délaissé au profit de l’étude des
Écritures :
• Pensez à l’infirmité de
mes yeux, à la faiblesse de mon corps. Je ne peux écrire moi-même. Je ne puis
corriger la pesanteur du discours par le travail et le poli du style comme le
faisait Virgile qui léchait ses livres comme une ourse lèche ses petits ! J’en
suis réduit à un secrétaire, je dicte ce qui me vient aux lèvres. Si je veux
réfléchir un peu, son silence me le reproche !
Comm. ép. aux
Gal., Préface au livre III
Il faut signaler encore
d’autres travaux bibliques : les Questions hébraïques sur la Genèse qui
témoigne de la parfaite maîtrise que Jérôme avait de l’hébreu et aussi de son
sens critique, et deux traductions : celle d’un Dictionnaire de noms propres de
la Bible (Philon d’Alexandrie) et d’un Dictionnaire des noms de lieux (Eusèbe
de Césarée)
2. Traductions d’auteurs
ecclésiastiques
D’Origène
14 Homélies sur Jérémie,
14 Homélies sur Ezéchiel, 2 Homélies sur le Cantique des cantiques, 39 Homélies
sur saint Luc, 8 Homélies sur Isaïe.
Après la querelle
origéniste, 4 livres du Péri Archôn (le De Principiis) s’opposent à la traduction
que Rufin fit du même livre.
De Didyme l’Aveugle
Le Traité du Saint-Esprit
(en 392) : Jérôme y dénonce les larcins d’une « déplaisante corneille », il
s’agit de saint Ambroise qui en effet s’est inspiré de Didyme dans son Traité
du Saint-Esprit, comme Jérôme s’inspirait sans cesse et partout d’Origène sans
le citer, « dans le feu de la dictée, les guillemets fondent » [16].
De Pachôme et de ses
disciples
Les Règles monastiques et
les Lettres [17].
D’Eusèbe de Césarée
Outre le Dictionnaire
biblique déjà cité, la 2e partie de sa Chronique (livre historique).
3. Œuvres polémiques
L’Altercatio c’est-à-dire
le Dialogue entre un Luciférien et un Orthodoxe combat les opinions erronées de
Lucifer de Cagliari qui niait la validité du baptême conféré par les ariens.
Le Contre Jovinien et le
Contre Vigilantius dont nous avons déjà parlé. Les deux écrits constituent une
défense de la vie monastique contre ses détracteurs.
Les Dialogues contre les
Pélagiens.
Deux écrits nés de la
querelle origéniste : le Contre Jean de Jérusalem en 396 qui fut suivi la même
année par une sincère tentative de réconciliation entre les adversaires,
l’évêque Jean et Rufin d’une part et Jérôme de l’autre et en 401-402 la
terrible Apologie contre Rufin qui consomme la rupture.
4. Œuvres historiques
Le De viris (Des hommes
illustres) en 393, compte 135 notices d’auteurs chrétiens. L’importance de ce
petit récit comme source de la patrologie a été soulignée.
Les Vies de Paul de
Thèbes (en 376), de Malchus (390), d’Hilarion (vers 391) sont trois charmants récits,
trois romans populaires.
Pour ne pas froisser la
susceptibilité de Jérôme, nous avons classé parmi les œuvres historiques ces
belles histoires romanesques, mais Jérôme est le seul à croire à leur
historicité ! Les données historiques primitives fournissent un canevas aux
broderies de l’imagination. Ces jolis contes ont toutefois leur raison d’être :
ils sont des « codes d’ascèse mis en action » [18]. Et puis « Hilarion savait
par cœur les divines Écritures » [19] !
5. Homélies
Les homélies de Jérôme
furent prononcées à Bethléem pour sa communauté monastique. Dom Morin les a
publiées pour la première fois en 1897 et en 1903 : Homélies sur les psaumes,
sur Isaïe, sur aint Marc et sur divers textes de la Bible, en tout 95 homélies.
6. Lettres
Le recueil de lettres se
compose de 150 numéros, 117 lettres sont de Jérôme, 26 lui sont adressées.
Cette correspondance s’étend sur une période de 45 ans.
Les Lettres sont une
source de première valeur pour l’étude de la vie de Jérôme, de son style, de
son caractère, de sa passion de l’Écriture. On peut y glaner bien des conseils
excellents qui formeraient un manuel d’ascèse, un guide de vie monastique, un
guide aussi de vie chrétienne dans le monde.
Mais que de caricatures
cruelles, dessinées d’ailleurs de main de maître Que de traits blessants, que
de mots durs aussi contre le mariage. Le langage outrancier de Jérôme dépare
ses plus belles pages. Et on n’est pas sans éprouver quelque malaise devant
certains de ses conseils :
• Qu’en toutes choses, ta
parole soit modérée et sobre… veille à ne pas avoir à regretter ce que tu
diras… En tout ce que tu dis, que ton âme reste tranquille et paisible… Que ton
esprit soit humble et doux…
Lettre 148 à Cleantia,
femme mariée
D’autre part, c’est
justice de constater que le même texte poursuit : « Que ton esprit se dresse
seulement contre les vices » et cela, Jérôme l’a fait. Et que dire alors de ces
mots émouvants :
• Moi qui donne des
conseils, pourquoi ne suis-je pas tel que je désire que tu sois ?… Les paroles
que je prononce ne sont pas de moi, mais du Seigneur et Sauveur ; mes conseils
ne portent pas sur ce que je pourrais faire moi-même, mais sur ce que doit
vouloir ou faire celui qui veut devenir le serviteur du Christ. Les athlètes
aussi sont plus forts que ceux qui les oignent.
Lettre 118 à Julien
Conclusion
Jérôme possède une
sensibilité extrême. Nerveux et passionné, tout en contrastes, il sut aimer
jusqu’à la plus délicate tendresse et haïr jusqu’à la grossièreté et la plus
cinglante colère. Sa haine exacerbée s’adresse le plus souvent aux vices et à
l’hérésie, mais elle atteint rudement ceux qui en sont les responsables ou les
victimes et il lui arrive, hélas, de s’aveugler elle-même.
Cet impatient en
impatiente beaucoup ! Aussi bien, où se ranger : parmi la foule de ceux qui
l’admirent et qui l’aiment ou parmi le groupe de ceux qui ne peuvent le
souffrir ?
Parions qu’il y a tout à
gagner à se mettre aux côtés de Paula, de Marcella et d’Eustochium ! Nous
aurons souvent, comme Marcella, les sourcils froncés, « le front ridé et le
doigt sur la bouche » (Lettre 27) mais, du moins, nous entendrons Jérôme, ce
philologue et cet exégète, nous traduire, nous commenter l’Ecriture et nous
révéler ainsi sa passion du Christ, seul Maître de ce maître qui se cherchait
des disciples ! Jérôme est l’homme de l’Écriture sainte et telle est sa
grandeur. Si les exégètes peuvent aujourd’hui le surpasser, c’est grâce encore
à son impérissable labeur. Jérôme est aussi un guide spirituel et un maître
d’ascèse.
Et si d’aucuns
répugnaient à se joindre au cercle de l’Aventin par trop soumis, il est une
autre place de choix ! Qu’ils se rangent aux côtés d’Augustin, l’évêque
d’Hippone ! Rien de significatif comme la correspondance échangée entre ces
deux Docteurs de l’Église latine ! Augustin, le Pasteur, incompétent en
sciences hébraïques, ose faire à Jérôme une remarque à propos de ses
traductions ! Ulcéré, Jérôme sort ses griffes : est-ce parce qu’il est évêque
que ce jeune blanc-bec cherche à en remontrer à un vieux maître ?
Consterné, Augustin
répond avec humilité et douceur et le Docteur de la charité exhorte à la
charité en reconnaissant ses torts, en posant des questions… Et voici que
soudain Jérôme, ce vieux lion, dompté, se couche aux pieds d’Augustin [20]. Il
en vient à reconnaître, en toute sincérité, la supériorité d’Augustin : que
valent, dit-il, ses pauvres discussions avec les Pélagiens auprès de celles
d’Augustin, ce théologien et ce penseur ?
« La charité est
patiente, elle excuse tout, elle endure tout » [21] : elle a su apaiser… même
un saint Jérôme
[1] PL 28, 1082 B,
préface de la traduction du livre de Job.
[2] P. ANTIN,
Introduction de saint Jérôme, Sur Jonas, Paris 1956, SC N° 43, p. 7-8.
[3] Voir le beau
témoignage qu’en donne le récit de saint Augustin (Confessions, VIII, 6, 15).
[4] Dans la Lettre 11,
Jérôme parle du « susurrement des calomniateurs ». Jérôme l’écrit aux vierges
d’Haemona auxquelles, non loin d’Aquilée, il faisait des conférences. Steinmann
suppose, comme d’autres d’ailleurs, que les visites de Jérôme aux moniales
provoquèrent des calomnies : J. STEINMANN, Saint Jérôme, Paris 1958, p. 42.
[5] Saint Augustin, avant
sa conversion, a une réaction identique, une réaction de rhéteur : Confessions,
III, 5, 9 : « Les Écritures m’ont paru indignes d’entrer en comparaison avec la
dignité cicéronienne ! »
[6] Dans la même Lettre
22. Le récit du songe de Jérôme est une de ses pages les plus célèbres.
[7] J . STEINMANN, op.
cit., p. 54.
[8] P. ANTIN, Essai sur Saint
Jérôme, Paris 1951, p. 65.
[9] Apollinaire de
Laodicée fut condamné comme hérétique : il refusait de reconnaître au Christ un
principe d’animation non divin et donc une âme humaine.
[10] Saint JEROME, De
vir.
[11] P. ANTIN, op. cit.,
p. 89.
[12] Cf. Règle de saint
Benoît, ch. 53.
[13] Prologue du Commentaire
de l’épitre aux Éphésiens.
[14] L’expression est de Paul
Antin, (op. cit., p. 109.)
[15] Ce que Steinmann
appelle une « désintoxication », op. cit., p. 368. Dire cela sans nuances,
c’est se montrer injuste envers Origène qui n’est certes pas un poison !
[16] P. ANTIN, op. cit.,
p. 160.
[17] Une édition critique
en a été donnée : Pachomiana latina, A. BOON, Louvain 1932.
[18] P. ANTIN, op. cit.,
p. 123.
[19] Vie d’Hilarion, 3.
[20] Pourquoi dans
l’iconographie Jérôme a-t-il si souvent un doux lion auprès de lui ? Tout
simplement parce qu’il y eut une confusion de noms : ce lion est celui d’un
Père du désert, saint Gérasime, un lion reconnaissant parce que Gérasime avait
arraché une épine de sa patte ! Quant au joli chapeau rouge de cardinal ? C’est
un bel anachronisme ! Le chapeau date du XIIIe s., il fut voulu par Innocent IV
qui l’imposa à ses cardinaux ! Mais Jérôme avait bel et bien reçu le titre
honorifique de « prêtre-cardinal » du pape Libère.
[21] 1 Co 13, 4.7.
Source :
SOEUR GABRIEL PETERS, Lire les Pères de l’Église. Cours de patrologie, DDB,
1981.
Avec l’aimable autorisation des Éditions Migne.
SOURCE : http://www.patristique.org/Les-Peres-de-l-Eglise-latine-II-Jerome.html#vie
Filippo Lippi (1406–1469), Madonna and Child with Angels and Saints (Right panel: Saints Gregory and Jerome), circa 1437, Accademia Albertina, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Filippo
Lippi (1406–1469), Madonna and Child with
Angels and Saints (Left panel: Saints Augustine and Ambrose. Center panel:
Madonna and Child enthroned. Right panel: Saints Gregory and Jerome), circa
1437, Accademia Albertina, Metropolitan Museum of Art
SAINT JÉRÔME *
Jérôme tire son
étymologie de gerar, saint, et de nemus, bois, comme on dirait bois saint, ou
bien de norna, qui veut dire loi. C'est pour cela que sa légende dit que Jérôme
signifie loi sainte. En effet il fut saint, c'est-à-dire, ferme, ou pur, ou
couvert de sang, ou destiné aux fonctions sacrées, comme l’on dit des vases
sacrés du temple, qu'ils sont destinés à des usages saints. Il fut saint,
c'est-à-dire, ferme en bonnes oeuvres, à cause de la longanimité de sa
persévérance, et pur en son esprit : et couvert de sang, par la méditation de
la passion du Seigneur : il fut consacré à de saints usages, en interprétant et
en expliquant l’Écriture sainte. Il signifie bois; parce qu'il habita quelque
temps dans un bois; il veut dire loi, par rapport à la discipline régulière
qu'il enseigna, à ses moines, ou bien encore parce qu'il expliqua et interpréta
la loi sainte. Jérôme signifie encore, vision de beauté, ou juge des discours.
La beauté est multiple; la première est la spirituelle, qui réside dans l’âme;
la seconde est la morale, qui consiste dans l’honnêteté des mœurs ; la
troisième est l’intellectuelle, qui est la beauté des anges : la quatrième est
la supersubstantielle, qui appartient à Dieu; 1a cinquième est la
céleste, qui réside dans la patrie des saints. Jérôme vit en lui et posséda
cette quintuple beauté. Il posséda la spirituelle, dans ses différentes vertus;
la morale, par l’honnêteté de sa vie ; l’intellectuelle, dans sa pureté
éminente ; la supersubstantielle, dans son ardente charité ; la céleste, dans
sa charité éternelle ou excellente. Il fut juge, des discours, des siens et de
ceux des autres ; des siens, en ne parlant qu'avec poids ; de ceux des autres,
en approuvant ce qu'ils contenaient de vrai, en réfutant ce qui s'y rencontrait
de faux, et en exposant les choses douteuses.
Jérôme fut le fils d'un
homme noble nommé Eusèbe, et originaire de la ville de Stridonie, sur les
confins de la Dalmatie et de la Pannonie. Jeune encore, il alla à Rome où il
étudia à fond les lettres grecques, latines et hébraïques. Son maître de
grammaire fut Donat, et celui de rhétorique, l’orateur Victorin. Il s'adonnait
nuit et jour à l’étude des saintes Ecritures. Il y puisa avec avidité ces
connaissances qu'il répandit dans la suite avec abondance. A une époque, il le
dit dans une lettre à Eustachius, comme il passait le jour à lire Cicéron et la
nuit à lire Platon, parce que le style négligé des livres des Prophètes ne lui
plaisait pas, vers le milieu du carême, il fut saisi d'une fièvre tellement
subite et violente, que son corps se refroidit, et la, chaleur vitale s'était
retirée dans sa poitrine. Déjà qu’on préparait ses funérailles, quand tout à
coup, il est traîné au tribunal du souverain juge qui lui demanda quelle était
sa qualité, il répondit ouvertement qu'il était chrétien. « Tu mens, lui dite
juge; tu es cicéronien, tu n'es pas chrétien car où est ton trésor, là est ton
coeur. » Jérôme se tut (133) alors et aussitôt le juge le fit fouetter fort
rudement Jérôme se mit à crier : « Ayez pitié de moi, Seigneur, ayez pitié de
moi. » Ceux qui étaient présents se mirent en même temps à prier le juge de
pardonner à ce jeune homme. Celui-ci proféra ce serment : « Seigneur, si jamais
je possède des livres profanes, si j'en lis, c'est que je vous renierai. » Sur
ce serment, il fut renvoyé et soudain il revint à la vie. Alors il se trouva
tout baigné de larmes, et il remarqua que ses épaules étaient affreusement
livides des coups reçus devant le tribunal de Dieu. Depuis, il lut les livres
divins avec le même zèle qu'il avait lu auparavant les livres païens. Il avait
vingt-neuf ans quand il fut ordonné cardinal prêtre dans l’église romaine. A la
mort du pape Libère, Jérôme fut acclamé par tous digne du souverain pontificat.
Mais ayant repris la conduite lascive de quelques clercs et des moines,
ceux-ci, indignés à l’excès, lui tendirent des pièges. D'après Jean Beleth, ce
fut au moyen d'un vêtement de femme qu'ils se moquèrent de lui d'une façon
honteuse. En effet Jérôme s'étant levé comme de coutume pour les matines trouva
un habit de femme que ses envieux avaient mis auprès de son lit, et croyant que
c'était le sien, il s'en revêtit et s'en alla ainsi à l’église. Or, ses ennemis
avaient agi de la sorte afin qu'on crût à la présence d'une femme dans la
chambre du saint. Celui-ci, voyant jusqu'où ils allaient, céda à leur fureur et
se retira chez saint Grégoire de Nazianze, évêque de la ville de Constantinople
Après avoir appris de lui les saintes lettres, il courut au désert et il y
souffrit pour J.-C. tout ce qu'il raconte lui-même à Eustochium en ces termes :
« Tout (134) le temps que je suis resté au désert et dans ces vastes solitudes
qui, brûlées par les ardeurs du soleil, sont pour les moines une habitation
horrible, je me croyais être au milieu des délices de Rome. Mes membres
déformés étaient recouverts d'un cilice qui les rendait hideux; ma peau,
devenue sale, avait pris la couleur de la chair des Ethiopiens. Tous les jours
se passaient dans les larmes ; tous les jours des gémissements, et si
quelquefois un sommeil importun venait m’accabler, la terre nue servait de lit
à mes os desséchés. Je ne parle point du boire ni du manger, quand les malades
eux-mêmes usent d'eau froide, et quand manger quelque chose de cuit est un
péché de luxure : et tandis que je n'avais pour compagnons que les scorpions et
les bêtes sauvages, souvent je me trouvais en esprit dans les assemblées des
jeunes filles ; et dans un corps froid, dans une chair déjà morte, le feu de la
débauche m’embrasait. De là des pleurs continuels. Je soumettais ma chair
rebelle à des jeûnes pendant des semaines entières. Les jours et les nuits
étaient tout un le plus souvent, et je ne cessais de me frapper la poitrine que
quand le Seigneur m’avait rendu à la tranquillité. Ma cellule elle-même me
faisait peur, comme si elle eût été le témoin de mes pensées. Je m’irritais
contre moi, et seul je m’enfonçais dans les déserts les plus affreux. Alors,
Dieu m’en est témoin, après ces larmes abondantes il me semblait quelquefois
être parmi les chœurs des anges. » Il fit ainsi pénitence pendant quatre ans,
après quoi il revint à Bethléem, où il s'offrit à rester comme un animal
domestique auprès de la crèche du Seigneur. Il relisait (135) les ouvrages de
sa bibliothèque qu'il avait rassemblée avec le plus grand soin, ainsi que
d'autres livres; et jeûnait jusqu'à la fin du jour. Il réunit autour de lui un
grand nombre de disciples, et consacra quarante-cinq ans et six mois à traduire
les Ecritures ; il demeura vierge jusqu'à la fin de sa vie. Bien que dans cette
légende, il soit dit qu'il fut toujours vierge, il s'exprime cependant ainsi
dans une lettre à Pammachius : « Je porte la virginité dans le ciel, non pas
que je l’aie. » Enfin sa faiblesse l’abattit au point que couché en son lit, il
était réduit, pour se lever, à se tenir par les mains à une corde attachée à
une poutre, afin de suivre comme il le pouvait, les offices du monastère.
Une fois, vers le soir,
alors que saint Jérôme était assis avec ses frères pour écouter une lecture de
piété, tout à coup un lion entra tout boitant dans le monastère. A sa vue, les
frères prirent tous la fuite; mais Jérôme s'avança au-devant de lui comme il
l’eût fait pour un hôte. Le lion montra alors qu'il était blessé au pied, et
Jérôme appela les frères en leur ordonnant de laver les pieds du lion et de
chercher avec soin la place de la blessure. On découvrit que des ronces lui
avaient déchiré la plante des pieds. Toute sorte de soins furent employés et le
lion guéri, s'apprivoisa et resta avec la communauté comme un animal
domestique. Mais Jérôme voyant que ce n'était pas tant pour guérir le pied du
lion que pour l’utilité qu'on en pourrait retirer que le Seigneur le leur avait
envoyé, de l’avis des frères, il lui confia le soin de mener lui-même au
pâturage et d'y garder l’âne qu'on emploie à apporter du bois de la forêt. Ce
qui se fit : (136) car l’âne ayant été confié au lion, celui-ci, comme un pasteur
habile, servait de compagnon à l’âne qui allait tous les jours aux champs, et
il était son défenseur le plus vigilant durant qu'il paissait çà et là.
Néanmoins, afin de prendre lui-même sa nourriture et pour que l’âne pût se
livrer à son travail d'habitude, tous les jours, à des heures fixes, il
revenait avec lui à la maison. Or, il arriva que comme l’âne était à paître, le
lion s'étant endormi d'un profond sommeil, passèrent des marchands avec des
chameaux : ils virent l’âne seul et l’emmenèrent au plus vite. A son réveil, le
lion ne trouvant plus son compagnon, se mit à courir çà et là en rugissant.
Enfin, ne le rencontrant pas, il s'en vint tout triste aux portes du monastère,
et n'eut pas la hardiesse d'entrer comme il le faisait d'habitude, tant il était
honteux. Les frères le voyant rentrer plus tard que de coutume et sans l’âne,
crurent que, poussé par la faim, il avait mangé cette bête; et ils ne voulurent
pas lui donner sa pitance accoutumée, en lui disant : « Va manger ce qui t'est
resté de l’ânon, va assouvir ta gloutonnerie. » Cependant comme ils n'étaient
pas certains qu'il eût commis cette mauvaise action, ils allèrent aux pâtures
voir si, par hasard, ils ne rencontreraient pas un indice prouvant que l’âne
était mort, et comme ils ne trouvèrent rien, ils vinrent raconter le tout à
saint Jérôme. D'après les avis du saint, on chargea le lion de remplir la
fonction de l’âne ; on alla couper du bois et on le lui mit sur le dos. Le lion
supporta cela avec patience: mais un jour qu'il avait rempli sa tâche, il alla
dans la campagne et se mit à courir çà et là, dans le désir de (137) savoir ce
qui était advenu de son compagnon, quand il vit venir au loin des marchands
conduisant des chameaux chargés et un âne en avant. Car l’usage de ce pays est
que quand on va au loin avec des chameaux, ceux-ci afin de pouvoir suivre une
route plus directe, soient précédés par un âne qui les conduit au moyen d'une
corde attachée à son cou. Le lion ayant reconnu l’âne, se précipita sur ces
gens avec d'affreux rugissements et les mit tous en fuite. En proie à la
colère, frappant avec force la terre de sa queue, il força les chameaux
épouvantés d'aller par devant lui à l’étable du monastère, chargés comme ils
l’étaient. Quand les frères virent cela, ils en informèrent saint Jérôme : «
Lavez, très chers frères, dit le saint, lavez les pieds de nos hôtes ;
donnez-leur à manger et attendez là-dessus la volonté du Seigneur. » Alors le
lion se mit à courir plein de joie dans le monastère comme il le faisait jadis,
se prosternant aux pieds de chaque frère. Il paraissait, en folâtrant avec sa
queue, demander grâce pour une faute qu'il n'avait pas commise. Saint Jérôme,
qui savait ce qui allait arriver, dit aux frères : « Allez, mes frères,
préparer ce qu'il faut aux hôtes qui viennent ici. » Il parlait encore quand un
messager annonça qu'à la porte se trouvaient des hôtes qui voulaient voir
l’abbé. Celui-ci alla les trouver; les marchands se jetèrent de suite à ses
pieds, lui demandant pardon pour la faute dont ils s'étaient rendus coupables.
L'abbé les fit relever avec bonté et leur commanda de reprendre leur bien et de
ne pas voler celui des autres. Ils se mirent alors à prier saint Jérôme
d'accepter la moitié de leur huile et de les bénir. Après (138) bien des
instances, ils contraignirent le saint à accepter leur offrande. Or, ils
promirent de donner aux frères, chaque année, une pareille quantité, d'huile et
d'imposer la même obligation à leurs héritiers (On prétend que toute cette
histoire du lion est attribuée à la légende de saint Jérôme, par l’erreur d'un
copiste qui aurait lu dans le Pré spirituel (ch. CVII) Hyéronime au lieu de
Gérasime).
Autrefois chacun chantait
à l’église ce qu'il voulait mais l’empereur Théodose, d'après Jean Beleth (ch.
XIX), pria le pape Damase de confier à quelque savant le soin de régler
l’office ecclésiastique. Le pape qui savait saint Jérôme instruit à fond dans
les langues grecque et hébraïque et dans toutes les sciences, le chargea de
cette rédaction. Alors saint Jérôme partagea le psautier entre les féries et
assigna à chacune d'elles un nocturne particulier ; il institua de chanter à la
fin de chaque psaume le Gloria Patri, selon que le rapporte Sigebert. Ensuite
il mit dans un ordre convenable les épîtres et les évangiles qu'on devait chanter
dans tout le cours de l’année, enfin tout ce qui concerne l’office, excepté le
chant. De Bethléem il envoya son travail au souverain Pontife qui en fit de
grands éloges ainsi que les cardinaux et qui en confirma l’usage pour la suite.
Après quoi saint Jérôme se fit construire un tombeau à l’entrée de la grotte où
Notre-Seigneur fut enseveli; et ce fut là, après avoir accompli
quatre-vingt-dix ans et six mois, qu'il reçut la sépulture. On voit quel
profond respect eut pour lui saint Augustin par les lettres qu'il lui adressa.
Dans l’une, d'elles, il lui écrit en ces termes : « Au, seigneur très cher, et
très honoré, et honorable ami Jérôme, Augustin, salut, etc. » Autre part, il
écrit ainsi de lui : « Le prêtre Jérôme, très versé dans le grec, le latin et l’hébreu,
vécut jusqu'à une extrême vieillesse dans les saints lieux, se livrant à
l’étude des saintes lettres. La sublimité de ses discours brille de l’Orient à
l’Occident comme la lumière du soleil. » Saint Prosper en ses chroniques en
parle ainsi: « Jérôme, prêtre illustre dans le monde entier, habitait Bethléem,
il rendit des services à l’église par son génie éminent et ses travaux. » Le
saint parle aussi de soi-même en ces termes à Albigensis : « Il n'y a rien que
je n'aie évité avec soin dès mon enfance comme l’esprit d'orgueil et la fierté
de caractère qui attirent la colère de Dieu.». Il dit autre part : « J'ai de
l’appréhension dans les choses qui paraissent certaines. » Plus loin: « Dans le
monastère, nous exerçons l’hospitalité de tout tueur; tous ceux qui viennent à
nous, excepté les hérétiques, nous les recevons avec un visage gai et nous leur
lavons les pieds à leur arrivée. Isidore s'exprime ainsi dans son livre des
Etymologies (Liv. VI.) : « Jérôme possédait trois langues; son interprétation est
préférée à celle des autres, parce qu'il saisit mieux la valeur des termes, et
que ses expressions sont claires et nettes ; en outre, parce qu'il est
chrétien, il est plus sûr. » Sévère Sulpice, disciple de saint Martin, dans un
de ses dialogues, parle, en ces termes, de saint Jérôme, son contemporain : «
Saint Jérôme, indépendamment du mérite de sa foi et de ses vertus, était
instruit dans le latin, le grec et même l’hébreu, à tel point que personne
n'oserait se comparer à lui pour telle science que ce fût : ses combats et ses
luttes contre les méchants étaient de tous les jours et de tous les instants :
les hérétiques le haïrent parce que toujours il les attaqua; les clercs le
haïrent parce qu'il reprit leurs crimes et leur manière de vivre : mais les gens
de bien, sans exception, ne cessent de l’admirer et de l’aimer. En effet, tous
ceux qui le pensent hérétique sont des extravagants. Toujours occupé à lire,
toujours au milieu des livres, il ne se repose ni le jour, ni, la nuit.
Toujours ou bien il lit ou bien il écrit. » Ainsi qu'on peut s'en assurer par
ce qu'il en dit lui-même, il eut à souffrir d'un grand nombre de persécuteurs
et de détracteurs. Mais il supporta de bon coeur ces persécutions. C'est ce
qu'il écrit à Asella : « Je rends grâce à Dieu d'être digne de la haine du
monde. On se moque de moi comme d'un malfaiteur; mais je sais que, pour arriver
au ciel, il faut supporter la bonne comme la mauvaise renommée. Plût à Dieu
que, pour le nom de mon Seigneur et pour la justice, la foule entière des infidèles
me poursuivît. Que le monde ne peut-il s'élever encore avec plus de fureur pour
m’avilir ! Je n'espère qu'une récompense: c'est de mériter les éloges de J.-C.
et la réalisation de ses promesses. Il est doux, il est bon d'être éprouvé,
quand on peut en attendre la rémunération de J. -C. dans le ciel. Les
malédictions ont beau être grandes, si elles sont compensées par les
encouragements de Dieu. » Il mourut vers l’an du Seigneur 398.
* Cette légende parait
compilée sur une prétendue vie du saint par Eusèbe de Crémone et rapportée en
tête des oeuvres de saint Jérôme.
La Légende dorée de Jacques de VORAGINE nouvellement traduite en français avec introduction, notices, notes et recherches sur les sources par l'Abbé J.-B. M. Roze, Chanoine Honoraire de la cathédrale d'Amiens , Édouard Rouveyre, éditeur, 76, Rue de Seine, 76, Paris MDCCCCII
SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/voragine/tome03/147.htm
Attributed to Baldassare di Biagio (1430/34 - 1484), Saint Jérôme, tempera on panel, 65 x 51, Musée de Tessé, Le Mans, France
Also
known as
Eusebius Hieronymus
Sophronius
Girolamo
Hieronymus
Jerom
Man of the Bible
15
June (Eastern calendar)
Profile
Born to a rich pagan family,
Jerome led a wild and misspent youth. Studied in Rome, Italy,
and became a lawyer.
He converted and
joined the Church in
theory, and was baptised in 365,
but it was only when he began his study of theology that
he had a true conversion and
the faith became
integral to his life.
He became a monk,
then, needing isolation for his study of Scripture, he lived for years as
a hermit in
the Syrian deserts.
There he is reported to have drawn a thorn from a lion‘s
paw; the animal stayed
loyally at his side for years.
Priest.
Student of Saint Gregory
of Nazianzen. Secretary to Pope Damasus
I who commissioned Jerome to revise the Latin text of the Bible. The
result was 30 years of work which we know as the Vulgate translation,
the standard Latin version for over a millenia, and which is still in use today.
Friend and teacher of Saint Paula, Saint Marcella,
and Saint Eustochium,
an association that led to so much gossip that Jerome left Rome to
return to desert solitude. He lived his last 34 years in the Holy Land as a
semi-recluse, writing and translating works
of history, biography, the writings of Origen,
and much more. Doctor
of the Church and Father
of the Church. Since his own time, he has been associated in the popular
mind with scrolls, writing, cataloging, translating,
which led to those who work in such fields taking him as their patron –
a man who knew their lives and problems.
Born
419 of
natural causes
interred in
Bethlehem
relics at
the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, Italy
Catholic Biblical Association of America
Saint-Jérôme, Quebec,
city of
Saint-Jérôme, Québec, diocese of
cardinal‘s
hat, often on the ground or behind him, indicating that he turned his back on
the pomp of ecclesiastical life
lion,
referring to the who befriended him after he pulled a thorn from the creature’s
paw
man beating himself in
the chest with a stone
aged monk in
desert
aged monk with
Bible
old man with a lion
Additional
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A
Garner of Saints, by Allen Banks Hinds, M.A.
Book
of Saints, by Father Lawrence
George Lovasik, S.V.D.
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Little
Lives of the Great Saints
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Francis
Xavier Weninger
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
The
Saint with the Lion, by Leonora Blanche Lang
Spiritus
Paraclitus, by Pope Benedict
XV
Pope Benedict XVI
General
Audience, 7
November 2007
General
Audience, 14
November 2007
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Our
Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
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Champions
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Christian
Biographies, by James E Keifer
Nobility
and Analogous Traditional Elites
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Saint
Jerome: Remember the Poor, and Trust God to Provide
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Jerome: Submit to the Teaching of the Church
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Jerome: Find Your Defense Against Temptation in Scripture
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Jerome: Reading Scripture is a Foretaste of Heaven
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Against
Jovinianus, by Saint Jerome (librivox audio book)
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(librivox audio book)
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Illustrious Men, by Saint Jerome
(librivox audio book)
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and Select Works, translated by W H Fremantle
Life
of Saint Jerome, by Father Fray Jose de Siguenza
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Jerome, by Edward L Cutts
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Jerome, by Father Largent
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Letters of Saint Jerome, by Frederick Adam Wright
sitios
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Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti
in italiano
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in latin
Works
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for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus
Letter
to Pammachius Against John of Jerusalem
On
the Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary
Pilgrimage
of the Holy Paula, by Saint Jerome
Readings
What Jerome is ignorant
of, no man has ever known. – Saint Augustine
of Hippo
In the remotest part of a
wild and stony desert, burnt up with the heat of the scorching sun so that it
frightens even the monks that
inhabit it, I seemed to myself to be in the midst of the delights and crowds of
Rome. In exile and prison to which for the fear of hell I had voluntarily
condemned myself, I many times imagined myself witnessing the dancing of the
Roman maidens as if I had been in the midst of them: in my cold body and in my
parched-up flesh, which seemed dead before its death, passion able to live.
Alone with this enemy, I threw myself in spirit at the feet of Jesus, watering
them with my tears, and I tamed my flesh by fasting whole weeks. I am not
ashamed to disclose my temptations, but I grieve that I am not now what I then
was. – Saint Jerome’s
letter to Saint Eustochium
The measure of our
advancement in the spiritual life should be taken from the progress we make in
the virtue of mortification; for it should be held as certain that the greater
violence we shall do ourselves in mortification, the greater advance we shall
make in perfection. – Saint Jerome
If I am to indulge in any
of the pleasures of the present life, I am resolved to do it in such a way that
the solemn realities of the future Judgment may never be banished from my
thoughts. – Saint Jerome
You say in your book that
while we live we are able to pray for each other, but afterwards when we have
died, the prayer of no person for another can be heard…. But if the apostles
and martyrs while still in the body can pray for others, at a time when they
ought still be solicitous about themselves, how much more will they do so after
their crowns, victories, and triumphs? – Saint Jerome
from Against Vigilantius, 406
I interpret as I should,
following the command of Christ: “Search the Scriptures,” and “Seek and you
shall find.” For if, as Paul says, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of
God, and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and
wisdom of God, then ignorance of Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. No one
should think that I mean to explain the entire subject matter of this great
book of the prophet Isaiah in one brief sermon, since it contains all the
mysteries of the lord. It prophesies that Emmanuel is to be born of a virgin
and accomplish marvelous works and signs. It predicts his death, burial and
resurrection from the dead as the Savior of all men. Whatever is proper to holy
Scripture, whatever can be expressed in human language and understood by the
human mind, is contained in the book of Isaiah. -Jerome: from a commentary
on Isaiah
When the Latin Fathers
are represented in a group, Saint Jerome is sometimes in a cardinal‘s
dress and hat, although cardinals were
not known until three centuries later than his time, but as the other Fathers
held exalted positions in the Church, and were represented in ecclesiastical
costumes, and as Saint Jerome held a dignified office in the court of Pope
Dalmasius, it seemed fitting to picture him as a cardinal.
The Venetian painters frequently represented him in a full scarlet robe, with a
hood thrown over the head. When thus habited,
his symbol was a church in his hand, emblematic of his importance to the
universal Church. Saint Jerome is also seen as a penitent, or again, with a
book and pen, attended by a lion. As a penitent, he is a wretched old man,
scantily clothed, with a bald head and neglected beard,
a most unattractive figure. When he is represented as translating the
Scriptures, he is in a cell or
a cave, clothed in a sombre coloured robe, and is writing, or gazing upward for
inspiration. In a few instances, an angel is dictating to him. –
from Saints in Art, by Clara Irskine
Clement
MLA
Citation
“Saint
Jerome“. CatholicSaints.Info. 19 April 2021. Web. 3 May 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-jerome/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-jerome/
Hans
Memling (circa 1433–1494), Saint Jerome
extracting a thorn from the lion's foot, circa 1485, oil on oak wood, 37,5 x 24
Saint Jerome
St. Jerome (Eusebius
Hieronymus), c.347-420, was a Father of the Church and Doctor of the Church,
whose great work was the translation of the Bible into Latin, the edition known
as the Vulgate. He was born at Stridon on the borders of Dalmatia and Pannonia
(roughly modern Slovenia & Croatia) of a well-to-do Catholic family. His
parents sent him to Rome to further his intellectual interests, and there he
acquired a knowledge of classical literature and was baptized at the age of 19.
Shortly thereafter he journeyed to Trier in Gaul and to Aquileia in Italy,
where he began to cultivate his theological interests in company with others
who, like himself, were ascetically inclined.
In about 373, Jerome set
out on a pilgrimage to the East. In Antioch, where he was warmly received, he
continued to pursue his humanist and monastic studies. He also had a profound
spiritual experience, dreaming that he was accused by Christ of being “a Ciceronian,
not a Christian.” Accordingly, he determined to devote himself exclusively to
the Bible and theology, although the translator Rufinus (345-410), Jerome’s
close friend, suggested later that the vow was not strictly kept. Jerome moved
to the desert of Chalcis, and while practicing more rigorous austerities,
pursued his studies, including the learning of Hebrew. On his return to Antioch
in 378 he heard Apollinaris the Younger (c.310-c.390) lecture and was admitted
to the priesthood (379) by Paulinus, bishop of Antioch. In Constantinople,
where he spent three years around 380, he was influenced by Gregory of
Nazianzus.
When Jerome returned to
Rome Pope Damasus I appointed him confidential secretary and librarian and
commissioned him to begin his work of rendering the Bible into Latin. After the
death (384) of Damasus, however, Jerome fell out of favor, and for a second
time he decided to go to the East. He made brief visits to Antioch, Egypt, and
Palestine. In 386, Jerome settled at Bethlehem in a monastery established for
him by Paula, one of a group of wealthy Roman women whose spiritual advisor he
had been and who remained his lifelong friend. There he began his most
productive literary period, and there he remained for 34 years, until his
death. From this period come his major biblical commentaries and the bulk of
his work on the Latin Bible.
The writings of Jerome
express a scholarship unsurpassed in the early church and helped to create the
cultural tradition of the Middle Ages. He developed the use of philological and
geographical material in his exegesis and recognized the scientific importance
of archaeology. In his interpretation of the Bible he used both the allegorical
method of the Alexandrian and the realism of the Antiochene schools. An often
difficult, empassioned and hot-tempered man, Jerome made many enemies, but his
correspondence with friends and enemies alike is of great interest,
particularly that with Saint Augustine.
His greatest gifts were
in scholarship, and he is a true founder of scientific biblical exegesis in the
West. Jerome’s greatest single accomplishment was the Vulgate. The chaos
of the older Latin translation was notorious. Working from the Hebrew OT and the
Greek NT, Jerome, after twenty-three years of labor, gave Latin Christianity
its Bible anew. Its supremacy was reaffirmed by the Council of Trent in 1546,
and it remains to this day the classical Latin Bible. He is the patron Saint of
Librarians, Libraries, Archeologists, Archivists, Bible Scholars,
Schoolchildren, Students Translators, and the city of Quebec, Canada.
SOURCE : http://ucatholic.com/saints/jerome/
Giovanni Bellini (1430–1516). Saint Jérôme
au désert, 1505, National Gallery of Art
BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Saint Peter's Square
Saint Jerome (1)
Dear Brothers and
Sisters,
Today, we turn our
attention to St Jerome, a Church Father who centred his life on the Bible: he
translated it into Latin, commented on it in his works, and above all, strove
to live it in practice throughout his long earthly life, despite the well-known
difficult, hot-tempered character with which nature had endowed him.
Jerome was born into a
Christian family in about 347 A.D. in Stridon. He was given a good education
and was even sent to Rome to fine-tune his studies. As a young man he was
attracted by the worldly life (cf. Ep 22, 7), but his desire for and
interest in the Christian religion prevailed.
He received Baptism in
about 366 and opted for the ascetic life. He went to Aquileia and joined a
group of fervent Christians that had formed around Bishop Valerian and which he
described as almost "a choir of blesseds" (Chron. ad ann. 374).
He then left for the East and lived as a hermit in the Desert of Chalcis, south
of Aleppo (Ep 14, 10), devoting himself assiduously to study. He perfected
his knowledge of Greek, began learning Hebrew (cf. Ep 125, 12), and
transcribed codices and Patristic writings (cf. Ep 5, 2). Meditation,
solitude and contact with the Word of God helped his Christian sensibility to
mature. He bitterly regretted the indiscretions of his youth (cf. Ep. 22,
7) and was keenly aware of the contrast between the pagan mentality and the
Christian life: a contrast made famous by the dramatic and lively
"vision" - of which he has left us an account - in which it seemed to
him that he was being scourged before God because he was "Ciceronian
rather than Christian" (cf. Ep. 22, 30).
In 382 he moved to Rome:
here, acquainted with his fame as an ascetic and his ability as a scholar, Pope
Damasus engaged him as secretary and counsellor; the Pope encouraged him, for
pastoral and cultural reasons, to embark on a new Latin translation of the
Biblical texts. Several members of the Roman aristocracy, especially noblewomen
such as Paula, Marcella, Asella, Lea and others, desirous of committing
themselves to the way of Christian perfection and of deepening their knowledge
of the Word of God, chose him as their spiritual guide and teacher in the
methodical approach to the sacred texts. These noblewomen also learned Greek
and Hebrew.
After the death of Pope
Damasus, Jerome left Rome in 385 and went on pilgrimage, first to the Holy
Land, a silent witness of Christ's earthly life, and then to Egypt, the
favourite country of numerous monks (cf. Contra Rufinum, 3, 22; Ep. 108,
6-14). In 386 he stopped in Bethlehem, where male and female monasteries were
built through the generosity of the noblewoman, Paula, as well as a hospice for
pilgrims bound for the Holy Land, "remembering Mary and Joseph who had
found no room there" (Ep. 108, 14). He stayed in Bethlehem until he died,
continuing to do a prodigious amount of work: he commented on the Word of God;
he defended the faith, vigorously opposing various heresies; he urged the monks
on to perfection; he taught classical and Christian culture to young students;
he welcomed with a pastor's heart pilgrims who were visiting the Holy Land. He
died in his cell close to the Grotto of the Nativity on 30 September 419-420.
Jerome's literary studies
and vast erudition enabled him to revise and translate many biblical texts: an
invaluable undertaking for the Latin Church and for Western culture. On the
basis of the original Greek and Hebrew texts, and thanks to the comparison with
previous versions, he revised the four Gospels in Latin, then the Psalter and a
large part of the Old Testament. Taking into account the original Hebrew and
Greek texts of the Septuagint, the classical Greek version of the Old Testament
that dates back to pre-Christian times, as well as the earlier Latin versions,
Jerome was able, with the assistance later of other collaborators, to produce a
better translation: this constitutes the so-called "Vulgate",
the "official" text of the Latin Church which was recognized as such
by the Council of Trent and which, after the recent revision, continues to be
the "official" Latin text of the Church. It is interesting to point
out the criteria which the great biblicist abided by in his work as a
translator. He himself reveals them when he says that he respects even the
order of the words of the Sacred Scriptures, for in them, he says, "the
order of the words is also a mystery" (Ep. 57, 5), that is, a
revelation. Furthermore, he reaffirms the need to refer to the original
texts: "Should an argument on the New Testament arise between Latins
because of interpretations of the manuscripts that fail to agree, let us turn
to the original, that is, to the Greek text in which the New Testament was
written. "Likewise, with regard to the Old Testament, if there are
divergences between the Greek and Latin texts we should have recourse to the
original Hebrew text; thus, we shall be able to find in the streams all that
flows from the source" (Ep. 106, 2). Jerome also commented on many
biblical texts. For him the commentaries had to offer multiple opinions
"so that the shrewd reader, after reading the different explanations and
hearing many opinions - to be accepted or rejected - may judge which is the
most reliable, and, like an expert moneychanger, may reject the false
coin" (Contra Rufinum 1, 16).
Jerome refuted with
energy and liveliness the heretics who contested the tradition and faith of the
Church. He also demonstrated the importance and validity of Christian
literature, which had by then become a real culture that deserved to be
compared with classical literature: he did so by composing his De Viris
Illustribus, a work in which Jerome presents the biographies of more than
a hundred Christian authors. Further, he wrote biographies of monks, comparing
among other things their spiritual itineraries as well as monastic ideal. In
addition, he translated various works by Greek authors. Lastly, in the
important Epistulae, a masterpiece of Latin literature, Jerome
emerges with the profile of a man of culture, an ascetic and a guide of souls.
What can we learn from St
Jerome? It seems to me, this above all; to love the Word of God in Sacred
Scripture. St Jerome said: "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of
Christ". It is therefore important that every Christian live in contact
and in personal dialogue with the Word of God given to us in Sacred Scripture.
This dialogue with Scripture must always have two dimensions: on the one hand,
it must be a truly personal dialogue because God speaks with each one of us
through Sacred Scripture and it has a message for each one. We must not read
Sacred Scripture as a word of the past but as the Word of God that is also
addressed to us, and we must try to understand what it is that the Lord wants
to tell us. However, to avoid falling into individualism, we must bear in mind
that the Word of God has been given to us precisely in order to build communion
and to join forces in the truth on our journey towards God. Thus, although it
is always a personal Word, it is also a Word that builds community, that builds
the Church. We must therefore read it in communion with the living Church. The
privileged place for reading and listening to the Word of God is the liturgy,
in which, celebrating the Word and making Christ's Body present in the
Sacrament, we actualize the Word in our lives and make it present among us. We must
never forget that the Word of God transcends time. Human opinions come and go.
What is very modern today will be very antiquated tomorrow. On the other hand,
the Word of God is the Word of eternal life, it bears within it eternity and is
valid for ever. By carrying the Word of God within us, we therefore carry
within us eternity, eternal life.
I thus conclude with a
word St Jerome once addressed to St Paulinus of Nola. In it the great exegete
expressed this very reality, that is, in the Word of God we receive eternity,
eternal life. St Jerome said: "Seek to learn on earth those truths which
will remain ever valid in Heaven" (Ep. 53, 10).
To special groups
I am pleased to greet the
English-speaking visitors present at today's Audience, especially those from
England, Ireland, Denmark, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the United States. My
special greeting goes to the members of the pilgrimage group from the Diocese
of Rockville Center, led by their Bishop. I also thank the orchestral and
choral groups for their uplifting music. Upon all of you I cordially invoke an
abundance of joy and peace in Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lastly, I turn my
thoughts to the young people, the sick and the newly-weds. Dear young
people, plan your future in faithfulness to the Gospel, letting yourselves
be guided by Jesus' teaching. Dear sick people, offer up your
suffering to the Lord, so that also thanks to your participation in his
suffering he may implement in the world his saving action. And you, dear newly-weds, guided
by a living faith, seek to form family communities inspired by an intense
Gospel zeal.
© Copyright 2007 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). Saint
Jérôme au désert, 1495, huile sur panneau, 23,1 x 17,4, National Gallery
BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Saint Peter's Square
Saint Jerome (2)
Dear Brothers and
Sisters,
Today, we continue the
presentation of the figure of St Jerome. As we said last Wednesday, he
dedicated his life to studying the Bible, so much so that he was recognized by
my Predecessor, Pope Benedict XV, as "an outstanding doctor in the
interpretation of Sacred Scripture". Jerome emphasized the joy and
importance of being familiar with biblical texts: "Does one not seem
to dwell, already here on earth, in the Kingdom of Heaven when one lives with
these texts, when one meditates on them, when one does not know or seek
anything else?" (Ep. 53, 10). In reality, to dialogue with God,
with his Word, is in a certain sense a presence of Heaven, a presence of God.
To draw near to the biblical texts, above all the New Testament, is essential
for the believer, because "ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of
Christ". This is his famous phrase, cited also by the Second Vatican
Council in the Constitution Dei
Verbum (n. 25).
Truly "in love"
with the Word of God, he asked himself: "How could one live without the
knowledge of Scripture, through which one learns to know Christ himself, who is
the life of believers?" (Ep. 30, 7). The Bible, an instrument
"by which God speaks every day to the faithful" (Ep. 133, 13),
thus becomes a stimulus and source of Christian life for all situations and for
each person. To read Scripture is to converse with God: "If you
pray", he writes to a young Roman noblewoman, "you speak with the
Spouse; if you read, it is he who speaks to you" (Ep. 22, 25). The
study of and meditation on Scripture renders man wise and serene (cf. In
Eph., Prol.). Certainly, to penetrate the Word of God ever more
profoundly, a constant and progressive application is needed. Hence, Jerome
recommends to the priest Nepotian: "Read the divine Scriptures frequently;
rather, may your hands never set the Holy Book down. Learn here what you must
teach" (Ep. 52, 7). To the Roman matron Leta he gave this counsel for
the Christian education of her daughter: "Ensure that each day she studies
some Scripture passage.... After prayer, reading should follow, and after
reading, prayer.... Instead of jewels and silk clothing, may she love the
divine Books" (Ep. 107, 9, 12). Through meditation on and knowledge
of the Scriptures, one "maintains the equilibrium of the soul" (Ad
Eph., Prol.). Only a profound spirit of prayer and the Holy Spirit's help
can introduce us to understanding the Bible: "In the interpretation of
Sacred Scripture we always need the help of the Holy Spirit" (In Mich. 1,
1, 10, 15).
A passionate love for
Scripture therefore pervaded Jerome's whole life, a love that he always sought
to deepen in the faithful, too. He recommends to one of his spiritual
daughters: "Love Sacred Scripture and wisdom will love you; love it
tenderly, and it will protect you; honour it and you will receive its caresses.
May it be for you as your necklaces and your earrings" (Ep. 130, 20).
And again: "Love the science of Scripture, and you will not love the vices
of the flesh" (Ep. 125, 11).
For Jerome, a fundamental
criterion of the method for interpreting the Scriptures was harmony with the
Church's Magisterium. We should never read Scripture alone because we meet too
many closed doors and could easily slip into error. The Bible has been written
by the People of God and for the People of God under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. Only in this communion with the People of God do we truly enter
into the "we", into the nucleus of the truth that God himself wants
to tell us. For him, an authentic interpretation of the Bible must always be in
harmonious accord with the faith of the Catholic Church. It is not a question
of an exegesis imposed on this Book from without; the Book is really the voice
of the pilgrim People of God and only in the faith of this People are we
"correctly attuned" to understand Sacred Scripture. Therefore, Jerome
admonishes: "Remain firmly attached to the traditional doctrine that you
have been taught, so that you can preach according to right doctrine and refute
those who contradict it" (Ep. 52, 7). In particular, given that Jesus
Christ founded his Church on Peter, every Christian, he concludes, must be in
communion "with St Peter's See. I know that on this rock the Church is
built" (Ep. 15, 2). Consequently, without equivocation, he declared:
"I am with whoever is united to the teaching of St Peter" (Ep. 16).
Obviously, Jerome does
not neglect the ethical aspect. Indeed, he often recalls the duty to harmonize
one's life with the divine Word, and only by living it does one also find the
capacity to understand it. This consistency is indispensable for every
Christian, and particularly for the preacher, so that his actions may never
contradict his discourses nor be an embarrassment to him. Thus, he exhorts the
priest Nepotian: "May your actions never be unworthy of your words, may it
not happen that, when you preach in church, someone might say to himself:
"Why does he therefore not act like this?'. How could a teacher, on a full
stomach, discuss fasting; even a thief can blame avarice; but in the priest of
Christ the mind and words must harmonize" (Ep. 52, 7). In another
Epistle Jerome repeats: "Even if we possess a splendid doctrine, the
person who feels condemned by his own conscience remains disgraced" (Ep. 127,
4). Also on the theme of consistency he observes: the Gospel must translate
into truly charitable behaviour, because in each human being the Person of
Christ himself is present. For example, addressing the presbyter Paulinus (who
then became Bishop of Nola and a Saint), Jerome counsels: "The true temple
of Christ is the soul of the faithful: adorn it and beautify this shrine, place
your offerings in it and receive Christ. What is the use of decorating the
walls with precious stones if Christ dies of hunger in the person of the
poor?" (Ep. 58, 7). Jerome concretizes the need "to clothe
Christ in the poor, to visit him in the suffering, to nourish him in the
hungry, to house him in the homeless" (Ep. 130, 14). The love of
Christ, nourished with study and meditation, makes us rise above every
difficulty: "Let us also love Jesus Christ, always seeking union with him:
then even what is difficult will seem easy to us" (Ep. 22, 40).
Prosper of Aquitaine, who
defined Jerome as a "model of conduct and teacher of the human race"
(Carmen de ingratis, 57), also left us a rich and varied teaching on
Christian asceticism. He reminds us that a courageous commitment towards
perfection requires constant vigilance, frequent mortifications, even if with
moderation and prudence, and assiduous intellectual and manual labour to avoid
idleness (cf. Epp. 125, 11; 130, 15), and above all obedience to God:
"Nothing... pleases God as much as obedience..., which is the most
excellent and sole virtue" (Hom. de Oboedientia: CCL 78, 552). The
practice of pilgrimage can also be part of the ascetical journey. In
particular, Jerome promoted pilgrimages to the Holy Land, where pilgrims were
welcomed and housed in the lodgings that were built next to the monastery of
Bethlehem, thanks to the generosity of the noblewoman Paula, a spiritual
daughter of Jerome (cf. Ep. 108, 14).
Lastly, one cannot remain
silent about the importance that Jerome gave to the matter of Christian
pedagogy (cf. Epp. 107; 128). He proposed to form "one soul that
must become the temple of the Lord" (Ep. 107, 4), a "very
precious gem" in the eyes of God (Ep. 107, 13). With profound
intuition he advises to preserve oneself from evil and from the occasions of
sin, and to exclude equivocal or dissipating friendships (cf. Ep. 107,
4, 8-9; also Ep. 128, 3-4). Above all, he exhorts parents to create a
serene and joyful environment around their children, to stimulate them to study
and work also through praise and emulation (cf. Epp. 107, 4; 128, 1),
encouraging them to overcome difficulties, foster good habits and avoid picking
up bad habits, so that, and here he cites a phrase of Publius Siro which he
heard at school: "it will be difficult for you to correct those things to
which you are quietly habituating yourself" (Ep. 107, 8). Parents are
the principal educators of their children, the first teachers of life. With
great clarity Jerome, addressing a young girl's mother and then mentioning her
father, admonishes, almost expressing a fundamental duty of every human
creature who comes into existence: "May she find in you her teacher, and
may she look to you with the inexperienced wonder of childhood. Neither in you,
nor in her father should she ever see behaviour that could lead to sin, as it
could be copied. Remember that... you can educate her more by example than with
words" (Ep. 107, 9). Among Jerome's principal intuitions as a
pedagogue, one must emphasize the importance he attributed to a healthy and
integral education beginning from early childhood, the particular
responsibility belonging to parents, the urgency of a serious moral and
religious formation and the duty to study for a more complete human formation.
Moreover, an aspect rather disregarded in ancient times but held vital by our
author is the promotion of the woman, to whom he recognizes the right to a
complete formation: human, scholastic, religious, professional. We see
precisely today how the education of the personality in its totality, the
education to responsibility before God and man, is the true condition of all
progress, all peace, all reconciliation and the exclusion of violence.
Education before God and man: it is Sacred Scripture that offers us the guide
for education and thus of true humanism.
We cannot conclude these
quick notes on the great Father of the Church without mentioning his effective
contribution to safeguarding the positive and valid elements of the ancient
Hebrew, Greek and Roman cultures for nascent Christian civilization. Jerome
recognized and assimilated the artistic values of the richness of the sentiments
and the harmony of the images present in the classics, which educate the heart
and fantasy to noble sentiments. Above all, he put at the centre of his life
and activity the Word of God, which indicates the path of life to man and
reveals the secrets of holiness to him. We cannot fail to be deeply grateful for
all of this, even in our day.
To special groups
I am pleased to greet the
English-speaking visitors present at today's Audience, especially those from
England, Denmark, Japan, Canada and the United States of America. I greet
especially the Sisters of St Anne of Tiruchirapalli, who are preparing to
celebrate the 150th anniversary of their foundation. Upon all of you I
cordially invoke an abundance of joy and peace in Our Lord Jesus Christ.
© Copyright 2007 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Hans
Memling (circa 1433–1494), Saint Jerome in the wilderness,
circa 1485, oil on oak wood, 87,8 x
59,2, Kunstmuseum Basel
St. Jerome
Born at Stridon, a town
on the confines of Dalmatia and
Pannonia, about the year 340-2; died at Bethlehem,
30 September, 420.
He went to Rome,
probably about 360, where he was baptized,
and became interested in ecclesiastical matters.
From Rome he
went to Trier,
famous for its schools,
and there began his theological studies.
Later he went to Aquileia,
and towards 373 he set out on a journey to the East. He settled first in Antioch,
where he heard Apollinaris
of Laodicea, one of the first exegetes of
that time and
not yet separated from the Church.
From 374-9 Jerome led an ascetical life
in the desert of
Chalcis, south-west of Antioch. Ordained priest at Antioch,
he went to Constantinople (380-81),
where a friendship sprang up between him and St.
Gregory of Nazianzus. From 382 to August 385 he made another sojourn
in Rome,
not far from Pope
Damasus. When the latter died (11 December, 384) his position became a very
difficult one. His harsh criticisms had made him bitter enemies, who tried to
ruin him. After a few months he was compelled to leave Rome.
By way of Antioch and Alexandria he
reached Bethlehem,
in 386. He settled there in a monastery near
a convent founded
by two Roman ladies, Paula and
Eustochium, who followed him to Palestine. Henceforth he led a life of asceticism and
study; but even then he was troubled by controversies which will be mentioned
later, one with Rufinus and the other with the Pelagians.
Chronology
The literary activity of
St. Jerome, although very prolific, may be summed up under a few principal
heads: works on the Bible; theological controversies;
historical works; various letters; translations. But perhaps the chronology of
his more important writings will enable us to follow more easily the
development of his studies.
A first period extends to
his sojourn in Rome (382),
a period of preparation. From this period we have the translation of the homilies of Origen on Jeremias, Ezechiel,
and Isaias (379-81),
and about the same time the
translation of the Chronicle
of Eusebius; then the "Vita S. Pauli, prima eremitae" (374-379).
A second period extends
from his sojourn in Rome to
the beginning of the translation of the Old
Testament from the Hebrew (382-390).
During this period the exegetical vocation of
St. Jerome asserted itself under the influence of Pope
Damasus, and took definite shape when the opposition of the ecclesiastics of Rome compelled
the caustic Dalmatian to
renounce ecclesiastical advancement and retire to Bethlehem.
In 384 we have the correction of the Latin version
of the Four
Gospels; in 385, the Epistles of St.
Paul; in 384, a first revision of the Latin Psalms according
to the accepted text of the Septuagint (Roman Psalter);
in 384, the revision of the Latin version
of the Book
of Job, after the accepted version of the Septuagint;
between 386 and 391 a second revision of the Latin Psalter,
this time according to the text of the "Hexapla" of Origen (Gallican Psalter,
embodied in the Vulgate).
It is doubtful whether
he revised the entire version of the Old
Testament according to the Greek of the Septuagint.
In 382-383 "Altercatio
Luciferiani et Orthodoxi" and "De
perpetua Virginitate B. Mariae; adversus Helvidium". In 387-388, commentaries on
the Epistles to Philemon,
to the Galatians,
to the Ephesians,
to Titus; and in 389-390, on Ecclesiastes.
Between 390 and 405, St.
Jerome gave all his attention to the translation of the Old
Testament according to the Hebrew,
but this work alternated with many others. Between 390-394 he translated
the Books
of Samuel and of Kings, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
the Canticle
of Canticles, Esdras,
and Paralipomena.
In 390 he translated the treatise "De Spiritu Sancto" of Didymus
of Alexandria; in 389-90, he drew up his "Quaestiones hebraicae in
Genesim" and "De interpretatione nominum hebraicorum." In 391-92
he wrote the "Vita
S. Hilarionis", the "Vita
Malchi, monachi captivi", and commentaries on Nahum, Micheas, Sophonias, Aggeus, Habacuc.
In 392-93, "De
viris illustribus", and "Adversus
Jovinianum"; in 395, commentaries on Jonas and Abdias;
in 398, revision of the remainder of the Latin version
of the New
Testament, and about that time commentaries on
chapters 13-23 of Isaias;
in 398, an unfinished work "Contra
Joannem Hierosolymitanum"; in 401, "Apologeticum
adversus Rufinum"; between 403-406, "Contra
Vigilantium"; finally from 398 to 405, completion of the version of
the Old
Testament according to the Hebrew.
In the last period of his
life, from 405 to 420, St. Jerome took up the series of his commentaries interrupted
for seven years. In 406, he commented on Osee, Joel, Amos, Zacharias, Malachias;
in 408, on Daniel;
from 408 to 410, on the remainder of Isaias;
from 410 to 415, on Ezechiel;
from 415-420, on Jeremias.
From 401 to 410 date what is left of his sermons;
treatises on St.
Mark, homilies on
the Psalms,
on various subjects, and on the Gospels;
in 415, "Dialogi
contra Pelagianos".
Characteristics of St. Jerome's
work
St. Jerome owes his place
in the history of exegetical studies
chiefly to his revisions and
translations of the Bible.
Until about 391-2, he considered the Septuagint translation
as inspired. But the progress of his Hebraistic studies
and his intercourse with the rabbis made
him give up that idea,
and he recognized as inspired the
original text only. It was about this period that he undertook the translation
of the Old
Testament from the Hebrew.
But he went too far in his reaction against the ideas of
his time, and is open to reproach for not having sufficiently appreciated
the Septuagint.
This latter version was made from a much older, and at times much purer, Hebrew
text than the one in use at the end of the fourth century. Hence
the necessity of
taking the Septuagint into
consideration in any attempt to restore the text of the Old
Testament. With this exception we must admit the excellence of the translation
made by St. Jerome.
His commentaries represent
a vast amount of work but of very unequal value. Very often he worked
exceedingly rapidly; besides, he considered a commentary a
work of compilation, and his chief care was to accumulate the interpretations
of his predecessors, rather than to pass judgment on them. The
"Quaestiones hebraicae in Genesim" is one of his best works. It is a
philological inquiry concerning the original text. It is to be regretted that
he was unable to continue, as had been his intention,
a style of work entirely new at the time. Although he often asserted his desire
to avoid excessive allegory, his efforts in that respect were far from
successful, and in later years he was ashamed of some of his earlier
allegorical explanations. He himself says that he had recourse to the
allegorical meaning only when unable to discover the literal meaning. His
treatise, "De Interpretatione nominum hebraicorum", is but a
collection of mystical and symbolical meanings.
Excepting the
"Commentarius in ep. ad Galatas", which is one of his best, his
explanations of the New
Testament have no great value. Among his commentaries on
the Old
Testament must be mentioned those on Amos, Isaias,
and Jeremias.
There are some that are frankly bad, for instance those on Zacharias, Osee,
and Joel.
To sum up, the Biblical knowledge of
St. Jerome makes him rank first among ancient exegetes.
In the first place, he was very careful as to the sources of his information.
He required of the exegete a
very extensive knowledge of
sacred and profane history, and also of the linguistics and geography of
Palestine. He never either categorically acknowledged or rejected the
deuterocanonical books as part of the Canon of Scripture,
and he repeatedly made use of them. On the inspiration,
the existence of a spiritual meaning, and the freedom of the Bible from error,
he holds the traditional doctrine.
Possibly he has insisted more than others on the share which belongs to the
sacred writer in his collaboration in the inspired work.
His criticism is
not without originality. The controversy with the Jews and
with the Pagans had
long since called the attention of the Christians to
certain difficulties in the Bible.
St. Jerome answers in various ways. Not to mention his answers to this or that
difficulty, he appeals above all to the principle, that the original text of
the Scriptures is
the only one inspired and
free from error.
Therefore one must determine if the text, in which the difficulties arise, has
not been altered by the copyist. Moreover, when the writers of the New
Testament quoted the Old
Testament, they did so not according to the letter but according to the
spirit. There are many subtleties and even contradictions in the explanations
Jerome offers, but we must bear in mind his
evident sincerity. He does not try to cloak over his ignorance;
he admits that there are many difficulties in the Bible;
at times he seems quite embarrassed. Finally, he proclaims a principle, which,
if recognized as legitimate, might serve to adjust the insufficiencies of his
criticism. He asserts that in the Bible there
is no material error due
to the ignorance or
the heedlessness of the sacred writer, but he adds: "It is usual for the
sacred historian to conform himself to the generally accepted opinion of the
masses in his time" (P.L., XXVI, 98; XXIV, 855).
Among the historical
works of St. Jerome must be noted the translation and the continuation of the
"Chronicon Eusebii Caesariensis", as the continuation written by him,
which extends from 325 to 378, served as a model for the annals of
the chroniclers of the Middle
Ages; hence the defects in such works: dryness, superabundance of data of
every description, lack of proportion and of historical sense. The "Vita
S. Pauli Eremitae" is not a very reliable document. The "Vita
Malchi, monachi" is a eulogy of chastity woven
through a number of legendary episodes. As to the "Vita
S. Hilarionis", it has suffered from contact with the preceding ones.
It has been asserted that the journeys of St.
Hilarion are a plagiarism of some old tales of travel. But these
objections are altogether misplaced, as it is really a reliable work. The treatise "De
Viris illustribus" is a very excellent literary history. It was
written as an apologetic work
to prove that
the Church had
produced learned men. For the first three centuries Jerome depends to a great
extent on Eusebius,
whose statements he borrows, often distorting them, owing to the rapidity with
which he worked. His accounts of the authors of the fourth century however are
of great value.
The oratorical consist of
about one hundred homilies or
short treatises, and in these the Solitary of Bethlehem appears in a new light.
He is a monk addressing monks,
not without making very obvious allusions to contemporary events. The orator is
lengthy and apologizes for it. He displays a wonderful knowledge of
the versions and contents of the Bible.
His allegory is excessive at times, and his teaching on grace is Semipelagian.
A censorious spirit against authority, sympathy for the poor which
reaches the point of hostility against the rich, lack of good taste,
inferiority of style, and misquotation, such are the most glaring defects of
these sermons.
Evidently they are notes taken down by his hearers, and it is a question
whether they were reviewed by the preacher.
The correspondence of St.
Jerome is one of the best known parts of his literary output. It comprises
about one hundred and twenty letters from him, and several from his
correspondents. Many of these letters were written with a view to publication,
and some of them the author even edited himself; hence they show evidence of
great care and skill in their composition, and in them St. Jerome reveals
himself a master of style. These letters, which had already met with great
success with his contemporaries, have been, with the "Confessions" of St.
Augustine, one of the works most appreciated by the humanists of
the Renaissance.
Aside from their literary interest they have great historical value. Relating
to a period covering half a century they touch upon most varied subjects; hence
their division into letters dealing with theology,
polemics, criticism,
conduct, and biography. In spite of their turgid diction they are full of the
man's personality.
It is in this correspondence that the temperament of St. Jerome is most clearly
seen: his waywardness, his love of extremes, his exceeding sensitiveness; how
he was in turn exquisitely dainty and bitterly satirical, unsparingly outspoken
concerning others and equally frank about himself.
The theological writings
of St. Jerome are mainly controversial works, one might almost say composed for
the occasion. He missed being a theologian,
by not applying himself in a consecutive and personal manner to doctrinal questions.
In his controversies he was simply the interpreter of the accepted ecclesiastical
doctrine. Compared with St.
Augustine his inferiority in breadth and originality of view is most
evident.
His "Dialogue" against
the Luciferians deals with a schismatic sect whose
founder was Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia.
The Luciferians refused to approve of the measure of clemency by which
the Church,
since the Council
of Alexandria, in 362, had allowed bishops,
who had adhered to Arianism,
to continue to discharge their duties on
condition of professing the Nicene
Creed. This rigorist sect had
adherents almost everywhere, and even in Rome it
was very troublesome. Against it Jerome wrote his "Dialogue",
scathing in sarcasm, but not always accurate in doctrine,
particularly as to the Sacrament
of Confirmation.
The book "Adversus
Helvidium" belongs to about the same period. Helvidius held
the two following tenets:
Mary bore
children to Joseph after
the virginal
birth of Jesus Christ;
from a religious viewpoint,
the married state
is not inferior to celibacy.
Earnest entreaty decided
Jerome to answer. In doing so he discusses the various texts of the Gospel which,
it was claimed, contained the objections to the perpetual
virginity of Mary. If he did not find positive answers on all points, his
work, nevertheless, holds a very creditable place in the history of Catholic exegesis upon
these questions.
The relative dignity
of virginity and marriage,
discussed in the book against Helvidius, was taken up again in the book "Adversus
Jovinianum" written about ten years later. Jerome recognizes the
legitimacy of marriage,
but he uses concerning it certain disparaging expressions which were criticized
by contemporaries and for which he has given no satisfactory explanation.
Jovinian was more dangerous than Helvidius. Although he did not exactly
teach salvation by faith alone,
and the uselessness of good works,
he made far too easy the road to salvation and
slighted a life of asceticism.
Every one of these points St. Jerome took up.
The "Apologeticum
adversus Rufinum" dealt with the Origenistic controversies.
St. Jerome was involved in one of the most violent episodes
of that struggle, which agitated the Church from Origen's lifetime
until the Fifth
Ecumenical Council (553). The question at issue was to determine if
certain doctrines professed by Origen and
others taught by certain pagan followers
of Origen could
be accepted. In the present case the doctrinal difficulties
were embittered by personalities between St. Jerome and his former friend,
Rufinus. To understand St. Jerome's position we must remember that the works
of Origen were
by far the most complete exegetical collection
then in existence, and the one most accessible to students. Hence a very
natural tendency to make use of them, and it is evident that St. Jerome did so,
as well as many others. But we must carefully distinguish between writers who
made use of Origen and
those who adhered to his doctrines. This distinction is particularly necessary with
St. Jerome, whose method of work was very rapid, and consisted in transcribing
the interpretations of former exegetes without
passing criticism on them. Nevertheless, it is certain that
St. Jerome greatly praised and made use of Origen,
that he even transcribed some erroneous passages
without due reservation. But it is also evident that he never adhered
thinkingly and systematically to the Origenistic doctrines.
Under these circumstances
it came about that when Rufinus, who was a genuine Origenist,
called on him to justify his use of Origen,
the explanations he gave were not free from embarrassment. At this distance
of time it
would require a very subtle and detailed study of the question to decide the
real basis of the quarrel. However that may be, Jerome may be accused of
imprudence of language and blamed for a too hasty method of work. With a temperament such
as his, and confident of his undoubted orthodoxy in
the matter of Origenism,
he must naturally have been tempted to
justify anything. This brought about a most bitter controversy with his wily
adversary, Rufinus. But on the whole Jerome's position is by far the stronger
of the two, even in the eyes of his contemporaries. It is generally conceded
that in this controversy Rufinus was to blame. It was he who brought about the
conflict in which he proved himself
to be narrow-minded, perplexed, ambitious,
even timorous. St. Jerome, whose attitude is not always above reproach, is far
superior to him.
Vigilantius, the
Gascon priest against
whom Jerome wrote a treatise, quarrelled with ecclesiastical usages rather than
matters of doctrine.
What he principally rejected was the monastic life
and the veneration of saints and
of relics.
In short, Helvidius,
Jovinian, and Vigilantius were the mouthpieces of a reaction against asceticism which
had developed so largely in the fourth century. Perhaps the influence of that
same reaction is to be seen in the doctrine of the monk Pelagius,
who gave his name to the principal heresy on grace: Pelagianism.
On this subject Jerome wrote his "Dialogi contra Pelagianos".
Accurate as to the doctrine of original
sin, the author is much less so when he determines the part of God and
of man in
the act of justification.
In the main his ideas are Semipelagian: man merits first grace:
a formula which endangers the absolute freedom of the gift
of grace.
The book "De situ et
nominibus locorum hebraicorum" is a translation of the "Onomasticon"
of Eusebius,
to which the translator has joined additions and corrections. The translations
of the "Homilies" of Origen vary
in character according to the time in
which they were written. As time went
on, Jerome became more expert in the art of translating, and he outgrew the
tendency to palliate, as he came across them, certain errors of Origen.
We must make special mention of the translation of the homilies "In
Canticum Canticorum", the Greek original of which has been lost.
St. Jerome's complete
works can be found in P.L., XXII-XXX.
Saltet,
Louis. "St. Jerome." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 29 Sept.
2015<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08341a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Sean Hyland.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John
Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08341a.htm
.jpg)
Rogier van der Weyden, Saint Jérôme et
le lion, circa 1450, 31 x 25, Institut d'Art de Detroit
Saint Jerome
No biography available. In the meantime, this is a story about the saint:
St. Jerome and the Lion: In Vita Divi Hieronymi (Migne. P.L., XXII, c. 209ff.) as translated by Helen Waddell in Beasts and Saints (NY: Henry Holt and Co., 1934), you will find the reason St. Jerome is generally pictured with a lion. One evening at dusk St. Jerome sat with his fellow monk in his monastery in Jerusalem listening to the lesson of the day, when a mighty lion came in limping on three paws, holding the fourth caught up. Imagine the chaos that followed as the monks tripped over one another trying to get away. But Jerome went out to meet him as one greets an incoming guest.
Of course, the lion couldn't speak, since it's not in their nature, but offered the good father his wounded paw. Jerome examined it and called his brethren to bathe it. When it was clean Jerome noticed that the paw had been pierced by thorns. After he applied a salve, the wound quickly healed.
The gentle ministrations had tamed the lion, who now went in and out of the cloister as peaceably as any domestic animal. Of this Jerome said, "Bring your minds to bear upon this, my brethren: what, I ask you, can we find for this lion to do in the way of useful and suitable work, that will not be burdensome to him, and that he can efficiently accomplish? For I believe of a surety that it was not so much for the healing of his paw that God sent him hither, since He could have cured him without us, as to show us that He is anxious to provide marvellous well for our necessity."
The brothers thought that the lion should be tasked with accompanying and protecting the donkey that carried the firewood for the monastery. And so that was the lion's charge. And thus it was for a long time; the lion would guard the donkey as he went to and fro. One day, however, the lion grew tired and fell asleep as the donkey grazed and some Egyptian oil merchants espied the untended donkey and led him away.
The lion eventually awoke and went in search of the donkey. With increasing anxiety he hunted for the donkey all day. At even fall, hopeless, he returned and stood at the monastery gate. Conscious of guilt, he no longer walked in pride as he did usually with the donkey. When Jerome and the monks saw him, they concluded his guilt grew from having allowed his savage nature to overtake his gentleness; that he had killed hte donkey. So, they refused to feed him and sent him away to finish eating his kill.
And yet there was some doubt as to whether he had committed the crime, so the monks went in search of the donkey's carcass and couldn't find it anywhere, nor any sign of violence. The monks reported to Jerome, who said, "I entreat you, brethren, that although you have suffered the loss of the ass, do not nevertheless nag at him or make him wretched. Treat him as before, and offer him his food: and let him take the donkey's place, and make a light harness for him so that he can drag home the branches that have fallen in the wood." And so it happened.
The lion regularly did his appointed task. Yet the lion still sought some understanding of the fate of his former companion. One day he climbed a hill and looked down upon the highway, where he saw men coming with laden camels, and in front of them walked a donkey. He stepped out to meet them. He saw it was his friend and began to roar, charging at the merchants without doing them harm. Frightened, they ran away as fast as they could, leaving the donkey and their packed camels behind them.
The lion led the animals back to the monastery. When the monks saw this odd sight--a donkey leading a parade with the lion in the vanguard and the camels in between--they ran to get Jerome. The saint had the gates opened then said, "Take their loads off these our guests, the camels, I mean, and the donkey, and bathe their feet and give them fodder, and wait to see what God is minded to show His servants."
When he instructions were carried out, the lion began to roam once again through the cloister as he used to do, flattening myself against the feet of each group of brothers and wagging his tail, as though to ask forgiveness for the crime that he had never committed. The brothers, full of remorse for their calumny would say to one another, "Behold our trusty shepherd whom so short a while ago we were upbraiding for a greedy ruffian, and God has deigned to send him to us with such a resounding miracle, to clear his character!"
Meanwhile, Jerome, aware of things to come, said, "Be prepared, my brethren, in all things that are requisite for refreshment: so that those who are about to be our guests may be received, as is fitting, without embarassment."
So the brothers prepared for the arrival of other guests, just as the merchants arrived a the gate. They were welcomed; however, they entered blushing, and protrated themselves at Jerome's feet, entreating forgiveness for their fault. 'Gently raising them up, he admonished them to enjoy their own with thanksgiving, but not to encroach on others' goods: and in short to live cautiously, as ever in the presence of God.' Then he offered them refreshment before they left with their camels.
The merchants offered the monks half the oil carried by their camels to fill the lamps in the church and for the needs of the monks, "because we know and are sure that it was rather to be of service to you than for our own profit that we went down into Egypt to bargain there."
Jerome responded, "This that you ask is indeed not right, for it would seem a great hardship that we who ought to have compassionon others and relieve their necessities by our own giving, should bear so heavy on you, taking your property away from you when we are not in need of it."
To which they answered, "Neither this food, nor any of our own property do we touch, unless you first command that what we ask shall be done. And so, as we have siad, do you now accept half of the oil that the camels have brought: and we pledge ourselves and our heirs to give to you and those that come after you the measure of oil which is called a hin in each succeeding year."
And so Jerome accepted. The merchants for their part accepted the refreshments and a blessing, and returned rejoicing to the own people.
Note: Waddell says that the manuscript that records this story dates no earlier than the 10th or 11th century, and may well result from a confusion between the irasible St. Jerome (Hieronymus) and the more genial St. Gerasimus, who lived a little further up the Jordan River. St. Gerasimus's lion and donkey are less sophisticated than those in this later story. Though St. Jerome is generally remembered as a curmudgeon, he did have those who loved him and saw a gentler side.
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0930.shtml
Giovanni Santi, Saint Jerome enthroned, Collection of Vatican Museums, Pinacoteca Vaticana
Golden Legend –
Life of Saint Jerome
Here followeth the Life
of Jerome, and first of his name.
Jeronimus is said of
gerar, that is holy, and of nemus, that is to say a wood. And so Jerome is as
much to say as a holy wood. Or it is said of norma, that is to say law, whereof
is said in his legend that Jerome is interpreted a holy law. He was farforth
holy, that is to say firm or clean or dyed of blood, or deputed to holy usage,
like as vessels of the temple be said holy for they be ordained to holy usage.
He was holy, that is to say steadfast, in holy work by long perseverance, he was
clean in mind by purity, he was dyed in blood by thinking of the passion of our
Lord Jesu Christ, he was deputed to holy usage by the exposition of holy
Scripture, he was said a holy wood by the conversation that he sometimes did
and abode in the wood. And he was said law for the rules of his discipline
which he taught to his monks, or because he expounded and interpreted the holy
law and Scripture. Jerome also is interpreted the vision of beauty or judging
words. There is beauty manifold. First is spiritual, which is in the soul.
Second, moral, which is in honesty of manners. The third is intellectual, which
is in the angels. The fourth is substantial, which is divine. The fifth is
heavenly, which is in the country of saints. This five-fold beauty had Saint
Jerome in himself. For he had spiritual in diversity of virtues; the moral had
he in the honesty of his life; he had intellectual in the excellence of purity;
he had the substantial in burning charity; he had the celestial in the
perdurable and excellent clearness or clarte. He judged the speeches and words,
his own well examined in clearly pronouncing, the others being true in
confirming, the false condemning and confusing, and the doubtful in expounding.
Of Saint Jerome
Jerome was the son of a
noble man named Eusebius, born of the town Stridon, which is in the utter end
of Dalmatia and of Pannonia. He, being yet a child, went to Rome and was there
taught in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. He had for his teacher in
grammar Donatus, in rhetoric Victorinus, the orator, and he was day and night
occupied, and exercised himself in divine Scriptures, which he drew covetously,
and after shed it out abundantly. And as he writeth in an epistle to
Eustochius, that on a time as he read on a day Plato, and in the night Tully
desirously, because that the book of the prophets pleased him not, he was about
mid-Lent taken with a sudden and burning fever, that all his body was cold, in
such wise that there was no vital heat save a little which he felt in his
breast. And as the exequies for his death were making ready, he was suddenly
brought to the judgment of God, and there he was demanded of what condition he
was, and he answered boldly that he was a christian man. And the judge said:
Thou liest, thou art a Ciceronian, and no christian man, whereas thy treasure
is, there is thy heart. Then Saint Jerome was still and said nothing, and anon
then the judge commended that he should be sore beaten. Then he cried and said:
Have mercy on me, Lord, have mercy on me. Then they that were assisting our
Lord prayed him that he would forgive this young man his trespass. And he then
began to swear and say: Lord, if ever I read or hear more secular books, I
shall forsake thee. And with the words of this promise and oath he was let go, and
anon he revived. And then he saw himself all bewept. And of the strokes of the
beatings that he received tofore the throne of our Lord, the tokens of the
strokes and lashes were seen on his shoulders right horrible and great. And
from then forthon he became good, and read divine books with as great study as
ever he had read the books of poetry and of paynims. And when he was
nine-and-twenty years old he was ordained cardinal priest in
the church of Rome. And when Liberius was dead all the people cried to have
Saint Jerome sovereign priest.
And when he began to blame the jollity and lavish life of some clerks and
monks, they had indignation and despite of him, and lay in a wait to hurt and
slander him. And as John Beleth saith: They scorned and mocked him by the
clothing of a woman. For on a night when he arose to matins, as he was
accustomed, he found a woman’s clothing Iying by his bed which his enemies had
laid there. And he weeping that they had been his own, did them on, and so
clothed came in to the church, and this did they that had envy at him because
others should ween that he had a woman in his chamber. And when he saw that, he
eschewed their woodness and went unto Gregory Nazianzen, bishop of
Constantinople. And when he had learned of him the holy Scripture and holy
letters, he went into desert, where, what, and how much he suffered for
Christ’s sake, he recounted to Eustochium, and said that when he was in that
great desert and waste wilderness, which is so burnt by the sun that it gave to
the monks a right dry habitacle, I supposed me then to be at Rome among the
delices, and my members scalded, burnt, made dry and black like to the skin of
a Morian or an Ethiopian, and I was always in tears and weepings. And when the very
sleep came and oppressed me against which I oft repugned, then I laid my dried
bones on the bare earth. Of meats and drink I speak not, for they that were
sick used only cold water, and for to take any thing boiled or roasted, it was
to them lechery. And yet nevertheless I was oft fellow unto scorpions and wild
beasts, and yet the carols of maidens and the embracements of lechery grew in
my cold body and in my flesh, wherefore I wept continually, and for to adaunt and subdue my proud flesh I
rose at midnight all the week long, joining oft the night with the day, and I
ceased not to beat my breast, praying our Lord to render to me the peaceable
peace of my flesh. And I also doubted my proper cell as fearing my conceits and
thoughts, wherefore I went and departed wroth, and revenging myself, passed
alone through the sharp and thick deserts. And as our Lord is witness, after
many weepings and tears, it seemed to me that I was among the company of
angels, this during four years.
Then his penance thus
done, he returned to the town of Bethlehem, where as a wise and a prudent beast
he offered himself to abide by the crib of our Lord. And then his holy Bible,
which with study he had translated, and other books he read, and led the day
forth with fasting unto even. And there he assembled many disciples unto him
for to Iabour there in his holy purpose, and abode there in the translation of
holy Scripture fifty-five years and six months, and remained a pure virgin unto
the end of his life. And how well that it be said in his legend that he was
ever a virgin, yet nevertheless he wrote of himself to Palmatian: I bear
virginity into heaven, not for that I have virginity, but for I marvel more
that I have it not. Then at the last he being weary for to travail, lay down in
his bed wherover hung a cord on a beam, whereon he laid and held his hands for
to lift up himself that he might do the service of God as much as he might.
On a day towards even
Jerome sat with his brethren for to hear the holy lesson, and a lion came
halting suddenly in to the monastery, and when the brethren saw him, anon they
fled, and Jerome came against him as he should come against his guest, and then
the lion showed to him his foot being hurt. Then he called his brethren, and
commanded them to wash his feet and diligently to seek and search for the
wound. And that done, the plant of the foot of the lion was sore hurt and
pricked with a thorn. Then this holy man put thereto diligent cure, and healed
him, and he abode ever after as a tame beast with them. Then Saint Jerome saw
that God had sent him to them, not only for the health of his foot, but also
for their profit, and joined to the lion an office, by the accord of his
brethren, and that was that he should conduct and lead an ass to his pasture
which brought home wood, and should keep him going and coming, and so he did.
For he did that which he was commanded, and led the ass thus as a herdsman, and
kept him wisely going and coming, and was to him a right sure keeper and
defender, and always at the hour accustomed he and the ass came for to have
their refection and for to make the ass to do the work accustomed.
On a time it happed that
the ass was in his pasture, and the lion slept fast, and certain merchants passed
by with camels and saw the ass alone, and stole him and led him away. And anon
after, the lion awoke and when he found not his fellow, he ran groaning hither
and thither, and when he saw that he could not find him he was much sorrowful
and durst not come in, but abode at the gate of the church of the monastery,
and was ashamed that he came without the ass. And when the brethren saw that he
was come more late than he was wont, and without the ass, they supposed that by
constraint of hunger he had eaten the ass, and would not give to him his
portion accustomed, and said to him: Go and eat that other part of the ass that
thou hast devoured, and fill thy gluttony. And because they doubted, and they
would wit if he had so eaten, they went to the pastures of the town to see if
they could have any demonstrance of the death of the ass, and they found
nothing, and returned and told it to Jerome, and then he commanded them to
enjoin him to do the office of the ass. Then they hewed down bushes and boughs
and laid upon him, and he suffered it peaceably. And on a day when he had done
his office, he went out to the fields and began to run hither and thither
desiring to know what was done to his fellow, and saw from far merchants that
came with camels charged and laden, and the ass going tofore them. It was the
manner of that region that when the people went far with camels, they had an
ass or a horse going tofore with a cord about his neck for to conduct the
better the camels. And when the lion knew the ass, with a great roaring he ran
on them so terribly that all the merchants fled, and he so feared the camels
with beating the earth with his tail that, he constrained them to go straight
unto the cell with all their charge and lading. And when the brethren saw this
they told it to Jerome, and he said: Brethren, wash the feet of our guests and
give them meat, abide ye the will of our Lord hereupon. And then the lion began
to run joyously throughout all the monastery, as he was wont to do, and kneeled
down to every brother and fawned them with his tail, like as he had demanded
pardon of the trespass that he had done. And Saint Jerome, which knew well what
was to come, said to his brethren: Go and make ye ready all things necessary
for guests that be coming to us. And as he thus said, there came to him a
messenger, saying to him that there were guests at the gate that would speak
with the abbot. And as soon as they were come they kneeled to the abbot, and
required of him pardon. And he raised and made them to stand up goodly, and
commanded them to take their own good, and not to take away other men’s. And
then they prayed the holy saint that he would take the half of their oil, and
he refused it. And at the last he commanded to take a measure of oil, and then
they promised that they should bring every year a measure of oil to that
church, and their heirs after them.
It was anciently the
custom that whosomever would might sing in the church, so that Theodosius the
emperor, as John Beleth saith, required and prayed Damasus the pope that he
would commit to some wise man of the church to ordain the office and ordinal of
the church. And then he knew well that Jerome was a man that knew the languages
of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, and in all science, and committed to him the said
sovereign office. And then Jerome divided the psalter by ferias, and to every
feria a nocturn proper be assigned, and established in the end of every psalm
to be said: Gloria petri. And after, he ordained reasonably to be sung the
epistles and gospels, and all other things appertaining, save the song which he
sent from Bethlehem unto the pope. Which all was approved and ratified of him
and of the cardinals for
to be used perpetually and so confirmed.
After this, in the mouth
of the spelunke or cave in which our Lord lay, he did do make his monument or
sepulture. And when he had accomplished eighty-eight years and six months he
was there buried. In what reverence Saint Austin had him in, it appeareth in
his epistles that he sent to him, in one of the which he wrote in this manner:
To his right dear friend; most best beloved and most clean in observing and
embracing of chastity, unto Jerome, Austin, etc. And in another place he writeth
thus of him: Saint Jerome, priest,
learned in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, and in holy writings approved
unto his last age, of whom the nobleness of his fair eloquence hath resplended
from the east unto the west, like unto the clearness of the sun. Prosper saith
also of him in his Chronicles: Jerome, priest,
was in Bethlehem sometime, clear to all the world, of noble engine, and lived
in translating and writing of holy Scripture, and with high and noble study
served the universal church. He said also of himself to Albigen: I never
enforced me so much from mine infancy as for to eschew a swelling courage and
enhanced head, and calling against him the hate of God. And ever I have dreaded
the sure things, and have entended with all my heart to the monastery and to
hospitality and have received gladly all comers save heretics, and have washed
their feet. Isidore saith thus in the book of Etymology: Jerome was wise in
three languages, whose interpretation is taken tofore other, for it is more
holding and clear by words and it is interpreted of a very christian. It is
written also of Jerome in the dialogue of Severus, disciple of Saint Martin,
which was in his time: Jerome without the merit of the faith and dowry of
virtues is not only instruct in letters of Latin, but in Greek and Hebrew, so
that none ought to be compared to him in every science, the which had war
perpetual against the wicked men. The heretics hated him for he left never to
impugn against them, the clerks hated him, for he reproved their sins and their
life. But plainly good men loved him and marvelled of him, for they that deemed
him a heretic were mad. He was all in lessons, all in books, he never rested
day ne night but always read or wrote. Hæc Severus. And like as it appeareth by
these words, and also he witnesseth himself, he suffered many persecutors and
detractors, which persecutions he suffered patiently and goodly, as it appeared
in an epistle that he sent to Assela: I give thankings to our Lord God that I
am worthy that the world hate me, and that wicked men and janglers hold me for
evil. For I know well that men come to heaven by the defaming of wicked men
more than by good renomee, and I would that the company of miscreants should
pursue and persecute me for the name and right of our Lord. My will is that the
reproof of the world arise more fervently against me so that I might deserve to
be praised of our Lord, and that I may hope the reward of his promise.
Temptation is desirous and agreeable whose merit in resisting is to be hoped
reward of Christ in heaven. Ne the cursing ne malediction is not grievous which
is changed into divine laud and praising. He died about the year of our Lord
three hundred and eighty-eight.
abide sempiternally with
them, quod ipse prestatur,
qui sine fine vivit et regnat in secula seculorum. Amen.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/golden-legend-life-of-saint-jerome/
Hendrick de Somer (1607–1656) , San
Girolamo in lettura, 1652, 102 x 154, Roma, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica di
Palazzo Barberini
September 30
St. Jerom, Priest and
Doctor of the Church
From his epistles and
other works, and from other fathers and ancient historians. See Tillemont, t.
12. Ceillier, t. 10, and his life compiled in French by Dom. Martianay, in 4to.
in 1706, dedicated to the abbess of Lauzun; and that in Latin by Villarsi, in
the Verona edition of his works. Consult also Orsi, l. 18, n. 51, t. 8, p. 113,
l. 20, n. 31, t. 9, p. 77. Dolci de rebus gestis S. Hieronymi, 4to.
Anconæ, 1750. Stilting, t. 8, Sept. p. 418, 699.
A.D. 420
ST. JEROM, who is allowed
to have been, in many respects, the most learned of all the Latin fathers, was
born, not at Strigonium, now called Gran, situated upon the Danube in Lower
Hungary, but at Stridonium, now Sdrigni, a small town upon the confines of Pannonia,
Dalmatia, and Italy, near Aquileia. 1 He
had a brother much younger than himself, whose name was Paulinian. His father,
called Eusebius, was descended from a good family, and had a competent estate;
but, being persuaded that a good education is the most precious inheritance
that a parent can leave to his children, took great care to have his son
instructed in piety, and in the first principles of literature at home, 2 and
afterwards sent him to Rome. St. Jerom had there, for tutor, the famous pagan
grammarian Donatus, (well known for his commentaries on Virgil and Terence,)
also Victorinus the rhetorician, who by a decree of the senate was honoured
with a statue in Trajan’s square. 3 In
this city he became master of the Latin and Greek tongues, read the best
writers in both languages with great application, and made such progress in
oratory, that he for some time pleaded at the bar: but being left without a
guide, under the discipline of a heathen master, in a school where an exterior
regard to decency in morals was all that was aimed at, he forgot the sentiments
of true piety, which had been instilled into him in his infancy, neglected
sufficiently to restrain his passions, and was full only of worldly views. His
misfortune confirms the truth of that important maxim, that though the
advantages of emulation and mutual communication in studies be exceeding great
with regard to learning, these are never to be purchased with danger to virtue;
nor is a youth to be trusted in public schools without the utmost precaution:
both that he be under the watchful eye and prudent direction of a person who is
sincerely pious and experienced; and that he be linked in society with virtuous
companions, whose gravity, inclinations, discourse, and whole deportment and
spirit, may be to him a constant spur to all virtue, and a support and fence
against the torrent of the world, or of the dangerous example of others. Jerom
went out of this school free indeed from gross vices, but unhappily a stranger
to a Christian spirit, and enslaved to vanity and the more refined passions, as
he afterwards confessed and bitterly lamented.
Being arrived at man’s
estate, and very desirous of improving his studies, he resolved upon travelling,
in order to further this design. Few means contribute more to give a knowledge
of men and the world, and to enlarge a person’s insight in all arts and
sciences, and in every branch of useful knowledge, than travelling in polite
and learned countries. But for this a maturity of age and judgment is
requisite: a foundation must have been first laid of a competent stock of
knowledge, at least of the principles of all the arts in which a
person seeks to improve himself; otherwise things will present to him only
their surfaces or shells, he will see and hear without understanding, and his
travels will at least be no more than an idle gratification of vain curiosity.
The conversation of the wisest and best persons in every place is to be
cultivated; the snares of the world, and all bad company must be watchfully
guarded against: and whatever can be any improvement in valuable knowledge must
be diligently treasured up; in which even those who are best qualified for
making proper observations, will still find much pleasure and great advantage
by a guide who is ready and able to point out whatever deserves notice, and to
improve, and be himself improved by mutual observations. Virtue being the
greatest and most noble of all improvements of the human mind, challenges the
first attention of the traveller, who will be able every where to meet with
lessons of it in the example, maxims, and instructions of the good, and to
learn watchfulness even from the snares of vice. Heroic practices and
sentiments of piety, how much soever they are concealed, may be learned almost
everywhere, if conversation with the most experienced persons in virtue be
sought, and the spirit of God inspire an earnest desire of making such
discoveries and improvements. Above all things, in travelling, great fervour
and assiduity in all religious exercises is necessary, and frequent meditation
must cherish and maintain pious sentiments, and serious reflection digest all
the improvements of the mind. Personal duties and circumstances allow few the
opportunity of travelling; and either by too much time, a wrong season of life,
or a neglect of the necessary rules and conditions, it generally becomes a
vicious rambling, and a school of sloth, trifling, and often of all the
passions. Most travel so as to unhinge the whole frame of their minds, by
living in constant dissipation, so as to verify the motto, that few become by
it more holy. As for modish modern travellers, whose chief study is the
gratification of their passions, they import home little else but the slanders
and impiety of foreign cities, and the vices of the most abandoned rakes, into
whose company they most easily fall, in the countries through which they
passed. Many ancient philosophers travelled for the sake of acquiring useful
science: fervent servants of God have sometimes left their cells (though
redoubling their ardour in the practice of penance and recollection) to visit
holy men for their own edification and instruction.
St. Jerom in his first
journeys was conducted by the divine mercy into the paths of virtue and
salvation. A vehement thirst after learning put him upon making a tour through
Gaul, where the Romans had erected several famous schools, especially at
Marseilles, Toulouse, Bourdeaux, Autun, Lyons, and Triers. This latter was
esteemed an imperial city, being in that age frequently honoured with the
presence of the emperors, when Rome, by the attachment of many powerful
senators to idolatry, and their regret for the loss of their ancient liberty
and privileges, was not so agreeable a residence to its princes. The Emperor
Gratian, a learned man, and a great lover of learning, who appointed, out of
his own revenue, fixed salaries for the public masters of rhetoric, and of the
Greek and Latin languages in all great cities, 4 distinguished
the schools of Gaul with special favours, and above the rest, those of Triers,
to whose professors he granted greater salaries than to those of other cities,
and whither he drew Ausonius from Bourdeaux. By prudent regulations he forbade
the students of this city to frequent public diversions, or shows in the
theatre, or to assist at great banquets or entertainments, and gave other
strict orders for the regulation of their manners. Ausonius extols the
eloquence and learning of the illustrious Harmonius and Ursulus, professors of
eloquence at Triers. 5 It
had been St. Jerom’s greatest pleasure at Rome to collect a good library, and
to read all the best authors: in this, such was his passion, that it made him
sometimes forget to eat or drink. Cicero and Plautus were his chief delight. He
purchased a great many books, copied several, and procured many to be
transcribed by his friends. 6
He arrived at Triers with
his friend Bonosus not long before the year 370, and it was in that city that
the sentiments of piety which he imbibed in his infancy, were awakened, and his
heart was entirely converted to God; so that renouncing the vanity of his
former pursuits, and the irregularities of his life, he took a resolution to
devote himself wholly to the divine service, in a state of perpetual
continence. 7 From
this time his ardour for virtue far surpassed that with which he had before
applied himself to profane sciences, and he converted the course of his studies
into a new channel. Being still intent on enriching his library, he copied at
Triers, St. Hilary’s book On Synods, and his Commentaries on the Psalms. 8Having
collected whatever he could meet with in Gaul to augment his literary treasure,
he repaired to Aquileia, where at that time flourished many eminent and learned
men. St. Valerian, the bishop, had entirely cleared that church of Arianism,
with which it had been infected under his predecessor, and had drawn thither so
many virtuous and learned men, that the clergy of Aquileia were famous over all
the western church. With many of these St. Jerom contracted so great an
intimacy, that their names appear often in his writings. Among these, St.
Chromatius, who was then priest, succeeded St. Valerian in the episcopal
dignity, whose death happened in 387, on the 26th of November, as Fontanini
demonstrates. 9 To
St. Chromatius St. Jerom afterwards dedicated several of his works. This great
bishop died on the 2nd of December, about the year 406. 10 Among
the other eminent clergymen of Aquileia at that time are reckoned St.
Chromatius’s two brothers, Jovinus, the archdeacon, and Eusebius, deacon;
Heliodorus (who was ordained bishop of Antino before the death of St. Valerian)
and his nephew Nepotian; Nicetas, subdeacon, and Chrysogonus, a monk. It
appears from the Chronicle and Letters of St. Jerom, that Heliodorus, Nepotian,
Nicetus, and Florentius were also monks. The monastic state had been introduced
in Italy by St. Athanasius, during his exile there, as St. Jerom testifies. 11 Cardinal
Noris observes, that he made a long stay at Aquileia. 12 By
that great saint’s account of the lives of St. Antony, and other monks in
Egypt, many were excited to imitate them, and a great monastery was founded in
Aquileia, which the learned Fontanini calls the first in Italy, though others
think St. Eusebius of Vercelli, upon his return from the East, had built one in
his own city before this. Others were soon after erected at Rome, Milan, and
other places. When St. Athanasius committed to writing the life of St. Antony,
he mentions, that there were then several monasteries in Italy.
Tyranius Rufinus, famous
first for his friendship, and afterwards for his controversies with St. Jerom,
entered himself a monk at Aquileia, in 370, as is clear both from his own and
St. Jerom’s works. 13 He
was a native of Concordia, not the city of that name near Mirandola, but a
small town in the territory of Aquileia, where during the residence of St.
Jerom in that city, he was baptized in the great church by St. Valerian; St.
Chromatius, Jovinus, and Eusebius assisting, whom, on this account, Rufinus
afterwards calls his three fathers or sponsors; 14 one
being sponsor at catechism, another at baptism, and a third at confirmation.
This testimony confutes the mistake of Dom Martenne, 15 and
Gerard Maestricht, who imagine that anciently no more than one sponsor was ever
admitted for the same person. 16 St.
Jerom shut himself up in this monastery at Aquileia for some time, that he
might with greater leisure and freedom pursue his studies, in the course of which
he was closely linked in friendship with Rufinus, and with great grief saw
himself, by some unknown accident, torn from his company. 17 From
what quarter this storm arose is uncertain; though it seems to have come from
his own family; for he mentions, that paying his friends a visit, he found his
sister had been drawn aside from the path of virtue. He brought her to a deep
sense of her duty, and engaged her to make a vow of perpetual continency; in
which affair he probably met with those difficulties which obliged him, for the
sake of his own peace, to leave that country: his aunt Castorina, about the
same time, vowed her continency to God.
St. Jerom returned to
Rome, resolving to betake himself wholly to his studies and retirement. In his
letters to Pope Damasus he testifies that he received at Rome the sacrament of
regeneration: Tillemont thinks this happened after his return from Aquileia,
because the saint tells us that his merciful conversion to God happened when he
resided near the Rhine. 18 But
Martianay and Fontanini more probably maintain that he was baptized before he
left Rome to go into Gaul, though it was only at Triers that he engaged himself
by vow to serve God in a state of perpetual continency. Experience soon
convinced him that neither his own country nor Rome were fit places for a life
of perfect solitude, at which he aimed, wherefore he resolved to withdraw into
some distant country. Bonosus, his countryman and relation, who had been the
companion of all his studies and travels from his infancy, did not enter into
his views on this occasion, but retired into a desert island on the coast of
Dalmatia, and there led a monastic life. Evagrius, the celebrated priest of
Antioch, who was come into the West upon the affairs of that church, offered
himself to our saint to be his guide into the East; and Innocent, Heliodorus,
and Hylas (who had been a servant of Melania) would needs bear him company.
They crossed Thrace, Pontus, Bithynia, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Cilicia.
Wherever he came he visited the anchorets and other persons of eminent
sanctity, whose conversation might afford him instruction and edification. At
that time many such flourished in the East, especially in the deserts of Egypt,
Syria, and Palestine. Rufinus names among those whose blessing he received in
Egypt the two Macariuses, Isidore in Sceté, Pambo in the Cells, Pœmen and
Joseph in Pisphir or the Mountain of Antony. St. Jerom reckons among them Amos,
Macarius the disciple of Antony, &c. Amongst other holy rules which they
observed, he takes notice in his letter to Rusticus, that the monasteries of
Egypt were wont to admit none who did not follow some manual labour, not so
much for the necessity of their subsistence as for the sanctification of their
souls.
Being arrived at Antioch,
St. Jerom made some stay in that city to attend the lectures of Apollinaris,
who had not yet openly broached his heresy, and then read comments upon the
scriptures with great reputation. St. Jerom had carried nothing with him but
his library, and a sum of money to bear the charges of his journey. But
Evagrius, who was rich, supplied him with all necessaries, and maintained
several amanuenses to write for him and assist him in his studies. The saint
having spent some time at Antioch, went into a hideous desert, lying between
Syria and Arabia, in the country of the Saracens, where the holy abbot
Theodosius received him with great joy. This wilderness took its name from
Chalcis, a town in Syria, and was situated in the diocess of Antioch. Innocent
and Hylas soon died in this desert, and Heliodorus left it to return into the
West; but Jerom spent there four years in studies, and the fervent exercises of
piety. In this lonely habitation he had many fits of sickness, but suffered a
much more severe affliction from violent temptations of impurity, which he
describes as follows: 19 “In
the remotest part of a wild and sharp desert, which being burnt up with the
heats of the scorching sun, strikes with horror and terror even the monks who
inhabit it, I seemed to myself to be in the midst of the delights and
assemblies of Rome. I loved solitude, that in the bitterness of my soul, I
might more freely bewail my miseries, and call upon my Saviour. My hideous emaciated
limbs were covered with sackcloth; my skin was parched dry and black, and my
flesh was almost wasted away. The days I passed in tears and groans, and when
sleep overpowered me against my will, I cast my wearied bones, which hardly
hung together, upon the bare ground, not so properly to give them rest, as to
torture myself. I say nothing of my eating and drinking: for the monks in that
desert, when they are sick, know no other drink but cold water, and look upon
it as sensuality ever to eat any thing dressed by fire. In this exile and
prison, to which, for the fear of hell, I had voluntarily condemned myself,
having no other company but scorpions and wild beasts, I many times found my
imagination filled with lively representations of dances in the company of
Roman ladies, as if I had been in the midst of them. My face was pale with
fasting; yet my will felt violent assaults of irregular desires: In my cold
body, and in my parched-up flesh, which seemed dead before its death,
concupiscence was able to live; and though I vigorously repressed all its
sallies, it strove always to rise again, and to cast forth more violent and
dangerous flames. Finding myself abandoned, as it were, to the power of this
enemy, I threw myself in spirit at the feet of Jesus, watering them with my
tears, and I tamed my flesh by fasting whole weeks. I am not ashamed to
disclose my temptations, but I grieve that I am not now what I then was. I
often joined whole nights to the days, crying, sighing, and beating my breast
till the desired calm returned. I feared the very cell in which I lived,
because it was witness to the foul suggestions of my enemy: and being angry and
armed with severity against myself, I went alone into the most secret parts of
the wilderness, and if I discovered any where a deep valley or a craggy rock,
that was the place of my prayer, there I threw this miserable sack of my body.
The same Lord is my witness, that after so many sobs and tears, after having in
much sorrow looked long up to heaven, I felt most delightful comforts and
interior sweetness; and these so great, that, transported and absorpt, I seemed
to myself to be amidst the choirs of angels; and glad and joyful I sung to
God: After thee, O Lord, we will run in the fragrancy of thy celestial
ointments.” 20
In this manner does God,
who often suffers the fidelity of his servants to be severely tried, strengthen
them, by his triumphant grace, and abundantly recompense their constancy. St.
Jerom, among the arms with which he fortified himself against this dangerous
enemy, added to his corporal austerities a new study, which he hoped would fix
his rambling imagination, and, by curbing his will, give him the victory over
himself. This was, after having dealt only in polite and agreeable studies, to
learn of a converted Jew the Hebrew alphabet, and form his mouth to the uncouth
aspirations and difficult pronunciation of that language. “When my soul was on
fire with bad thoughts,” says he, 21 writing
to the monk Rusticus in 411, “that I might subdue my flesh, I became a scholar
to a monk who had been a Jew, to learn of him the Hebrew alphabet: and after I
had most diligently studied the judicious rules of Quintilian, the copious
flowing eloquence of Cicero, the grave style of Fronto, and the smoothness of
Pliny, I inured myself to hissing and broken-winded words. What labour it cost
me, what difficulties I went through, how often I despaired and left off, and
how I began again to learn, both I myself who felt the burden, can witness, and
they also who lived with me. And I thank our Lord, that I now gather sweet
fruit from the bitter seed of those studies.” However, he still continued to
read the classics with an eagerness and pleasure which degenerated into a
passion, and gave him just remorse, it being an impediment to the perfect
disengagement of his affections, and the entire reign of God in his heart. Of
this disorder he was cured by the merciful hand of God. The saint, in his long
epistle to Eustochium, exhorting that virgin, who had embraced a religious
state, to read only the holy scriptures and other books of piety and devotion,
relates, that being seized with a grievous sickness in the desert, in the heat
of a burning fever, he fell into a trance or dream, in which he seemed to
himself arraigned before the dreadful tribunal of Christ. Being asked his
profession, he answered, that he was a Christian. “Thou liest,” said the judge,
“thou art a Ciceronian: for the works of that author possess thy heart.” 22 The
judge thereupon condemned him to be severely scourged by angels; the
remembrance of which chastisement left a strong impression upon his imagination
after his recovery, and gave him a deep sense of his fault. He promised the
judge never more to read those profane authors. “And from that time,” says he,
“I gave myself to the reading of divine things with greater diligence and
attention than I had ever read other authors.” He indeed declares this to have
been a dream: 23 nevertheless
be looked upon it as a divine admonition, by which he was put in mind of a
fault incompatible with the perfection to which every Christian, especially a
monk, ought to aspire. From that time he corrected this immoderate passion for
reading the classics. 24 Besides
interior trials and temptations, St. Jerom met with many persecutions from the
world, of which he writes as follows: “Would to God that all the infidels would
rise up together against me, for having defended the glory and the name of the
Lord! I wish that the whole world would conspire in blaming my conduct, that I
may, by this means, obtain the approbation of Jesus Christ. You are deceived if
you think that a Christian can live without persecution. He suffers the
greatest who lives under none. Nothing is more to be feared than too long a
peace. A storm puts a man upon his guard, and obliges him to exert his utmost
efforts to escape shipwreck.”
A great schism at that
time divided the church of Antioch, some acknowledging Meletius, and others
Paulinus, patriarch. The breach was considerably widened when the Apollinarist
heretics chose Vitalis, a man of their sect, bishop of that great city. The
monks in the desert of Chalcis warmly took part in this unhappy division, and
were for compelling St. Jerom to declare to which of these candidates he
adhered. Another controversy among them was, whether one or three hypostases
were to be acknowledged in Christ. The Greek word hypostasis was then
ambiguous, being by some used for nature, by others
for person or subsistence; though it is now taken only for
the latter. The Arians on one side, and the Sabellians on the other, sought to
ensnare the faithful under the ambiguity of this word. Our saint therefore
stood upon his guard against their captious artifices, and answered with
caution that if Nature was understood by this word, there was but one
in God; but if Person, that there were three. Teased, however, by
these importunities, and afflicted with a bad state of health, he left his
wilderness, after having passed in it four years, and went to Antioch to his
friend Evagrius. A little before he left his desert, he wrote two letters to
consult St. Damasus, who had been raised to the papal throne at Rome in 366,
what course he ought to steer. In the first he says: 25 “I
am joined in communion with your holiness, that is, with the chair of Peter;
upon that rock I know the church is built. Whoever eats the lamb out of that
house is a profane person. Whoever is not in the ark shall perish in the flood.
I do not know Vitalis; I do not communicate with Meletius; Paulinus is a
stranger to me. Whoever gathers not with you, scatters; that is, he who is not
Christ’s, belongs to Antichrist. We ask what this
word hypostasis signifies? They say, A subsisting person. We answer,
that if that be the meaning of the word, we agree to it. Order me, if you
please, what I should do.” This letter was written toward the end of the year
376, or in the beginning of 377. The saint, not receiving a speedy answer, sent
soon after another letter to Damasus on the same subject, in which
he conjures his holiness to answer his difficulties, and not despise a soul for
which Jesus Christ died. “On one side,” said he, “the Arian fury rages,
supported by the secular power: on the other side, the church (at Antioch)
being divided into three parts, each would needs draw me to itself. All the
time I cease not to cry out: ‘Whoever is united to the chair of Peter he is
mine.’” 26 The
answer of Damasus is not extant: but it is certain that he and all the West
acknowledged Paulinus patriarch of Antioch, and St. Jerom received from his
hands at Antioch the holy order of priesthood before the end of the year 377;
to which promotion he only consented on this condition, that he should not be
obliged to serve that or any other church in the functions of his ministry.
Soon after his ordination he went into Palestine, and visited the principal holy
places situated in different parts of that country, but made Bethlehem his most
usual residence. He had recourse to the ablest Jewish doctors to inform himself
of all particulars relating to all the remarkable places mentioned in the
sacred history, 27 and
he neglected no means to perfect himself in the knowledge of the Hebrew tongue.
For this he addressed himself to the most skilful among the Jews: one of his
masters, by whose instructions he exceedingly improved himself, spoke Hebrew
with such gracefulness, true accent, and propriety of expression, that he
passed among the Jewish doctors for a true Chaldean. 28
About the year 380, our
saint went to Constantinople, there to study the holy scriptures under St.
Gregory Nazianzen, who was then bishop of that city. In several parts of his
works he mentions this with singular satisfaction, and gratitude for the honour
and happiness of having had so great a master in expounding the divine oracles,
as that most eloquent and learned doctor. Upon St. Gregory’s leaving
Constantinople, in 381, he returned into Palestine. Not long after, he was
called to Rome, as he testifies. 29 He
went thither in the same year, 381, with St. Paulinus of Antioch and St.
Epiphanius, who undertook that journey to attend a council which Damasus held
about the schism of Antioch. The two bishops staid the winter in Rome, and then
returned into the East; but Pope Damasus detained St. Jerom with him, and
employed him as his secretary in writing his letters, in answering the
consultations of bishops, and in other important affairs of the church. 30
Our holy doctor soon
gained at Rome a universal love and esteem, on account of his religious life,
his humility, eloquence, and learning. Many among the chief nobility, clergy,
and monks sought to be instructed by him in the holy scriptures, and in the
rules of Christian perfection. He was charged likewise with the conduct of many
devout ladies, as St. Marcella, her sister Asella, and their mother Albina;
Melania the elder, (who is not less famous by the praises of St. Jerom 31 than
by those of Rufinus,) Marcellina, Felicitas, Lea, Fabiola, Læta, Paula, and her
daughters, with many others. The holy widow, St. Marcella, having lost her
husband in the seventh month after her marriage, refused to marry Cerealis, who
had been consul, retired to a country-house near Rome, and made choice of a
monastic life forty years before this, in 341, under Pope Julius I., when St.
Athanasius came to Rome, from whom she received an account of the life of St.
Antony, who was then living. She was instructed by St. Jerom in the critical
learning of the holy scripture, in which she made great progress, and learned
in a short time many things which had cost him abundance of labour. St. Jerom,
in one letter, explains to her the ten Hebrew names of God, and the Hebrew
words which are adopted in the church office. 32 In
another he explains the Ephod and Teraphim, 33 and
so in others. St. Marcella died in 412, and St. Jerom wrote her funeral elegy
to her spiritual daughter Principia. 34 Lea
was at the head of a monastery of virgins whom she instructed more by example
than by words. She used to spend whole nights in prayer; her clothes and food
were very mean, but free from all affectation or ostentation. She was so humble
that she appeared to be the servant of all her sisters, though she had formerly
been mistress of a great number of slaves. The church honours her memory on the
22nd of March. St. Jerom wrote her funeral elegy after her death, in 384. 35
Asella was consecrated to
God at the age of ten years, and at twelve retired into a cell, where she lay
on the ground, and lived upon bread and water, fasting all the year, and being
often two or three days without eating, especially in Lent; yet her austerities
did not impair her health. She used to work with her hands, and never went
abroad, unless it was to visit the churches of the martyrs, and that she did
without being seen. Nothing was more cheerful and pleasing than her severity,
nor more grave than her sweetness. Her very speech proclaimed her love of
recollection and silence, and her silence spoke aloud to the heart. She never
spoke to any man unless upon her spiritual necessities; even her sister
Marcella could hardly ever see her. Her conduct was simple and regular, and in
the midst of Rome she led a life of solitude. She was fifty years old in 384. 36 Fabiola
was of the illustrious Fabian family, and, being obliged to be separated from
her husband on account of his disorderly conduct, made use of the liberty
allowed her by the civil laws, and took a second husband. After his death,
finding this was against the laws of the gospel, she did public penance in the
most austere and exemplary manner. After this she sold all her estate, and
erected an hospital for the sick in Rome, where she served them with her own
hands. She gave immense alms to several monasteries, which were built upon the
coasts of Tuscany, and to the poor in Italy and Palestine. 37 She
died at Rome about the year 400. 38
The most illustrious of the Roman ladies whom St. Jerom instructed, was St.
Paula, 39 who
engaged him to accept of a lodging in her house during his abode in Rome, that
she and her family might more easily have recourse to him for their spiritual
direction. He tells us that Marcella, Paula, Blesilla, and Eustochium spoke,
wrote, and recited the Psalter in Hebrew as perfectly as in the Greek and Latin
tongues. The instruction of these and many other devout persons did not so
engross our saint’s time and attention, but he was always ready to acquit
himself of all that Pope Damasus recommended to his care, and, by other
labours, to render important services to the Catholic church. Pope Damasus died
in December 384, and was succeeded by Siricius. The freedom which St. Jerom
took in reproving the reigning vices of avarice, vanity, and effeminacy (which
invectives several among the clergy took to themselves) raised him many
powerful enemies. The authority of Pope Damasus kept them in awe so long as he
lived; but after his death, envy and calumny were let loose upon our saint. His
reputation was attacked in the most outrageous manner; even his simplicity, his
manner of walking, his smiling, and the air of his countenance were found fault
with. Neither did the severe and eminent virtue of the ladies who were under
his direction, nor the reservedness of his own behaviour screen him from
censures. 40 St.
Jerom, partly to yield to this persecution of envy, and partly to follow his
own strong inclination to solitude, after having staid about three years at
Rome, resolved to return into the East, there to seek a quiet retreat. He
embarked at Porto in the month of August, in 385, with his young brother
Paulinian, a priest called Vincent, and some others, having been attended from
Rome to the ship by many pious persons of distinction. Landing at Cyprus, he
was received with great joy by St. Epiphanius. At Antioch he visited the bishop
Paulinus, who, when he departed, attended him a considerable part of the way to
Palestine. He arrived at Jerusalem in the middle of winter, near the close of
the year 385, and in the following spring went into Egypt, to improve himself
in sacred learning, and in the most perfect practices of the monastic
institute. At Alexandria, he, for a month, received the lessons of the famous
Didymus, and profited very much by his conversation in 386. 41 He
visited the chief monasteries of Egypt; after which he returned into Palestine,
and retired to Bethlehem. St. Paula, who had followed him thither, built for
him a monastery, and put under his direction also the monastery of nuns, which
she founded and governed. St. Jerom was soon obliged to enlarge his own
monastery, and for that purpose sent his brother Paulinian into Dalmatia, to
sell an estate which he still had there. For, as Sanchez and Suarez remark from
this example, anciently private religious men could retain the dominion, or a
property in estates, though by their vows they renounced the administration,
unless they exercised it by the commission of the abbot. St. Jerom also erected
an hospital, in which he entertained pilgrims. It was thought that he could not
be further instructed in the knowledge of the Hebrew language; but this was not
his own judgment of the matter; and he applied again to a famous Jewish master,
called Bar-Ananias, who for a sum of money, came to teach him in the
night-time, lest the Jews should know it. 42 Church
history, which is called one of the eyes of theology, became a favourite study
of our holy doctor. 43 All
the heresies which were broached in the church in his time, found him a warm
and indefatigable adversary.
Whilst he was an
inhabitant of the desert of Chalcis, he drew his pen against the Luciferian
schismatics. After the unhappy council of Rimini, in which many orthodox
bishops had been betrayed, contrary to their meaning, into a subscription
favourable to the Arians, St. Athanasius, in his council at Alexandria, in 362,
and other Catholic prelates, came to a resolution to admit those prelates to
communion, upon their repentance. This indulgence displeased Lucifer, bishop of
Cagliari, a person famous for his zeal and writings against the Arians, in the
reign of Constantius. He likewise took offence at the Oriental Catholic bishops
refusing to hold communion with Paulinus, whom with his own hands he had
consecrated bishop of Antioch, in the place of St. Eustathius. He carried
matters so far as to separate himself from the communion of all those who
admitted the bishops who had subscribed to the council of Rimini, even after
they had made a reasonable satisfaction. This gave rise to his schism, in which
he had some few followers at Antioch, in Sardinia, and in Spain. He is not
accused of any error in faith. Leaving Antioch, where he had sown the first
seeds of his schism, he returned into Sardinia, and died at Cagliari, nine
years after, in 371. 44 St.
Jerom composed a Dialogue against the Luciferians, in which he plainly
demonstrates, by the acts of the council of Rimini, that in it the bishops were
imposed upon. In the same work he confutes the private heresy of Hilary, a
Luciferian deacon at Rome, that the Arians, and all other heretics and
schismatics, were to be rebaptized; on which account St. Jerom calls him the
Deucalion of the world. 45
Our holy doctor, whilst
he resided at Rome, in the time of Pope Damasus, in 384, composed his book
against Helvidius, On the Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 46 That
heretic was an Avian priest, a disciple of the impious Auxentius of Milan, and
had wrote a book, in which he broached this error, that Mary did not always
remain a virgin, but had other children by St. Joseph, after the birth of
Christ. This heresy was also adopted by Jovinian, who having spent his youth at
Milan in fasting, manual labour, and other austerities of a monastic state,
left his monastery, went to Rome, and there began to spread his errors, which
may be chiefly reduced to these four: That they who have been regenerated by
baptism with perfect faith, cannot be again vanquished by the devil. That all
who shall have preserved the grace of baptism, will have an equal reward in
heaven: That virgins have no greater merit before God than married women, if
they are equal in other virtues; and, that the Mother of God was not always a
virgin: lastly, That abstinence from certain meats is unprofitable. 47 Jovinian
lived at Rome in a manner suitable to his sensual principles. Though he still
called himself a monk, and observed celibacy, he threw off his black habit,
wore fine white stuffs, linen, and silks, curled his hair, frequented the baths
and houses of entertainment, and was fond of sumptuous feasts and delicate
wines. St. Pammachius and certain other noble laymen, were scandalized at his
new doctrine, and having met with a writing of Jovinian, in which these errors
were contained, carried it to Pope Siricius, who, assembling his clergy in 390,
condemned the same, and cut off Jovinian, and eight others (who are named
together as authors of this new heresy) from the communion of the church. Upon
this, Jovinian, and the rest who were condemned, withdrew to Milan, and
Siricius sent thither the sentence of condemnation he had published against
them, with a brief confutation of their errors, so that they were rejected
there by every body with horror, and driven out of the city. St. Ambrose also
held a council of seven bishops who happened then to be at Milan, in which
these errors were again condemned. 48 Two
years after this, St. Jerom wrote two books Against Jovinian. 49
In the first, he shows the merit and excellency of holy virginity embraced for
the sake of virtue; which he demonstrates from St. Paul, and other parts of the
New Testament, from the tradition and sense of the church, from the celibacy of
its ministers, and from the advantages of this state for piety, especially for
the exercises of prayer, though he grants marriage to be holy in the general
state of the world. Jovinian himself confessed the obligation of bishops to
live continent, and that a violation of a vow of virginity is a spiritual
incest. 50 Our
saint, in his second book, confutes the other errors of that heresiarch.
Certain expressions in this work seemed to some persons in Rome, harsh, and
derogatory from the honour due to matrimony: and St. Pammachius informed St.
Jerom of the offence which some took at them. The holy doctor wrote his Apology
to Pammachius, sometimes called his third book against Jovinian, 51 in
which he shows, from his own book, which had raised this clamour, that he
commended marriage as honourable and holy, and protests that he condemns not
even second and third marriages. He repeated the same thing in a letter which
he wrote to Domnio, about the same time, and upon the same subject. 52
In the year 404,
Riparius, a priest in Spain, wrote to St. Jerom, to acquaint him that
Vigilantius, a native of Convenæ, now called Comminges, in Gaul, but a priest
of Barcelona, depreciated the merit of holy virginity, and condemned the
veneration of relics, calling those who paid it idolaters and Cinerarians, or
worshippers of ashes. St. Jerom, in his answer, exclaimed loudly against those
novelties, and said: “We do not adore the relics of the martyrs; but we honour them
that we may adore him whose martyrs they are. We honour the servants, that the
respect which is paid to them may be reflected back on the Lord.” He prayed
Riparius to send him Vigilantius’s book, which he no sooner received, than he
set himself to confute it in a very sharp style. 53 He
shows, first, the excellency of virginity, and the celibacy of the clergy, from
the discipline observed in the three patriarchates of Antioch, Alexandria, and
Rome. He vindicates the honour paid to martyrs from idolatry, because no
Christian ever adored them as gods. Vigilantius complained, that their relics
were covered with precious silks. St. Jerom asked him, if Constantius was
guilty of sacrilege, when he translated to Constantinople, in rich shrines, the
relics of SS. Andrew, Luke, and Timothy, in the presence of which the evil spirits
roar? or, Arcadius, when he caused the bones of Samuel to be carried out of
Palestine to Thrace, where they were deposited with the greatest honour and
solemnity, in a church built in honour of that prophet near the Hebdomon? In
order to show that the saints pray for us, St. Jerom saith: “If the apostles
and martyrs, being still living upon earth, can pray for other men, how much
more may they do it after their victories? Have they less power now they are
with Jesus Christ?” He insists much on the miracles wrought at their tombs.
Vigilantius said they were for the sake of the infidels. The holy doctor
answers, they would still be no less a proof of the power of the martyrs, and,
testifying his respect for these relics and holy places, he says of himself:
“When I have been molested with anger, evil thoughts, or nocturnal illusions, I
have not dared to enter the churches of the martyrs.” He mentions, that the
bishops of Rome offered up sacrifices to God over the venerable bones of the
apostles Peter and Paul, and made altars of their tombs. He accuseth Eunomius
of being the author of this heresy, and says, that if his new doctrine were
true, all the bishops in the world would be in an error. He defends the
institution of vigils and the monastic state; and says, that a monk seeks his
own security by flying occasions and dangers, because he mistrusteth his own
weakness, and is sensible that there is no safety if a man sleep near a
serpent. St. Jerom often speaks of the saints in heaven praying for us. Thus he
entreated Heliodorus to pray for him when he should be in glory, 54 and
told St. Paula, upon the death of her daughter Blesille: 55 “She
now prayeth the Lord for you, and obtaineth for me the pardon of my sins.”
Our saint was also
engaged in a long war against Origenism. Few ever made more use of Origen’s
works, and no one seemed a greater admirer of his erudition than St. Jerom
declared himself for a considerable time: 56 but
finding in the East that several monks and others had been seduced into
grievous errors by the authority of his name, and some of his writings, our
saint joined St. Epiphanius in warmly opposing the spreading evil. This
produced a violent quarrel between him and his old friend Rufinus, after an
intimacy of twenty-five years; 57 the
latter every where extolling the authority of Origen, and having translated
into Latin the most erroneous of all his works, though it afterwards appeared
by his conduct that he had no design to favour the pestilential heresies of the
Origenists, who denied the eternity of the torments of hell, held the
pre-existence of souls, the plurality of worlds succeeding one another to
eternity, and other errors. St. Jerom could suffer no heresy to pass without
his censure. Being informed by one Ctesiphon, that the errors of Pelagius made
great progress in the East, and that many were seduced by them, he wrote him a
short confutation thereof in 414. He again handled the same questions in his
Dialogue against the Pelagians, which he published in 416. In these dialogues
he writes: “I will answer them that I never spared heretics, and have done my
utmost endeavours that the enemies of the church should be also my enemies.” 58 He
was deeply concerned to hear of the plundering of Rome by Alaric in 410, and of
the cruel famine which succeeded that calamity. Many Romans fled as far as
Bethlehem, and it was the charitable employment of our saint to entertain them,
and give them all possible succour and comfort. He was shocked at the sight of
such a number of noble fugitives of both sexes, reduced at once to beggary;
after possessing immense riches, now seeking food and shelter, naked, wounded;
and still as they wandered about, exposed to the insults of barbarians, who
thought them loaded with gold: all these miseries forced tears from the saint’s
eyes, whilst he was endeavouring to find means to assist them. When Demetrias,
daughter of the consul Olibrius, took the religious veil at Carthage, her
mother Juliana, and her grandmother Proba, wrote to St. Jerom, praying him to
give her some instructions for her conduct. In order to comply with their
request, he wrote her a long letter, in which he directed her how she was to
serve God, recommending to her pious reading, the exercise of penance, constant
but moderate fasting, obedience, humility, modesty, almsdeeds, prayers at all
hours of the day, and working daily with her hands. He would have her rather
choose to dwell in a nunnery with other virgins, than to live alone, as at that
time some did.
Nothing has rendered the
name of St. Jerom so famous as his critical labours on the holy scriptures. For
this the church acknowledges him to have been raised by God through a special
providence, and particularly assisted from above, and she styles him the
greatest of all her doctors in expounding the divine oracles. Pope Clement
VIII. scruples not to call him a man, in translating the holy scriptures,
divinely assisted and inspired. He was furnished with the greatest helps for
such an undertaking, living many years upon the spot, whilst the remains of
ancient places, names, customs, which were still recent, and other circumstances,
set before his eyes a clearer representation of many things recorded in holy
writ than it is possible to have at a great distance of place and time: as the
multitude of lizards, and many other circumstances, which still occur in the
country where Virgil wrote his Bucolics, paint a lively image of his beautiful
similes and allusions, so that the eye seems almost to behold the objects, and
the other senses are in like manner struck with them, almost as if they were
present. The Greek and Chaldaic were then living languages, and the Hebrew,
though it had ceased to be such from the time of the captivity, was not less
perfectly understood and spoken among the doctors of the law in its full
extent, and with the true pronunciation. It was carefully cultivated in the
Jewish academy, or great school of Tiberias, out of which St. Jerom had a
master. It is long since become very imperfect, reduced to a small number of
radical words, and only to be learned from the Hebrew Bible, the only ancient
book in the world extant in that language. Most of the Rabbinical writers are
more likely to mislead us in the study of the Hebrew sacred text, than to
direct us in it; so that we have now no means to come at many succours which
St. Jerom had for this task. 59 Among
others, the Hexapla of Origen, which he possessed pure and entire, were not the
least; and, by comparing his version with the present remains of those of
Aquila, Theodotio, and Symmachus, we find he had often recourse to them,
especially to that of Symmachus. 60 Above
other conditions, it is necessary that an interpreter of the holy scriptures be
a man of prayer and sincere piety. This alone can obtain light and succour from
heaven, give to the mind a turn and temper which are necessary for being
admitted into the sanctuary of the divine oracles, and present the key. Our
holy doctor was prepared by a great purity of heart, and a life spent in
penance and holy contemplation, before he was called by God to this important
undertaking.
A Latin translation of
the Bible was made from the Greek in the time of the apostles, and probably
approved or recommended by some of them, especially, according to Rufinus, 61 by
St. Peter, who, as he says, sat twenty-five years at Rome. That it was the work
of several hands is proved by Mr. Milles, who, during the space of thirty
years, examined all the editions and versions of the sacred text with indefatigable
application, 62 by
Calmet 63 and
Blanchini. 64 In
the fourth century great variations had crept into the copies, as St. Jerom
mentions, so that almost every one differed. 65 For
many that understood Greek, undertook to translate anew some part or to make
some alterations from the original. 66 However,
as Blanchini observes, these alterations seem to have been all grafted upon, or
inserted in the first translation: for they seem all to have gone under the
name of the Latin Vulgate, or Common Translation. Amongst them one obtained the
name of the Italic, perhaps because it was chiefly used in Italy and Rome; and
this was far preferable to all the other Latin editions, as St. Austin
testifies. To remedy the inconvenience of this variety of editions, and to
correct the faults of bold or careless copiers, Pope Damasus commissioned St.
Jerom to revise and correct the Latin version of the gospels by the original
Greek: which this holy doctor executed to the great satisfaction of the whole
church. 67 He
afterwards did the same with the rest of the New Testament. 68 This
work of St. Jerom’s differs very much in the words from the ancient Italic. It
insensibly took place in all the Western churches, and is the Latin Vulgate of
the New Testament, which is now everywhere in use. 69 The
edition of the Greek Septuagint which was inserted in Origen’s Hexapla, being
the most exact extant, St. Jerom corrected by it the ancient Italic of many
books of the Old Testament, and twice the Psalter: first by order of Pope
Damasus at Rome, about the year 382; and a second time at Bethlehem, about the
year 389.
His new translation of
the books of the Old Testament, written in Hebrew, made from the original text,
was a more noble and a more difficult undertaking. 70 Many
motives concurred to engage him in this work; as, the earnest entreaties of
many devout and illustrious friends, the preference of the original to any
version how venerable soever, and the necessity of answering the Jews, who in
all disputations would allow no other. He did not translate the books in order,
but began by the books of Kings, and took the rest in hand at different times.
This translation of St. Jerom’s was received in many churches in the time of
St. Gregory the Great, who gave it the preference. 71 And
in a short time after, St. Isidore of Seville wrote that all churches made use
of it. 72 They
retained the ancient Italic version of the psalter, which they were accustomed
to sing in the divine office; but admitted by degrees, in some places the
first, in others the second correction of St. Jerom upon the Seventy; and this
is printed in the Vulgate Bible, not his translation. The old Italic without
his correction is still sung in the church of the Vatican, and in St. Mark’s at
Venice. The books of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, the two books of the Machabees;
the prophecy of Baruch, the epistle of Jeremy, the additions at the end of
Esther, and the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Daniel, and the Canticle
of the Three Children, are in the ancient Vulgate, because they were not
translated by St. Jerom, not being extant in Hebrew or Chaldaic. The rest of
the Old Testament in the present Vulgate is taken from the translation of St.
Jerom, except certain passages retained from the old Vulgate or Italic. 73
St. Jerom’s translation
of the Bible was correctly published by Dom Martianay, under the title of his
Sacred Library: this composes the first volume of his works in the Benedictin
edition. This saint ascertained the geographical description of ancient
Palestine, by translating, correcting, and enlarging Eusebius’s book, On the
Holy Places, and by his letters to Dardanus and Fabiola. In several little
treatises and epistles he has cleared a great number of critical difficulties
relating to the Hebrew text of the Holy Bible. In his Commentaries on the
Prophets, he inquires after the sense of the Hebrew text or Truth, as he calls
it, to which he scrupulously adheres, though he compares it with all the
ancient Greek translations. He adds short allegorical explications, and
professes that he sometimes inserts certain opinions and interpretations of
Origen and others, without adopting or approving them. His Commentary on St.
Matthew he calls only an essay which he wrote in the compass of a few days, to
satisfy the importunity of a friend, with an intention to enlarge and improve
it when he should have leisure for such an undertaking, which he never found. 74
St. Jerom, towards the
end of his life, was obliged to interrupt his studies by an incursion of
barbarians, who penetrated through Egypt into Palestine, 75 and,
some time after, by the violences and persecutions of the Pelagians, who, after
the council of Diospolis, in 416, relying on the protection of John of
Jerusalem, sent the year following a troop of seditious banditti to Bethlehem,
to assault the holy monks and nuns who lived there under the direction of St.
Jerom. 76 Some
were beaten, and a deacon was killed by them. The heretics set fire to all the
monasteries, and reduced them to ashes. St. Jerom with great difficulty escaped
their fury by a timely flight, retiring to a strong castle. The two virgins,
St. Eustochium and her niece, the younger Paula, were exposed still to greater
dangers, and saw their habitation consumed with fire, and those who belonged to
them most barbarously beaten before their faces. After this storm St. Jerom
continued his exercises and labours, hated by all enemies of the church, but
beloved and reverenced by all good men, as St. Sulpicius Severus, and St.
Austin 77 testify.
Having triumphed over all vices, subdued the infernal monsters of heresies, and
made his life a martyrdom of penance and labours, at length by a fever, in a
good old age, he was released from the prison of his body, in the year 420, on
the 30th of September. His festival is mentioned in the Sacramentary of St.
Gregory, and in the Martyrologies of Bede, Usuard, &c. He was buried in a
vault at the ruins of his monastery at Bethlehem; but his remains lie at
present in the church of St. Mary Major at Rome. St. Jerom made the meditation
on death and divine judgments the great employment of his solitude. The
following saying is by some ascribed to him: “Whether I eat or drink, or
whatever else I do, the dreadful trumpet of the last day seems always sounding
in my ears! Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment!”
It was equally in a
spirit of penance, and of zeal to advance the divine honour, that this holy
doctor applied himself with such unwearied diligence to those sacred studies,
by which he rendered most eminent services to the church. The commentaries of
the ancient fathers on the divine oracles are not all equally useful.
Allegorical interpretations, unless pointed out by some inspired writer, serve
chiefly to convey that moral instruction which they contain, and to introduce
which they have been sometimes employed by great men in familiar discourses to
the people. Of all commentaries those are most useful which expound the
mysteries of faith, or dwell on and enforce Christian virtues by motives,
founded in the literal genuine sense of the sacred writings, in which inspired
words the perfect spirit, and, as it were, the marrow of all virtues is
contained. It is only by assiduous humble meditation on the sacred text that
its unexhausted riches in this respect, concealed in every tittle, can be
understood. The admirable comments of St. Chrysostom will be an excellent guide
and key; by making some parts of them familiar to us we shall inure ourselves to
this method in our application to these sacred studies. We must bring with us
that spirit of prayer, and that humble docility by which so many holy doctors
have been rendered faithful interpreters of the word of God. The tradition of
the church must be our direction. Without an humble submission to this light we
are sure to be led astray, and the most learned men who do not stick close to
this rule (as experience and the most sacred authority conspire to teach us)
tread in the steps of all those whose study of the scriptures has hurt the
church instead of serving her, as Dr. Hare, the learned bishop of Chichester,
observes. 78 For,
says he, “the orthodox faith does not depend upon the scriptures considered in
themselves, but as explained by Catholic tradition.” As the solid
interpretation of the sacred books is founded in the genuine and literal sense,
to give this its fullest extent and force in every particle, the aid of sober
criticism is to be called in; in which, among the Latin fathers, no one equals
St. Jerom. But then his moderation must be imitated. What can be more absurd
than that, in explaining the oracles of God, their end should be forgotten, and
kept out of sight; that interpreters should stop at the shell, and spend all
their time in grammatical and critical niceties, and make the divine truth an
object of idle amusement and curiosity, or a gratification of foolish sinful
vanity in displaying an empty show of philosophical learning, and insignificant
criticism? This is the case of many huge volumes of modern commentators, in
which Christ and virtue are scarcely named in the pretended expositions of
those divine oracles which point out nothing but them. This made Mr. Reeves, an
ingenious Protestant divine, say: the example of St. Jerom shows that criticism
was not neglected by the fathers in interpreting and vindicating the holy
scriptures: but they were chiefly solicitous in beautifully applying the types,
figures, and prophecies, in setting forth Christ, and in bringing men to him.
Whereas the learned Grotius and many other moderns are so jejune and empty, and
so strangely sparing upon our Lord’s divinity, &c. that, upon comparison,
there seems to me, says this author, as much difference between the ancients
and some moderns, as between a man himself and his clothes stuffed with straw.
Note
1. St. Jerom tells us, that it was not in Illyricum or Dalmatia; some
Italians have pretended that it was in Italy; but it seems certainly to have
stood in Pannonia. St. Prosper tells us, in his Chronicle, that this great
doctor died in 420, lived ninety-one years, and consequently was born in 329;
which is adopted by Dr. Cave and Fleury. Martianay places his birth in 331.
Tillemont, with Baronius and Dolci, gathers from what the saint hath written of
himself, and from the circumstances of his life, that he was more probably born
in 342, and lived only seventy-eight years. [back]
Note
2. Dolci proves from several passages of St. Jerom that his native
language was the Illyrican, not the Latin. Whence he says, l. 2, adv. Rufin.
that he was worn out almost from his cradle with the labour of learning the
Latin tongue. [back]
Note
3. St. Jerom tells us that after he had gone through the study of
rhetoric, he prepared himself by Porphyry’s Introduction for the Study of
Logic, and that he studied the logical books of Aristotle. He mentions, that
whilst he was a young student at Rome, he used on Sundays to visit, with his
school-fellows, the cemeteries of the martyrs, or catacombs, which he
describes, l. 12, in c. 40. Ezech. p. 979, 980: “When a boy I studied the
liberal arts at Rome, I was wont to make a round to visit the tombs of the
apostles and martyrs, with others of the same age and inclinations, and often
to descend into the caves which are dug deep into the earth, and have for walls
on each side the bodies of those that are interred there.” [back]
Note
4. Cod. Theodos. 13, t. 3, l. 11, p. 39, 40. [back]
Note
5. Auson. ep. 18, p. 644. [back]
Note
6. S. Hier. ep. 4, p. 6. [back]
Note
7. Ep. 1, p. 3. See Dom. Rivet, Hist. Littér. de la Fr. t. 1,
part. 2, p. 12. [back]
Note
8. S. Hier. Præf. 2, in l. 2, in Galat. et ep. 4, p. 6. [back]
Note
9. Hist. Liter. Aquil. l. 3, c. 3, p. 124. [back]
Note
10. St. Chromatius, in eighteen homilies upon St. Matthew’s gospel,
still extant, expounds the Lord’s Prayer, and recommends alms-deeds, fasting,
and other virtues. His words are well chosen, his notions just, and his
reflections useful. These eighteen homilies are in most editions corruptly printed
in one, or as three treatises. See Ceillier, t. 10, p. 86. Fontanini, Hist.
Liter. Aquil. l. 3, c. 4, p. 133. Sollier the Bollandist, ad diem 17,
Aug. Henricus Palladius, l. 9, Annal. Forojul. [back]
Note
11. Ep. 96, alias 16, ad Principiam. [back]
Note
12. Noris, Hist. Pelag. l. 2, c. 3. [back]
Note
13. Rufin. Apol. 1. S. Hieron. Apol. 1 et 2 Chron. ad an. 376,
&c. [back]
Note
14. Rufin. Apol. 1 et 2. Fontanini, l. 4, c. 1, p. 156, 157. [back]
Note
15. Edm. Martenne, l. 1, de antiqu. Eccl. ritibus, c. 16, § 12,
Master. in Schediasmate de Susceptoribus, p. 69. [back]
Note
16. Du Pin, (Bib. t. 3,) Ceillier, (t. 10, p. 2,) and some others, by
mistake, say, Rufinus was baptized in a chapel of the monastery. But it is
certain that he received that sacrament in the cathedral, as Fontanini
demonstrates, (l. 4, c. 1, p. 157,) nor was baptism ever solemnly administered
but in cathedrals and parochial churches. Bertoli (Antichita d’Aquileia, p.
360,) describes in the chapel of St. Jerom, in the cathedral of Aquileia, a
very old monument erected in memory of Rufinus being baptized in that place,
though the name of St. Jerom has been substituted by some modern hand in the
place of that of Rufinus. St. Jerom expressly says in two letters to Pope
Damasus, that he put on the garment of Christ at Rome, which always means
baptism. See Baronius ad ann. 57, and Jos. Vicecomes de ant. baptismi ritibus,
l. 3, c. 6. [back]
Note
17. S. Hier. ep. 1, alias 41, &c. [back]
Note
18. Hier. ep. 1, alias 41, &c. [back]
Note
19. Ep. 22, ad Eustochium, de Virgin, c. 3. [back
Note
21. Ep. 95, ad Rustic. p. 769. [back]
Note
22. Ep. 18, alias 22, ad Eustoch. de Virginit. [back]
Note
23. S. Hieron. Apol. l. 1. [back]
Note
24. The fault consisted not in the eloquence of style, which St. Jerom
proposed to himself, but in an excessive or passionate fondness for that
profane study. When Kufin objected that he had broken his oath in still reading
the profane classical authors, he answers that he could not blot out of his
memory what he had before read, but had not opened any such books; though the
oath was only a dream. In his comments on the Epistle to the Galatians, (l. 3,)
he tells Paula and Eustochium that they well knew that he had not then opened
Tully, Ovid, or any other pagan author of polite literature for fifteen years
past, and that when anything of them occurred to his mind, in discourse, he
remembered it as a dream which was passed. [back]
Note
25. Ep. 14, alias 57, ad Damas. p. 19, t. 4. [back]
Note
26. Ep. 16, alias 58, ad Damas. p. 22. [back]
Note
27. S. Hier. Præf. in Paralip. [back]
Note
28. T. 3, ad Damas. p. 515. [back]
Note
29. Ep. 16 et 27, ed. Vet. [back]
Note
30. S. Hier. in Apol. ad Pammac. et ep. 11. [back]
Note
31. S. Hier. ep. 1, alias 41, ep. 2, alias 5, ep. 22, alias 25. [back]
Note
32. T. 2, p. 704, ed. Ben. [back]
Note
34. Ibid. p. 778. See January 31. [back]
Note
35. T. 2, par. 2. p. 51. [back]
Note
36. S. Hier. ep. 15, ad Marcell. ib. p. 52. [back]
Note
37. S. Jerom in two letters to Fabiola, p. 574, 586, and in her
funeral elegy, which he wrote to Oceanus, p. 657. [back]
Note
38. Several letters of this holy doctor to those ladies or other
devout persons, contain excellent advice and instructions for various states
and conditions. Heliodorus, having left him in the desert of Chalcis in Syria
to return home to Rome, St. Jerom wrote him a most eloquent letter to conjure
him to come back to his retirement. He uses tender reproaches. “Nice soldier,”
says he, “what are you doing in your father’s house? Remember that day wherein
you listed yourself a soldier of Christ; then you took an oath of fidelity to
him. Though your little nephew should hang about your neck—though your mother
should tear her hair—though your father should lie down on the threshold of the
door to stop you, step over your father, and follow the standard of the cross
with dry eyes. It is great mercy to be cruel on such occasions. You are
mistaken, brother, if you suppose that a Christian can be without persecution;
he is then most violently assaulted when he thinks himself most secure.—You
will say, clergymen live in cities. God forbid that I should speak evil of
those who succeed the apostles, who consecrate the body of Jesus Christ with
their holy mouths, who make us Christians, and who, holding the keys of the
kingdom of heaven in their hands, judge, if I may so say, before the day of
judgment.” He shows the difference between the states of a priest and of a
monk, and deters him from consenting to be assumed into the clergy, because,
though a worthy priest acquires a greater degree of perfection, “it is not the
ecclesiastical dignity that makes good Christians. It is not easy for all men
to have St. Paul’s graces, or St. Peter’s sanctity.” He eloquently extols the
happiness of holy penance and solitude, in which heaven is open to us.
Heliodorus determined to return to the desert; but, being ordained priest, was
obliged to serve the church at Rome. His nephew, Nepotian, being a young
ecclesiastic, St. Jerom wrote to him excellent rules for the conduct of a
clergyman; as, 1. That Christ alone be his portion, so that in his heart he
possess nothing but the Lord; and that though he live by the altar, he ought to
be content with food and raiment, esteeming all the rest the portion of
pilgrims and the poor. 2. That he never let women come near his house, or at
least but seldom; have no familiarity with virgins consecrated to God; and
either be acquainted with none, or love all equally, and never dwell in the
same house with any. “Trust not your past chastity,” says he, “you are neither
holier than David, nor stronger than Samson, nor wiser than Solomon. Visit not
women alone; speak not with them face to face.” He forbids making feasts for
laymen; recommends charity, prudence, discretion, modesty, and sobriety; but
would have no excess in fasts. He strictly charges the clergyman not to have an
itching tongue or ears, and that he never desire to be invited to dinner; and
that, when he is invited, he seldom go, &c. Nepotian dying soon after this,
St. Jerom wrote his panegyric to his uncle Heliodorus, then bishop of Altino,
in which he draws an elegant portraiture of the shortness and uncertainty of
life, commends the diligence and devotion of the deceased in adorning the
chapels and altars of martyrs with flowers, &c. and comforts Heliodorus
with the assurance that his nephew was then with Christ, in the company of the
saints, (p. 283.
Rusticus, a native of
Marseilles, and a monk, but living at Rome, having begged his advice, the saint
gave him directions how to serve God in the monastic state. He recommends
watchfulness and constant fervour, assiduity in manual labour, reading,
meditation upon the scriptures, prayer, obedience, chastity, and fasting. He
prefers the cenobitical life to that of hermits, as more secure, and would have
persons live first in some religious community before they commence hermits. He
says that it was a rule in the monasteries in Egypt to admit no one who could
not or would not ply manual labour, not so much to gain a
subsistence as to prevent bad thoughts, and avoid idleness. In singing the
divine office the voice is not so much considered as the affection of the
heart. “No art,” says he, “is learned without a master, much less that of
salvation. Serve your brethren, wash the feet of strangers, be silent when you
suffer wrong,” &c. He lays down humility and patience as a great means to
overcome temptations, which he confirms by the following example: A young Greek
who lived in a monastery in Egypt, was troubled with violent temptations of the
flesh, and neither assiduous labour nor the most severe abstinence,
strengthened by fervent prayer, delivered him from the annoyance of this
dreadful enemy. His superior, to whom he disclosed his danger, gave privately
orders to a certain grave companion to haunt him every where with the most
reviling taunts and reproaches, and then to come and complain to the abbot
against him, as if he had done the injury. When a year had passed in this
manner, the young man was asked whether his former temptations still gave him
any trouble? To this he answered: “Father, I have much ado to live, much less
can any thoughts of pleasure infest my mind.” Rusticus was then returning to
Gaul. Wherefore St. Jerom bids him govern himself by the admonitions of two
holy bishops, that he might never decline on either side, or forsake the king’s
highway. These were Proculus, the most religious and learned bishop of
Marseilles, and Exuperius, bishop of Toulouse. Of the latter he says: “This
holy prelate imitates the widow of Sarepta: he feeds others, and fasts himself;
nothing but the hunger and wants of other men trouble him. He has given all his
estate to the poor, yet no one is richer than he. He carries the body of our
Lord Jesus Christ in an osier basket, and his precious blood in a glass
vessel.—Follow the steps of this good bishop and other saints, whom the
pastoral dignity has made poorer and more humble. If you would embrace a state
more perfect, get out of your own country, as Abraham did; leave your kingdom;
if you have any goods, sell them, and distribute the price to the poor. Strip
yourself of all things to follow only Jesus Christ. ‘Nudum Christum nudus
sequere.’ It is hard, I confess, it is great and difficult; but the recompence
is infinite.” On the rules which this saint prescribed to holy virgins, see the
life of St. Eustochium. His letters to widows usually contain strong
exhortations to a retired penitential devout life, to which their condition
particularly invites them. He speaks with great warmth against second
marriages; though he grants them to be lawful, and without sin.
Among this father’s
letters of spiritual advice, there is not perhaps a more useful one than that
which he wrote to Læta, wife of Toxotius, St. Paula’s son. It contains rules
for the education of her little daughter, St. Paula the Younger, whom her
grandmother designed for a religious life with her at Bethlehem. Her
grandfather was a priest of Jupiter; but the rest of their family were
Christians. St. Jerom exhorts them to convert him by their regularity, modesty,
and virtuous deportment; a motive too strong for malice itself to resist. “I am
persuaded,” says he, “that Jupiter himself might have believed in Jesus Christ,
had he had such an alliance and family as yours.” St. Jerom puts Læta in mind
that she had obtained her daughter of God at the tombs of the martyrs, only
that she might be brought up to serve him. As to her education, he lays down
the following rules: “Let her be brought up as Samuel was, in the temple; and
the Baptist, in the desert, in utter ignorance of vanity and vice. Let her
never hear, learn, or discourse of anything but what may conduce to the fear of
God. Let her never hear bad words, nor learn profane songs; but, as soon as she
can speak, let her learn some parts of the psalms. No rude boys must come near
her; nor even girls or maids, but such as are strangers to the maxims and
conversation of the world. Let her have an alphabet of little letters made of
box or ivory, the names of all which she must know, that she may play with
them, and that learning be made a diversion. When a little older, let her form
each letter in wax with her finger, guided by another’s hand; then let her be
invited, by prizes and presents suited to her age, to join syllables together,
and to write the names of the patriarchs down from Adam. Let her have
companions to learn with her, that she may be spurred on by emulation, and by
hearing their praises. She is not to be scolded or browbeaten, if slower, but
to be encouraged, that she may rejoice to surpass, and be sorry to see herself
outstripped and behind others, not envying their progress, but rejoicing at it,
and admiring it, whilst she reproaches her own backwardness. Great care is to
be taken that she conceive no aversion to studies, lest their bitterness remain
in riper years. Let the words which she learns be chosen and holy, such as the
names of the prophets and apostles. Let her run down the genealogies from Adam,
that even in this a foundation be prepared for her memory hereafter. A master
must be found for her, who is a man both of virtue and learning: nor will a
great scholar think it beneath him to teach her the first elements of letters,
as Aristotle did Alexander the Great. That is not to be contemned without which
nothing great can be acquired. The very sound of letters and the first
documents are very different in a learned and in an unskilful mouth. Care must
be taken that she be not accustomed by fond nurses to pronounce half words, or
to play in gold and purple: the first would prejudice her speech, the second
her virtue. Great care is necessary that she never learn what she will have
afterwards to unlearn. The eloquence of the Gracchi derived its perfection from
the mother’s elegance and purity of language; and that of Hortensius was framed
from his father’s breast. What young minds imbibe is scarcely ever to be rooted
out, and they are disposed sooner to imitate defects and vices than virtues and
good qualities. Alexander, the conqueror of the world, could never correct the
faults in his gait and manners, which he had learned in his childhood from his
master Leonides. She must have no nurse or maid of light carriage, or who is
talkative, or a tippler. When she sees her heathen grandfather, let her leap on
his breast, hang about his neck, and sing in his ears Alleluia. Let her be
amiable to all, but she must be apprized early that she is to be the spouse of
Christ. No paint must ever touch her face or hair, to forebode the flames of
hell.”
Prætextata, wife of
Hymetius, the uncle of Eustochium, by his orders, changed her dress and face,
to endeavour to overcome her resolution of living a virgin; but an angel that
same night said to her in her sleep, “Thou hast preferred the commands of thy
husband to those of Christ, and presumed to touch the head of God’s virgin with
thy sacrilegious hand, which shall this moment wither, and, after
five months, thou shalt die, and unless thou repentest, be dragged to hell. If
thou perseverest in thy crime, thou shalt also lose thy husband and children.”
The event showed repentance came too late to avert the threat as to this world.
Heli offended God by his children. (1 Reg. 1 et 4.) He cannot be made a bishop
who has vicious children, (1 Tim. iii.)
and a woman is to be saved by her virtuous children. (ib.) “If the faults of
grown up age be imputed to parents, much more are those of an age which knows
not the right hand from the left. If you are solicitous your daughter should
not be bit by a viper, how much more that she be not hurt by the poison of all
the earth; let her not drink of the golden cup of Babylon, nor go abroad with Dina
to see the daughters of the world. Let her never play with her feet, nor learn
any levity or vanity. Poisons are only given disguised in honey, and vices
never deceive but when presented under the appearance of virtues.”
He adds advice, when she
should be grown up, that she never stir out but with her parents, and tremble
at the sight of a man, as the Blessed Virgin did at that of an angel in the
appearance of a man; that she be usually to be found in the church or her
chamber; never join with other girls in noisy plays, and never go to great
banquets, for it is securer for temperance never to know what the palate might
crave. He will have her drink no wine, unless a little mixed with water, and
that only in her tender years. He prescribes that she be utterly ignorant of
the very use of musical instruments; that she learn, first Greek, then Latin,
her native language, which he would have cultivated from her infancy with the
greatest correctness; for barbarism and faults then learnt are scarcely ever to
be corrected. He lays down, as capital rules, that she never see anything in
her father or mother which it would be a fault for her to imitate; and that she
never go out, but with her mother, to the church or tombs of the martyrs. He
adds, that she must read, pray, and work by turns the whole day, rise at night
to prayer, recite the psalms, and be exact to the hours of the divine office,
matins, tierce, sext, none, and vespers. She should learn to spin, weave, and
make clothes, but only such as are modest, never fine ones, or such wherewith
bodies clothed are made the more naked. Her food must be chiefly roots and
herbs, sometimes a little fish: but she should eat so as always to be hungry,
and to be able to read or sing psalms immediately after meals. He says, “The
immoderate long fasts of many displease me. I have learned, by experience, that
the ass too much fatigued in the road seeks rest at any rate. In a long journey
strength must be supported, lest, by running the first stage too fast, we
should fall in the middle. In Lent full scope is to be given to severe fasting,
but more in seculars, who, like shell-fish, have their juice laid up to live
on, than in those whose life is a perpetual fast. All baths displease me in a
grown up virgin; though she be alone, she ought to blush at herself, and not
bear to see any part of her own body naked.” He allows bathing sometimes in
children. He advises that a person first learn the psalter, and sing it; that
then by reading the Proverbs she study the precepts of virtue; next, by
Ecclesiastes, she learn to despise the world; and learn by Job patience and
piety; that after this she pass to the Gospels; (which are to be always in her
hands;) next, to the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles; then get by heart
the Prophets and the historical books; and, last of all, venture to take in her
hands the book of Canticles, which she will be then prepared to understand in a
spiritual sense. He adds, she may be conversant in the works of St. Cyprian,
and may run over, without danger of error, the epistles of St. Athanasius, and
the writings of St. Hilary. He desires Læta, if it were difficult to practise
these lessons at Rome, to send the girl to her grandmother Paula, and her aunt
Eustochium at Bethlehem, where her piety and education would be more secure;
and he promises to be himself her master and tutor; adding, he should be more
honoured by teaching a spouse of Christ, who is one day to be raised to heaven,
than the philosopher was in being preceptor to the Macedonian king, who was
soon to perish by Babylonian poison. Læta followed his advice. St. Paula the
Younger being sent to Bethlehem, consecrated herself to Christ in her
grandmother’s monastery, and seems, by the life of St. Martinian, to have been
afterwards the foundress and abbess of a new nunnery there. Læta imitated at
Rome the excessive charity to the poor, and other extraordinary virtues of her
mother-in-law; and some time after this, embraced a state of perpetual
continency; as St. Jerom testifies in his epitaph of Paula. Toxotius, who was
then living, must have taken upon him a like engagement. [back]
Note
39. See her life, Jan. 26. [back]
Note
40. S. Hier. ep. 95, ad Asellam. ep. 23, ad Marcel, ep. 25, ad
Paulin. [back]
Note
41. Didymus, as St. Jerom, Rufinus, Socrates, Sozomen, Palladius,
Theodoret, and others assure us, lost his sight by a humour which fell upon
both his eyes in his infancy, when he just began to learn the alphabet.
Nevertheless, he afterwards got the letters of the alphabet cut in wood, and
learned to distinguish them by the touch. With the assistance of hired readers
and copiers, he became acquainted with almost all authors sacred and profane,
and acquired a thorough knowledge of grammer, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic,
music, geometry, astronomy, the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, and chiefly
a knowledge of the holy scriptures, so that he was esteemed a kind of prodigy.
He added prayer to study, and St. Athanasius, and other great men, so highly
approved his learning and piety, that the great school at Alexandria was
committed to his care. He was born about the year 308, and lived fourscore and
five years. He composed commentaries on the scriptures, and several other
works, which are lost. His book on the Holy Ghost against the Macedonians is
extant in St. Jerom’s Latin translation. We have also his treatise against the
Manichees, published in Greek and Latin by Combefis in Auctar. in Latin only in
the libraries of the Fathers, t. 4, in Canisius, t. 5, &c. His short
Enarrations on the Canonical Epistles are extant, Bibl. Patrum. See Fabricius,
Bibl. Græc. t. 8.
There never seems to have
been a more wonderful example of a learned blind man than Didymus. He who reads
in Homer the most lively and beautiful images of all the objects of nature and
art, must be himself blind in his understanding, if he believes the author
could have been blind from his cradle. We have the English poems of Thomas
Blacklock, the blind Scotsman, who was born at Annan, in 1721, and entirely
lost his eyesight by the smallpox, when but six months old. In these we may
agreeably trace the ideas which a blind man is capable of forming of all
visible objects. A late extraordinary instance of a sagacious blind man, was
Dr. Saunderson, who was born in 1682, and died at Cambridge in 1739. When
twelve months old, he was deprived not only of his sight, but also of his eyes,
by an abscess formed in both of them by the smallpox. He succeeded Mr. Cotes in
the Plumian professorship of astronomy and mathematics at Cambridge, and his
treatise of Algebra, in two vols. 4to. and other works, are monuments of his
learning. But this lay in abstract sciences, and he knew corporeal objects only
by the feeling. The late Dr. Richard Lucas composed, in a state of darkness,
his famous Inquiry after Happiness; but only lost his sight in the middle age
of life. Yet complains that the eyes or sense of others, by which he was
obliged to learn, were instruments or organs as ill fitted, and as awkwardly
managed by him, as wooden legs and hands by the maimed. Walkup, and the truly
pious and eminent F. Le Jeune, called Père Jean l’Aveugle, are instances of the
same kind; but not to be compared with the great Didymus. [back]
Note
42. S. Hier. ep. 85. [back]
Note
43. St. Jerom compiled, in 392, his most useful Catalogue of
illustrious men, or Ecclesiastical writers, in one hundred and thirty-five
chapters. Before this, whilst he was at Constantinople, in 380, he translated
into Latin the great chronicle of Eusebius, with some additions and
corrections, and continued it down to that year. This work is the more valuable
treasure, as the greater part of Eusebius’s Greek original is lost. Joseph
Scaliger pretended to restore it; but imposed upon the world, under this title,
scraps purloined from Cedrenus, George Syncellus, and other Greek
chronologists, without any marks of distinction. That morose critic, who never
gave himself time to digest by reflection what he devoured by reading all
authors he could come at in every science, fell short in judgment of his father
Julius, who had read much less, but thought more. His peevish censoriousness, a
mark of intolerable pride, is a dishonour to learning, and to human nature.
To return to St. Jerom;
he wrote the life of St. Paul the first hermit whilst he lived in the desert of
Chalcis, about the year 380: that of St. Hilarion before the year 392; and that
of Malchus about the year 390. St. Malchus was born in the eastern part of
Syria, thirty miles from Antioch, and led an anchoretical life in the desert of
Chalcis, till going home to sell an estate that was fallen to him,
in order to dispose of the price in alms, he was carried away captive by a
troop of Ismaelites or Saracens, and fell to the lot of one who employed him in
keeping sheep. This condition delighted him exceedingly, and he prayed and sung
psalms continually. He was compelled to take to wife a Christian woman, who was
a fellow-slave; but both agreed privately to live in perpetual continence, and
kept a greater reservedness towards each other than even a brother and sister
would have done. They at length made their escape through grievous dangers; and
she ended her life in a house of holy virgins. Malchus served God according to
the rules of his monastic state, near Maronia, which was the place of his
birth. St. Jerom, who knew him in this place, in his decrepit old age, extols
his extraordinary assiduity and fervour in prayer, and proposes as a model his
constancy in preserving chastity in the midst of swords, deserts, and wild
beasts, he being ready rather to die than to violate his vow, showing by his
example, that a person consecrated to Christ may be killed, but cannot be
conquered. [back]
Note
44. See vol. v. p. 32, note. [back]
Note
45. S. Hier. Op. t. 4, part. 2, p. 289. [back]
Note
47. S. Ambr. ep. 42. S. Aug. de hæret. c. 82. S. Hieron. 1, in
Jovinian. [back]
Note
48. S. Ambr. ep. 42, ad Siricium, p. 968. [back]
Note
49. T. 4, part 2, p. 144. [back]
Note
50. S. Ambr. t. 4, par. 1, p. 175. [back]
Note
52. Ep. 37, ad Ripar. p. 279. [back]
Note
53. L. adv. Vigilant, t. 4, par. 2, p. 286. [back]
Note
55. Ep. 24, p. 59. [back]
Note
56. See his letter to Paula, written before the year 392, p. 67. Also
l. 2, in Michæam Præf. l. de Nominib. Hebraic. &c. likewise Rufinus Apolog.
l. 2. [back]
Note
57. Tyrannius Rufinus coming from Aquileia to Rome, in 370, with an
intent to go into the East, found there Melania, bent upon the same journey,
she having lost her husband (who was of the most illustrious family of the
Valerii) and two sons within the space of one year, in the twenty-second year
of her age. She left behind her a little son called Publicola, who was the
person of that name that afterwards corresponded with St. Austin, according to
Tillemont and Fontanini. She went to Egypt with Rufinus in 372, as Fontanini
shows, (not after Rufinus, as Rosweide, &c. imagine,) and having spent
there six months in visiting the monasteries and anchorets, travelled to
Jerusalem, and there led a religious life. Rufinus leaving her at Jerusalem
returned to Egypt; and staid there six years; after which he joined Melania again
at Jerusalem. (S. Jer. ep. 21, alias 15, ad Marcellam.) St. Paulinus and others
exceedingly extol the virtues of this lady. St. Jerom from Chalcis most
affectionately congratulated Rufinus upon his arrival in Egypt. (ep. 1, alias
41, ad Rufinum.) At Jerusalem, Rufinus, and several other monks who put
themselves under his direction, lived in separate cells which he erected upon
Mount Olivet: Melania squared her life by his direction, in a nunnery which she
founded at Jerusalem; and, for twenty-seven years, entertained charitably all
pilgrims and the poor, as Palladius testifies. Rufinus was ordained priest by
John, bishop of Jerusalem, soon after the year 387.
St. Jerom coming to
settle at Bethlehem in 388, spent first a considerable time with Rufinus on
Mount Olivet, and cultivated his friendship till the dispute about Origen’s
doctrine produced, first a coldness, and, soon after, a violent disagreement
between them. The first seeds of this quarrel were sown when one Aterbius
having accused St. Jerom and Rufinus of Origenism, the former cleared himself
by condemning the doctrine of Origen, but the latter refused to do it. (S.
Hier. Apol. l. 3.) Soon after St. Epiphanius arrived at Jerusalem from Cyprus
in 394, and lodging for some time with the bishop John, was scandalized at his
great attachment to Origen, and could not extort from him a clear condemnation
of the heresy of the Origenists; which he therefore began to lay to his charge.
Leaving him he went to St. Jerom at Bethlehem, inflamed his zeal against all
favourers of Origenism, and ordained his brother Paulinian first deacon, and
then priest, in the twenty-eighth year of his age. Rufinus in this dispute
adhered to his bishop John. This schism or quarrel continued about three years,
but was extinguished by the endeavours of Melania in 397; and Rufinus and St.
Jerom publicly joined hands after mass in the holy church of the Resurrection.
(Anastasi, not Anastasii, as the new edition has it. St. Jerom Apol. l. 3, p.
466.) St. Jerom was also reconciled with his bishop John, and by his
appointment governed the parish of Bethlehem. (S. Sulp. Sever. Dial. 1, c. 4.)
His brother Paulinian whom St. Epiphanius took with him after his ordination,
was suffered by John to reside and perform priestly functions in the monastery
of Bethlehem. Rufinus and John gave satisfaction as to the purity of their
faith, but retracted no errors, because they had maintained none. (See
Fontanini, p. 190.) Rufinus and Melania made the most eminent saints in Egypt a
second visit, in 395, and were present at the death of St. Pambo. Publicola,
the son of Melania, prætor of Rome, took to wife Albina, by whom he had St.
Melania the Younger, who was married very young to Pinian, whose father had
been governor of Italy and Africa. She soon after her marriage obtained the
consent of her husband to devote herself to the divine service in a state of
continency. To assist her in this resolution Melania the Elder, embarking at
Cæsarea with Rufinus, landed in twenty days at Naples, in 397, being then
forty-seven years old, not sixty, as Fontanini demonstrates against Fleury.
They were received with great joy and distinction by St. Paulinus at Nola.
Rufinus left Melania at
Rome, and retired to the monastery of Pinetum, situated on the sea-coast near
Terracini, in the Campagna di Roma, as Fontanini shows against Noris and
Mabillon. Here, at the earnest request of a nobleman, (who was a monk at Rome,
and named Macarius,) he translated into Latin the first book out of the six, of
St. Pamphilus’s Apology for Origen, adding a preface in which he endeavoured to
show that all the erroneous passages found in any of the writings of that great
man, were the interpolations of heretics. Abstracts of the rest of this Apology
are found in Photius.
Rufinus soon after, translated
Origen’s four books On Principles, the chief source of the errors of the
Origenists, though the translator says he corrected several passages. This book
raised a great clamour at Rome as if Rufinus attempted to propagate the gross
errors contained in it, though propounded only problematically. Rufinus,
however, obtained communicatory letters of Pope Siricius, and with them went to
Aquileia. Siricius dying on the 26th of November, 398, his successor,
Anastasius, sent Rufinus a summons to come to Rome and justify himself; but he
excused himself upon weak pretences, and only sent an apology for himself to
Anastasius in 400, in which his profession of faith is orthodox, and very
explicit, as to the Trinity, the Incarnation, the origin of Spirits, the Eternity
of Hell, and other points. St. Jerom, at the entreaty of St.
Pammachius and other friends in Rome, wrote both to Rufinus and Pammachius
against this translation. Rufinus defended himself by his apology against St.
Jerom, divided into two parts, called by modern copiers, his Invectives. In the
first part, he chiefly labours to remove all sinister suspicion as to his faith
or doctrine; in the second, he objects many things to St. Jerom,
chiefly as to his writings. St. Jerom answered him by his Apology, divided also
into two books. Rufinus replied by a private letter to St. Jerom, which is
lost. St. Jerom answered him by the third book of his Apology, called his
Second Apology, which contains little more than a repetition of his former
objections. He closes it with these words: “Let us have but one faith; and we
shall forthwith be at peace.” The saint’s most material objection is, that
Rufinus had not condemned Origen’s Platonic notion of the pre-existence of
souls. (Apol. l. 2.) St. Chromatius of Aquileia wrote to St. Jerom exhorting
him to peace. Nothing can be more suitable for all persons that are engaged in
any contest, than the tender letter which St. Austin sent to St. Jerom on this
occasion. (S. Aug. ep. 73.) Nor did St. Jerom any more revive this dispute, to
which a zeal for the purity of the faith gave occasion, he being awaked by
learned pious friends, and by the indiscreet conduct of Rufinus favourable to
errors which had taken deep root in several monasteries.
Baronius, (an. 400,)
Noris, (De Hæres. Pelag. l. 1,) Perron, (Rep. au Roy de la Gr. Bret. c.
33,) Pagi, (an. 401, § 16,) Tillemont, (t. 12, p. 242,) and Natalis Alexander,
(sæc. 4, c. 6, art. 32,) say Rufinus was excommunicated by Pope Anastasius; but
their mistake is clearly confuted by Ceillier, Coutant, and Fontanini. (l. 5,
c. 19, p. 420.) It is certain that St. Chromatius of Aquileia, St. Venerius of
Milan, St. Petronius of Bologna, St. Gaudentius of Brescia, St. Paulinus of
Nola, St. Austin, and others, always treated him with esteem, and as one in the
communion of the church. In the letter of Pope Anastasius to John of Jerusalem,
the mention of Rufinus’s excommunication, in some editions, is an evident
interpolation, omitted by Coutant in his edition of the Decretals, and inconsistent
with the rest of the epistle, in which the pope says, he leaves the
translator’s intention to God, though he condemns the work, and expresses that
he is much dissatisfied with the author. Rome, by a like mistake, have charged
Rufinus of Aquileia with Pelagianism; but it is manifest by several
circumstances that the Rufinus, who, coming from Palestine to Rome, was the
first that instilled that heresy into Celestius, was another person of the same
name, who is called by Marius Mercator and Palladius, a Syrian, and survived
our author. (See Ceillier and Fontanini.) Tyrannius Rufinus translated several
homilies of Origin, and the history of Eusebius with alterations and additions.
Of the three books Of the Lives of the Fathers ascribed to Rufinus, in Rosweide,
the first was certainly written by him: the second was compiled by him (not by
Evagrius of Pontus) from the relation of St. Petronius of Bologna; the third is
the work of a later writer; for the death of St. Arsenius, which is mentioned
in it, happened thirty years after that of Rufinus. No book of this author has
done him so much honour, or the church so much service, as his valuable
Exposition of the Symbol or Creed, which he says tradition assures us was
composed by the apostles. Rufinus took too great liberty in his translations,
nor is he careful or exact in his historical works. After the death of St.
Chromatius in 407, he returned to Rome. In 408, when Alaric threatened Rome, he
passed with the two Melanias into Sicily, intending to go with the elder back
to Jerusalem, but being overtaken by sickness, in a decrepit old age, he died
in Sicily, towards the latter end of the year 410. Cardinal Noris and Dr. Cave
set Rufinus’s life and writings in the most unfavourable light; Ceillier (t.
10, p. 1,) and the learned Justus Fontanini, archbishop of Ancyra, Hist.
Literaria Aquileinsis, l. 5,) &c., draw a fairer portraiture of this famous
man. [back]
Note
58. “Me hæreticis nunquam pepercisse, et omni egisse studio ut hostes
Ecclesiæ mei quoque hostes fierent.” [back]
Note
59. A certain analogy between the Oriental languages anciently spoken
in the countries near Chaldæa, makes their general study of some use for
understanding the Hebrew: but even this, unless the student stands upon his
guard, will be apt to bring in a foreign mixture of those languages, and lead
into mistakes in the signification of several words which appear similar, yet
have a different meaning or extent, as usually happens in different dialects
and ages. The writings of the Rabins are of little service, and most of them of
none at all. Their language, though sometimes called Hebrew, is entirely
different from the ancient, being a very barbarous Chaldaic, though more pure
in the paraphrase of Onkelos on the Pentateuch, which is rather a version than
a paraphrase, and its style is so correct as to have some affinity with the
Chaldaic in Daniel and Esdras. As to the paraphrase of Jonathan on the first
prophets, as they are called by the Jews, (that is, on Josue, Judges, and
Kings,) though more diffusive, is in style something a-kin to it. But the six
other Targums or paraphrases that are extant, are full of childish fables, and
the Chaldaic language, in their writings, is intermixed with Persian, Arabic,
Greek, and Latin words: it is purest in the Targum of Jerusalem, so
called because written, though in the ages of its degeneracy, in that dialect
of the Chaldaic which was spoken by the Jews at Jerusalem after their return
from the captivity. On the Targumim or Targums, see Morin. l. 2; Exercit. 8,
and Helvicus l. de Paraphras. Chaldaic.
The two Thalmuds, or
collections of traditions, seem as old as the sixth century; are first
mentioned in the law by which Justinian condemned them. St. Jerom mentions the
absurd traditions or [Greek] of the Pharisees. (ep. ad Alg. and in c. 8, Isai.)
These traditions containing monstrous fictions and pretended miracles about
Moses, &c., were committed to writing by R. Jehuda, surnamed by the Jews,
Hakkadosh or the Holy, about the sixth century, and called Mishna or Misna,
that is, the second Law
This is the text. The
Ghemara or Supplement, is a commentary upon it, and was added soon after. Both
together are called the Thalmud, that is, the Doctrine. The Thalmud of
Jerusalem is the older; but that of Babylon, compiled by the Rabbins Ase and
Jese, in Persia, after the year 700, is most used, and in the greatest esteem
among the Jews, the former being obscure and unintelligible. Both abound with
blasphemies against Christ, and monstrous fables. For a specimen, see Sixtus
Senensis, Bibl. Sanctæ, l. 2, Tit. Thalmud. p. 134. Or, in our own language,
Mr. Stephelin’s Rabbinical Literature, printed at Oxford, in 1725.
Nevertheless, certain rites, proverbs, and maxims in the Misna, illustrate some
old Jewish customs and scriptural allusions. See Mr. Wotton’s Miscellaneous
Discourses relating to the traditions and usages of the Scribes and Pharisees, London,
1718. The Caraïtes, so called from Caraï, which signifies a learned man, are a
small sect of Jews in the East, mortally hated by the rest. These reject the
Thalmud or traditions of the second Law. See Supart’s history of the Caraïtes,
at Jena, 1701. Scaliger and the Buxtorfs pretend they are the descendants of
the Sadducees; but are certainly mistaken. For the Caraïtes speak well of
Spirits, &c. See Rich. Simon, (Crit. du V. Test. l. 1, c. 29,) Lamy,
&c. The Thalmudists are posterior to St. Jerom; but he condemned those
fictions upon which they grafted their system, and of which the famous R.
Akiba, who adhered to Barchochebas in his rebellion under Adrian, (for which he
suffered death,) is said to have been the chief author. See Brucker, (Hist.
Critica Philos. t. 2, p. 820.)
The Masorete doctors, who
flourished at Tiberias after St. Jerom’s death, invented critical rules to
preserve the Hebrew text entire; and are said to have specified the number of
the verses and words contained in each book. The older Masora was composed
before the invention of vowel points, and consists of marginal marks called
Keri and Kerib, invented to show how certain words are to be read. The later
Masora was made after the invention of the vowel points. Its rules seem entirely
useless; those of the former Masora might have been of some service if the Jews
had understood or given attention to them. Of the ancient Rabbinical learning
nothing is extant but the Masora and the idle dreams of the Thalmud. From the
sixth age no learning flourished among the Jews, till studies in the eleventh
were revived by an emulation of the Saracen Mussulmans and the Christians, as
Morinus, Fleury, and Brucher observe. R. Juda, surnamed Chiug, compiled the
first Hebrew dictionary (which he wrote in Arabic characters) about the year
1030. R. Jona composed near the same time a good Hebrew grammar; but neither of
these has been printed. A shoal of Rabbinical writers succeeded, whose works
are full of idle subtilties, impious fictions and cabalistical or ridiculous
mystical interpretations.
Among all the Rabbins
very few have written so as to deserve the least notice. These are chiefly
Aben-Ezra (who died in 1168) and R. Moses Ben Maimon, called Maimonides, who
both flourished at Cordova, but the latter (who made a famous abstract of the
Thalmud) died at Grand Cairo in 1205. R. Kimchi (who lived also in the twelfth
century) published a very good Hebrew grammar: and R. Elias Levita, a German,
who taught Hebrew at Venice and Rome, shows himself in his works generally a
good critic. R. Kimchi, and the authors of the Thalmud show at large that the
Rabbins learned the signification of many words from the Arabic and other
languages by very precarious and uncertain rules. See Morin (Exercit. Bibl. 6,
c. 5,) and F. Honore. (Crit. t. 1, Diss. 5, p. 124.) John Forster, a learned
German Protestant, says the Jewish Hebrew books and comments have brought more
obscurity and error than light and truth in the study of the Hebrew
text. (in Diction. Hebraic.) See Calmet’s Diss. sur les Ecoles des
Hebreux, p. 22. [back]
Note
60. See Calmet, Diss. sur la Vulgate. [back]
Note
62. Milles in Prolegom. [back]
Note
63. Diss. sur la Vulgate. [back]
Note
64. Præf. in Evangelium Quadruplex. [back]
Note
65. Hieron. Præf. in Josue. [back]
Note
66. St. Aug. de Christ. l. 2, c. 11. [back]
Note
67. St. Hier. Præf. in Evang. ad Damas. t. 1, p. 1426. St. Aug.
ep. 71, ad Hieron. [back]
Note
68. St. Hier. in catal. c. 135. [back]
Note
69. Lucas Brugensis testifies that he saw in the abbey of Malmedia MS.
copy of all St. Paul’s epistles in the ancient Italic version. (Annot. t. 4,
par. 2, p. 32.) D. Martianay has published that version of St. Matthew’s
gospel, and the epistle of St. James, besides the books of Job and Judith. Four
MS. copies of all the gospels in the old Italic version have been found, one at
Corbie, a second at Vercelli, (in the handwriting of St. Eusebius, bishop of
that city, and martyr,) a third at Brescia, and a fourth at Verona; and have
been all accurately printed together by Blanchini at Rome, in 1748, in folio.
And we may hope to see the ancient Vulgate or Italic entirely restored. [back]
Note
70. It is certain that no vowel points were known in Hebrew writings
in the time of St. Jerom. They were probably invented at Tiberias, about fifty
years after his death, by the Jewish doctors, who fixed them as they had
learned to read the bible by tradition. The Jews in their synagogues still use
bibles without points. The Samaritans have none. Simon (l. 1, c. 2,) thinks the
Jews learned them from the Arabs who invented such points for vowels under the
caliph Omar I. to ascertain the reading of the Alcoran. The use of these vowels
being so modern, they are rejected or changed by critics at discretion; and
many now expunge them. See Calmet’s and Vence’s Diss. on the Vowel Points,
prefixed to the French comment on Esdras. But by what rules did St. Jerom and
the ancient Jews read that language? If they read the scripture by tradition,
how did they read unknown writings? How did Joab understand David’s
order by letter to contrive the death of Urias? Some think these six consonants
supplied the place of vowels, Aleph short a, He short
e, Vau u, Jod i, Cheth long e, Ain long
a. Mr. Benj. Kennicot (Diss. 1,) says that the Jews, after the invention of
vowel points, omitted some of those consonants in their copies of the Bible,
and substituted points as equivalent to them, in order to write with more
facility. And F. Giraudeau in his Praxis Linguæ Sanctæ (containing a Hebrew
Lexicon like the Greek Lexicon of Schrevelius and a grammar,) printed at
Rochelle 1757, adds, that where none of these vowel letters
occur, o is to be understood. Thus [Hebrew] (Jer. ix.
22,) is read by St. Jerom, dabber, that is, speak, by
some dabar, that is, a speech, by
others deber, that is, death or pestilence; but,
according to this author, is to be pronounced dobor. But, to overturn
the whole system of the pronunciation of a language, and to found a new one
upon mere conjecture, is as wild a project as the late mathematician’s scheme
to change all the received terms in algebra and geometry. To free the Hebrew
grammar from so great an encumbrance would indeed be a happy discovery, provided
it could be done without a greater inconvenience. Otherwise it is better to be
content to understand one another in this dead language, without aiming at a
perfection which is now impossible. Who can hope now-a-days to speak Latin or
Greek so correctly that his accent and language would not have seemed
barbarous, and sometimes unintelligible, to Cicero or Demosthenes?
Our ignorance of the
Hebrew pronunciation appears most sensibly in the scripture poesy. Josephus,
Philo, Eusebius, and St. Jerom assure us, that the versification in the Psalms,
and other poetical parts, is most perfect, both in measure or feet, and in
rhyme. Yet neither can be discovered by us, insomuch that Calmet with many
others have fancied it consisted merely in a poetical turn of the phrases, and
elevation of sentiment. See his and Fleury’s Dissertations on the Hebrew poesy,
and Floridi, Diss. 17, p. 502. But the most ingenious Mr. Rob. Lowth in his
Prælectiones de sacra Poesi Hebræorum, clearly shows that the Psalms and other
poetical parts of the Hebrew Bible are composed in beautiful metre; which
appears from the measured number of syllables, the licenses, never allowed but
on such occasions, as the elision or addition of letters, and other like
circumstances. To proceed from the two first historical chapters of Job to his
discourse which is in verse, is no less a change than from Livy to fall into
Virgil. (p. 29, 127, 169, &c.) That the study of sacred poesy was a
profession among the Jews, is clear from Eccles. xliv. 5, 3 Reg. iv. 31,
&c. See Mr. Lowth’s elegant work displaying at large the beauties of this
most sublime and inimitable poesy, enriched with remarks entirely new, and with
noble essays of some Latin translations, as that of the Ode of Isaias on the
destruction of Babylon, ch. xiv. 4, p. 277, &c. A work which may be justly
esteemed the richest augmentation which this branch of literature has lately
received. We read also with pleasure observations on the Hebraic versification
in the treatise of Robertson, On the True and Ancient method of reading the
Hebrew. [back]
Note
71. S. Greg. M. l. 1, hom. 10, n. 6, in Ezech. l. 20, Mor. in cap. 30,
Job. cap. 32, n. 62. [back]
Note
72. S. Isidor. l. 1, de Offic. Eccl. [back]
Note
73. This was declared by the council of Trent in 1546, an authentic
version; by which decree is not meant any preference to the Original Texts. See
Pallavicini, (Hist. Conc. Trid.) Walton, (Proleg. 10, in Polyglot.) Bellarmin,
(De Verbo Dei, l. 2, c. 11,) and Literis ad Lucam Brugens Capuæ datis 1603, and
Diss. de editione Latinâ Vulgatâ, printed at Wirtzburgh in 1749, and in the new
French Bible with notes and dissertations, at Paris, 1750, t. 14, p. 1. A
correct edition of the Vulgate was published at Rome by order of Sixtus V. in
the year 1590, the last of his pontificate: and another more correct in 1592,
by order of Clement VIII.; and again with some few amendments in 1593. On the
commendation of the Latin Vulgate, see the ablest Protestant critics, Lewis De
Dieu, Drusius, Milles, Walton, Proleg. in Polyglot, &c. Cappell has adopted
many readings of our Vulgate in places where the modern MSS. of the Hebrew were
corrupt. Crit. sacra, p. 351, 371.
How difficult an
undertaking such a translation from the Hebrew is at present, appears from the
miscarriages of many moderns. How faulty are Beza’s and Erasmus’s Latin
versions of the New Testament! Or those of the Old by Pagninus, Arias Montanus,
Luther, (whose shameful ignorance of the Hebrew language rendered him
contemptible to his warmest friends,) Munster, (whose translation sticks close
to the Jewish paraphrase and Rabbins,) Leo of Juda, author of the translation
called Vatable’s Bible, Seb. Castalio, (whom Beza, &c. severely censured,)
Luke, and his son Andrew Osiander, (who only corrected some parts of the
Vulgate by the Hebrew:) lastly, that of Junius and Tremeilius, (the latter of
whom was born a Jew.) This last translation is preferred by the English
Protestants; but even the second edition, corrected by the authors, is not less
essentially defective than the first, as Drusius, a learned Protestant critic,
has invincibly demonstrated. The Latin style is vicious and affected: pronouns
are often added which are not in the original, and frequently other words; and
the authors often wander from the sense.
It cannot be denied that
the Hebrew text is now defective through the fault of copiers, as the ablest
Rabbins acknowledge, and as appears manifest from the genealogies in
Paralipomenon and several other places. The truth of this assertion is
demonstrated by Mr. Kennicot in his work entitled: The present printed Hebrew
Text considered, Oxf. 1759, Diss. 2, p. 222, &c. See also his Dissertation
on the same subject, which appeared in 1753. He gives the history of the Hebrew
text which he affirms was preserved entire until the return from the captivity,
and even later, a copy of the Pentateuch having been, by the order of Moses,
enclosed in a chest and kept close to the ark.
Morin allows but five
hundred years of antiquity to the famous MS. of Hillel, kept at Hamburg.
Houbigant says he knew no Hebrew MSS. above six or seven hundred years old; few
that exceed two or three hundred years. The oldest in France is that of the
Oratorians de la rue S. Honore in Paris, to which Houbigant allows seven
hundred years. According to Abbé Salier there is not any in the king’s library
at Paris older than four hundred years. The Dominicans of Bologna in Italy have
a copy of the Pentateuch (described by Montfaucon Diar. Ital. p. 399,) which
was looked upon to have been ancient in 1308, when those religious purchased it
from a Jew who pretended it was written by Esdras; this copy is supposed to be
about nine hundred years old. England also possesses two valuable MSS. one of
the Pentateuch, the other of the remainder of the Old Testament, of about seven
hundred years old; they are in the Bodleian library. (Kennicot, Diss. 1, p.
315.) The most famous MS. of the Samaritan Pentateuch kept at Naplouse (the
ancient Sichem near Mount Gerizim) is not above five hundred years old. (Kenn.
Diss. 2, p. 541.) That which is seen in the Ambrosian library at Milan may be
more ancient. (Montfauc. Diar. p. 11.) The Hebrew MS. of the Vatican is said to
have been written in 973
The late Latin
translation by Houbigant, the French Oratorian, of the Old Testament, from the
Hebrew original, and of the Deutero-canonici, or sacred books which are not in
the Hebrew canon from the Greek, is a work which does honour to our age. The
beautiful elegance, energy, and perspicuity of the style cannot be sufficiently
commended; a paraphrase upon it seems useless. The annotations are so concise,
judicious, and useful, that a separate edition of them would be very
serviceable to private students. But the author seems sometimes too bold in
correcting the Hebrew text without the warrant of MSS. a liberty which is,
however, tolerable in notes, with modesty and reserve, where the necessity
appears evident. Some would have thought this work more valuable, is the
criticism, in some points, had been more moderate; and if in some places a
greater deference had been paid to the ancient authentic version.
Grotius, Wells, and other
Protestant critics have shown their judgment by their frequent recourse to the
Vulgate to determine or correct the sense of the original, even in the New
Testament, which is much more frequently of use in the Old: though the most
authentic versions, as the Seventy for the books of the Old Testament, and the
Latin Vulgate, receive great helps from the comparing of the original texts,
which, notwithstanding this distance of time, remain originals, and often add
great force, perspicuity, and light to the sense of the best versions. Whence
the church has often strenuously recommended the study of the sacred languages.
Her general councils have ordered professors of these languages to be appointed
for that purpose in all universities, &c. In this St. Jerom is our model
and guide. [back]
Note
74. St. Jerom’s style in his Commentaries on the Scriptures is very
different from that of his other works. In them he banishes all the flowers of
rhetoric; on which account his discourse in these is somewhat dry, though it is
pure, and joins great clearness with simplicity. This he thought best to suit
the dignity and simplicity of the divine oracles. In his other writings he
strove to give his style the highest polish. In them his thoughts and
expressions are noble: he is always lively and clear, and adorns his discourse
with a wonderful variety of surprising turns, and dexterously employs sometimes
beautiful figures and sometimes logical subtilties; he often introduces some of
the finest strokes of the best philosophers and classics, and curious things
from some of the arts and sciences. All these parts are so exactly adapted,
that they seem to be everywhere in their natural place, so that his discourse
may be compared to an inlaid work, where the pieces are so artificially put
together that they seem to be made for one another. But this way of writing
appears somewhat too much affected, and overcharged. Neither is his style
regular, says the judicious Fenelon; who, nevertheless, adds, that though it
has some faults, he is a far more eloquent writer than most whose names stand
foremost in the list of orators.
Dom Martianay, a Maurist
monk, well skilled in the Hebrew tongue, published the works of this father in
five volumes, folio; the first volume in 1693, the last in 1704. The book, On
Hebrew Names, and other critical works of St. Jerom, were extremely incorrect
in all former editions, even in those of Erasmus and Marianus Victorius. This
of the Benedictin monk has deserved the highest commendations of Dr. Cave and
others. Yet it is not complete; and the editor, though in this work he has
shown more judgment and erudition than in some smaller tracts, has not attained
to the reputation of the Coutants and Mabillons. The text is still left in some
places incorrect; the notes are sometimes defective. The order of the epistles
is so confused that many of them can neither be readily found nor easily
quoted. St. Jerom’s Chronicle is omitted; as is also the Martyrology, which is
to be found in D’Achery, (Spicil. t. 4,) and which bears the name of St. Jerom
in some ancient MSS. though this father was only the Latin interpreter, as Bede
(Retr. in Act.) and Walfridus Strabo (de rebus Eccl. c. 28,) assure us. De
Martianay compiled the Life of St. Jerom, which he inserted in the fifth tome
of his works; but published it more at large in French, in 1706, in which work
he has vindicated the honour of this father against the harsh expressions of
Baillet, &c. See the slanders of Barbeyrac against St. Jerom and his
doctrine, confuted by Ceillier, Apologie des Pères, p. 308, 311, &c.
Villarsi, an Italian
Oratorian, with the assistance of the learned Marquis Scipio Maffei, and
others, gave a new edition of St. Jerom’s works, in ten volumes folio, at
Verona, in 1738, with the life of this father, and many useful notes. But the
liberty which, in imitation of Erasmus and some other critics, he has taken in
correcting the text upon his own conjectures, without the authority of MS.
copies, has much discredited his undertaking.
Four religious Orders
take the name of Hieronymites, honour St. Jerom as principal patron, and in
their first institution followed austere rules, which they collected out of his
epistles: but these they have since changed to adopt the complete rules of some
other Order. The Hieronymites in Spain are originally a filiation of the third
Order of St. Francis: they were hermits till, in 1374, they were formed into
regular communities; at which time they put themselves under the rule of St.
Austin. The same is followed by the hermits of St. Jerom, who compose the
Congregation of Lombardy. These are possessed of the church of St. Alexis in
Rome; but their general resides in their great convent of St. Peter of
Ospitaletto, in the diocess of Lodi. The Congregation of the Hieronymites of
Fiesoli in Tuscany profess the rule of St. Austin, with certain particular
constitutions taken out of St. Jerom’s ascetical epistles. Those of St. Peter
of Pisa are mendicants. See his Life, June 1. [back]
Note
75. St. Hier. ep. 78, ad Paulin. p. 643. [back]
Note
76. St. Aug. De Gestis Pelag. c. 36, t. 10. [back]
Note
77. Sulp Sev. Dial. c. 4. S. Aug. ep. 82, n. 30, p. 201. [back
Note
78. Hare, On the Difficulties which attend the Study of the Scriptures
by the way of private Spirit. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume IX: September. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/9/301.html
Luc
Breton . Saint Jérome écrivant. Terre cuite - XVIIIe siècle
PREFACE TO THE
GOSPELS 1
BEGINNING OF THE PREFACE
FOR THE GOSPELS OF SAINT JEROME THE PRESBYTER
To the blessed Pope
Damasus, from Jerome,
You urge me to make a new
work from the old, and that I might sit as a kind of judge over the versions of
Scripture dispersed throughout the whole world, and that I might resolve which
among such vary, and which of these they may be which truly agree with the
Greek. Pious work, yet perilous presumption, to change the old and aging
language of the world , to carry it back to infancy, for to judge others is to
invite judging by all of them. Is there indeed any learned or unlearned
man, who when he picks up the volume in his hand, and takes a single taste
of it, and sees what he will have read to differ, might not
instantly raise his voice, calling me a forger, proclaiming me now to be a
sacrilegious man, that I might dare to add, to change, or to correct anything
in the old books? Against such infamy I am consoled by two causes: that it
is you, who are the highest priest, who so orders, and truth is not to be what
might vary, as even now I am vindicated by the witness of slanderers. If
indeed faith is administered by the Latin version, they might respond by
which, for they are nearly as many as the books! If, however, truth is to be a
seeking among many, why do we not now return to the Greek originals to
correct those mistakes which either through faulty translators were set
forth, or through confident but unskilled were wrongly revised, or through
sleeping scribes either were added or were changed? Certainly, I do not
discuss the Old Testament, which came from the Seventy Elders in the Greek
language, changing in three steps until it arrived with us 2. Nor
do I seek what Aquila, or what Symmachus may think, or why Theodotion may walk
the middle of the road between old and new. This may be the true
translation which the Apostles have approved. I now speak of the New
Testament, which is undoubtedly Greek, except the Apostle Matthew, who had
first set forth the Gospel of Christ in Hebrew letters in Judea. This
(Testament) certainly differs in our language, and is led in the way
of different streams; it is necessary to seek the single fountainhead. I
pass over those books which are called by the name of Lucian and
Hesychius, for which a few men wrongly claim authority, who anyway were not
allowed to revise either in the Old Instrument after the Seventy
Translators, or to pour out revisions in the New; with the Scriptures
previously translated into the languages of many nations, the additions may now
be shown to be false.
Therefore, this present
little preface promises only the four Gospels, the order of which is Matthew,
Mark, Luke, John, revised in comparison with only old Greek books. They do
not disagree with many familiar Latin readings, as we have kept our pen in
control, but only those in which the sense will have been seen to have changed
(from the Greek) are corrected; the rest remain as they have been.
We have also copied the
lists which Eusebius the bishop of Caesarea, following Ammonius of Alexandria,
set out in ten numbers, as they are had in the Greek, so that if any may
then wish through diligence to make known what in the Gospels may be either
the same, or similar, or singular, he may learn their differences. This is
great, since indeed error has sunk into our books; while concerning the
same thing, one Evangelist has said more, into another they have added
because they thought it inferior; or while another has differently expressed
the same sense, whichever one of the four he had read first, he will
revise the other to the version he values most. Whence it happened how in
our time that all have been mixed; in Mark are many things of Luke, and even
of Matthew; turned backwards in Matthew are many things of John and of
Mark, yet in the remaining others, they are found to be correct. When,
therefore, you will have read the lists which are attached below, the
confusion of errors is removed, and you will know all the similar
passages, and the singular ones, wherever you may turn to. In the first
list, the four agree, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; in the second, three, Matthew,
Mark, John; in the third, three, Matthew, Luke, John; in the fourth,
three, Matthew, Mark, John; in the fifth, two, Matthew, Luke; in the
sixth, two, Matthew, Mark; in the seventh, two, Matthew, John; in the eighth,
two, Luke, Mark; in the ninth, two, Luke, John; in the tenth some peculiar
ones are given which the others don't have. Separately in the Gospels are
numbered sections of unequal length, beginning with one and increasing to the
end of the books. This is written before the passage in black, and it has
under it a red number, which shows to which of the ten (lists) to proceed,
with the first number to be sought in the list. Therefore, when the book is
open, for example, if you will wish to know of this or that chapter in
which list they may be, you will immediately be shown by the lower number.
Returning to the beginning (of the book) in which the different lists are
brought together, and immediately finding the same lists by the title in
front, by that same number which you had sought in the Evangelist, which you
will find marked in the inscription, you may also view other similar
passages, the numbers of which you may note there. And when you know them,
you will return to the single volumes, and immediately finding the number
which you will have noted before, you will learn the places in which
either the same things or similar things were said.
I wish that in Christ you
may be well, and that you will remember me, most blessed Pope.
END OF THE PREFACE FOR
THE GOSPELS OF SAINT JEROME THE PRESBYTER
1. Translated
by Kevin P. Edgecomb, 27 July 1999, Berkeley, California. As far as I am
able to find, this is the first translation of the full letter into
English, modern or otherwise.
2. Hebrew > Greek
> Latin.
SOURCE : http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_preface_gospels.htm
Domenico Ghirlandaio, Saint Jérôme dans son étude, 1480, 184 x 119, Chiesa di Ognissanti, Florence
San Girolamo (o Gerolamo) Sacerdote
e dottore della Chiesa
Stridone (confine tra
Dalmazia e Pannonia), ca. 347 - Betlemme, 420
Fece studi e
enciclopedici ma, portato all'ascetismo, si ritirò nel deserto presso
Antiochia, vivendo in penitenza. Divenuto sacerdote a patto di conservare la
propria indipendenza come monaco, iniziò un'intensa attività letteraria. A Roma
collaborò con papa Damaso, e, alla sua morte, tornò a Gerusalemme dove
partecipò a numerose controversie per la fede, fondando poco lontano dalla
Chiesa della Natività, il monastero in cui morì. Di carattere focoso,
soprattutto nei suoi scritti, non fu un mistico e provocò consensi o polemiche,
fustigando vizi e ipocrisie. Scrittore infaticabile, grande erudito e ottimo
traduttore, a lui si deve la Volgata in latino della Bibbia, a cui aggiunse dei
commenti, ancora oggi importanti come quelli sui libri dei Profeti.
Patronato: Archeologi,
Bibliotecari, Studiosi, Traduttori
Etimologia: Girolamo = di
nome sacro, dal greco
Emblema: Cappello da
cardinale, Leone
Martirologio Romano:
Memoria di san Girolamo, sacerdote e dottore della Chiesa: nato in Dalmazia,
nell’odierna Croazia, uomo di grande cultura letteraria, compì a Roma tutti gli
studi e qui fu battezzato; rapito poi dal fascino di una vita di
contemplazione, abbracciò la vita ascetica e, recatosi in Oriente, fu ordinato
sacerdote. Tornato a Roma, divenne segretario di papa Damaso e, stabilitosi poi
a Betlemme di Giuda, si ritirò a vita monastica. Fu dottore insigne nel
tradurre e spiegare le Sacre Scritture e fu partecipe in modo mirabile delle
varie necessità della Chiesa. Giunto infine a un’età avanzata, riposò in pace.
Celebre per aver tolto una spina dalla zampa di un leone e per aver tradotto la Bibbia, Girolamo, dal greco hieronymos (“sacro nome”), nasce a Stridone in Dalmazia (attuale Croazia) intorno al 347. La sua è una famiglia benestante. Così Girolamo viene mandato a Roma per studiare la grammatica e le lingue antiche (ebraica, greca e latina). Un giorno, malato con la febbre alta, ha un’ispirazione che lo spinge a svolgere una missione: studiare la Bibbia. Girolamo, desideroso di vita ascetica, si sposta in Oriente dove si dedica per quattro anni, digiunando, a una dura vita da eremita e allo studio delle Sacre Scritture.
Ordinato sacerdote è di nuovo a Roma dove viene incaricato da papa Damaso di
tradurre la Bibbia, dalla versione ebraica e greca in latino. Il risultato è la
famosa Vulgata (parola che deriva dal latino e significa “comune, popolare”),
conclusa da Girolamo dopo ventitré anni. Il santo diventa segretario del papa,
nonché guida spirituale di alcune donne della nobiltà romana tra le quali le
future Sante Marcella, Lea e Paola. Esse formeranno il primo gruppo monastico
femminile della “città eterna”. Si trasferisce, poi, in Palestina e, nel 386, a
Betlemme, apre un convento maschile e uno femminile vicino alla Basilica della
Natività di Gesù, una scuola gratuita dove insegna greco e latino e un centro
di accoglienza per i pellegrini.
Girolamo ha una vita intellettuale intensissima fatta di studio, ricerca,
traduzioni, opere letterarie. È uno dei più grandi studiosi biblici e
infaticabile narratore della storia dei santi. Muore a Betlemme nel 420 nel
monastero da lui fondato. Il suo è un carattere intemperante e, a volte, contro
gli avversari è troppo rigido e polemico, sia con la lingua, sia con la penna.
Per questo motivo si procura delle inimicizie. Viene raffigurato anziano, con
la barba lunga e bianca con accanto un libro e spesso con un leone che, secondo
la leggenda, diventa mansueto e suo amico inseparabile, dopo che il santo gli
estrae dalla zampa ferita una dolorosissima spina. Proclamato dottore della
Chiesa, Girolamo è patrono di librai, bibliotecari, traduttori, archeologi,
studenti, scuole e università cattoliche. Per aver tanto studiato e scritto, la
vista di San Girolamo subì un peggioramento, per questo motivo è anche patrono
dei miopi e viene invocato dai deboli di vista.
Autore: Mariella
Lentini
Bartolomeo Cavarozzi (1587–1625), Saint Jérôme visité par des anges, XVIIe siècle
San Girolamo è un Padre
della Chiesa che ha posto al centro della sua vita la Bibbia: l’ha tradotta
nella lingua latina, l’ha commentata nelle sue opere, e soprattutto si è
impegnato a viverla concretamente nella sua lunga esistenza terrena, nonostante
il ben noto carattere difficile e focoso ricevuto dalla natura.
Girolamo nacque a Stridone verso il 347 da una famiglia cristiana, che gli
assicurò un’accurata formazione, inviandolo anche a Roma a perfezionare i suoi
studi. Da giovane sentì l'attrattiva della vita mondana (cfr Ep. 22,7), ma
prevalse in lui il desiderio e l'interesse per la religione cristiana. Ricevuto
il battesimo verso il 366, si orientò alla vita ascetica e, recatosi ad
Aquileia, si inserì in un gruppo di ferventi cristiani, da lui definito quasi
«un coro di beati» (Chron. Ad ann. 374) riunito attorno al Vescovo Valeriano.
Partì poi per l'Oriente e visse da eremita nel deserto di Calcide, a sud di
Aleppo (cfr Ep. 14,10), dedicandosi seriamente agli studi. Perfezionò la sua
conoscenza del greco, iniziò lo studio dell'ebraico (cfr Ep. 125,12),
trascrisse codici e opere patristiche (cfr Ep. 5,2). La meditazione, la
solitudine, il contatto con la Parola di Dio fecero maturare la sua sensibilità
cristiana. Sentì più pungente il peso dei trascorsi giovanili (cfr Ep. 22,7), e
avvertì vivamente il contrasto tra mentalità pagana e vita cristiana: un
contrasto reso celebre dalla drammatica e vivace "visione", della
quale egli ci ha lasciato il racconto. In essa gli sembrò di essere flagellato
al cospetto di Dio, perché «ciceroniano e non cristiano» (cfr Ep. 22,30).
Nel 382 si trasferì a Roma: qui il Papa Damaso, conoscendo la sua fama di
asceta e la sua competenza di studioso, lo assunse come segretario e
consigliere; lo incoraggiò a intraprendere una nuova traduzione latina dei
testi biblici per motivi pastorali e culturali. Alcune persone
dell’aristocrazia romana, soprattutto nobildonne come Paola, Marcella, Asella,
Lea ed altre, desiderose di impegnarsi sulla via della perfezione cristiana e
di approfondire la loro conoscenza della Parola di Dio, lo scelsero come loro
guida spirituale e maestro nell’approccio metodico ai testi sacri. Queste
nobildonne impararono anche il greco e l’ebraico.
Dopo la morte di Papa Damaso, Girolamo lasciò Roma nel 385 e intraprese un
pellegrinaggio, dapprima in Terra Santa, silenziosa testimone della vita
terrena di Cristo, poi in Egitto, terra di elezione di molti monaci (cfr Contra
Rufinum 3,22; Ep. 108,6-14). Nel 386 si fermò a Betlemme, dove, per la generosità
della nobildonna Paola, furono costruiti un monastero maschile, uno femminile e
un ospizio per i pellegrini che si recavano in Terra Santa, «pensando che Maria
e Giuseppe non avevano trovato dove sostare» (Ep. 108,14). A Betlemme restò
fino alla morte, continuando a svolgere un'intensa attività: commentò la Parola
di Dio; difese la fede, opponendosi vigorosamente a varie eresie; esortò i
monaci alla perfezione; insegnò la cultura classica e cristiana a giovani
allievi; accolse con animo pastorale i pellegrini che visitavano la Terra
Santa. Si spense nella sua cella, vicino alla grotta della Natività, il 30
settembre 419/420.
La preparazione letteraria e la vasta erudizione consentirono a Girolamo la
revisione e la traduzione di molti testi biblici: un prezioso lavoro per la
Chiesa latina e per la cultura occidentale. Sulla base dei testi originali in
greco e in ebraico e grazie al confronto con precedenti versioni, egli attuò la
revisione dei quattro Vangeli in lingua latina, poi del Salterio e di gran parte
dell'Antico Testamento. Tenendo conto dell'originale ebraico e greco, dei
Settanta, la classica versione greca dell’Antico Testamento risalente al tempo
precristiano, e delle precedenti versioni latine, Girolamo, affiancato poi da
altri collaboratori, poté offrire una traduzione migliore: essa costituisce la
cosiddetta "Vulgata", il testo "ufficiale" della Chiesa
latina, che è stato riconosciuto come tale dal Concilio di Trento e che, dopo
la recente revisione, rimane il testo "ufficiale" della Chiesa di
lingua latina. E’ interessante rilevare i criteri a cui il grande biblista si
attenne nella sua opera di traduttore. Li rivela egli stesso quando afferma di
rispettare perfino l’ordine delle parole delle Sacre Scritture, perché in esse,
dice, "anche l’ordine delle parole è un mistero" (Ep. 57,5), cioè una
rivelazione. Ribadisce inoltre la necessità di ricorrere ai testi originali:
«Qualora sorgesse una discussione tra i Latini sul Nuovo Testamento, per le
lezioni discordanti dei manoscritti, ricorriamo all'originale, cioè al testo
greco, in cui è stato scritto il Nuovo Patto. Allo stesso modo per l'Antico
Testamento, se vi sono divergenze tra i testi greci e latini, ci appelliamo al
testo originale, l'ebraico; così tutto quello che scaturisce dalla sorgente, lo
possiamo ritrovare nei ruscelli» (Ep. 106,2). Girolamo, inoltre, commentò anche
parecchi testi biblici. Per lui i commentari devono offrire molteplici
opinioni, «in modo che il lettore avveduto, dopo aver letto le diverse
spiegazioni e dopo aver conosciuto molteplici pareri – da accettare o da
respingere –, giudichi quale sia il più attendibile e, come un esperto
cambiavalute, rifiuti la moneta falsa» (Contra Rufinum 1,16).
Confutò con energia e vivacità gli eretici che contestavano la tradizione e la
fede della Chiesa. Dimostrò anche l'importanza e la validità della letteratura
cristiana, divenuta una vera cultura ormai degna di essere messa confronto con
quella classica: lo fece componendo il De viris illustribus, un'opera in cui
Girolamo presenta le biografie di oltre un centinaio di autori cristiani.
Scrisse pure biografie di monaci, illustrando accanto ad altri itinerari
spirituali anche l'ideale monastico; inoltre tradusse varie opere di autori
greci. Infine nell'importante Epistolario, un capolavoro della letteratura
latina, Girolamo emerge con le sue caratteristiche di uomo colto, di asceta e
di guida delle anime.
Che cosa possiamo imparare noi da San Girolamo? Mi sembra soprattutto questo:
amare la Parola di Dio nella Sacra Scrittura. Dice San Girolamo: "Ignorare
le Scritture è ignorare Cristo". Perciò è importante che ogni cristiano
viva in contatto e in dialogo personale con la Parola di Dio, donataci nella
Sacra Scrittura. Questo nostro dialogo con essa deve sempre avere due dimensioni:
da una parte, dev'essere un dialogo realmente personale, perché Dio parla con
ognuno di noi tramite la Sacra Scrittura e ha un messaggio ciascuno. Dobbiamo
leggere la Sacra Scrittura non come parola del passato, ma come Parola di Dio
che si rivolge anche a noi e cercare di capire che cosa il Signore voglia dire
a noi. Ma per non cadere nell'individualismo dobbiamo tener presente che la
Parola di Dio ci è data proprio per costruire comunione, per unirci nella
verità nel nostro cammino verso Dio. Quindi essa, pur essendo sempre una Parola
personale, è anche una Parola che costruisce comunità, che costruisce la
Chiesa. Perciò dobbiamo leggerla in comunione con la Chiesa viva. Il luogo
privilegiato della lettura e dell'ascolto della Parola di Dio è la liturgia, nella
quale, celebrando la Parola e rendendo presente nel Sacramento il Corpo di
Cristo, attualizziamo la Parola nella nostra vita e la rendiamo presente tra
noi. Non dobbiamo mai dimenticare che la Parola di Dio trascende i tempi. Le
opinioni umane vengono e vanno. Quanto è oggi modernissimo, domani sarà
vecchissimo. La Parola di Dio, invece, è Parola di vita eterna, porta in sé
l'eternità, ciò che vale per sempre. Portando in noi la Parola di Dio, portiamo
dunque in noi l'eterno, la vita eterna.
E così concludo con una parola di San Girolamo a San Paolino di Nola. In
essa il grande Esegeta esprime proprio questa realtà, che cioè nella Parola di
Dio riceviamo l'eternità, la vita eterna. Dice San Girolamo: «Cerchiamo di
imparare sulla terra quelle verità la cui consistenza persisterà anche nel
cielo» (Ep. 53,10).
Autore: Papa Benedetto XVI (Udienza generale 14 Novembre 2007)
Caravaggio (1571–1610). Saint Jérôme
écrivant, 1607, 117 x 157, Valette, Kon-Katidral ta’ San Ġwann
Con quest’uomo intrattabile hanno un debito enorme la cultura e i cristiani di tutti i tempi. Ha litigato con sprovveduti, dotti, santi e peccatori; fu ammirato e detestato. Ma rimane un benefattore delle intelligenze e la Chiesa lo venera come uno dei suoi padri più grandi. Nato da famiglia ricca, riceve il battesimo a Roma, dove va a studiare. Studierà per tutta la vita, viaggiando dall’Europa all’Oriente con la sua biblioteca di classici antichi, sui quali si è formato. Nel 375, dopo una malattia, Gerolamo passa alla Bibbia, con passione crescente. Studia il greco ad Antiochia; poi, nella solitudine della Calcide (confini della Siria), si dedica all’ebraico. Riceve il sacerdozio ad Antiochia nel 379 e nel 382 è a Roma. Qui, papa Damaso I lo incarica di rivedere il testo di una diffusa versione latina della Scrittura, detta Itala, realizzata non sull’originale ebraico, bensì sulla versione greca detta dei Settanta. A Roma fa anche da guida spirituale a un gruppo di donne della nobiltà. E intanto scaglia attacchi durissimi a ecclesiastici indegni (un avido prelato riceve da lui il nome “Grasso Cappone”).
Alla morte di Damaso I (384), va in Palestina con la famiglia della nobile Paola. Vive in un monastero a Betlemme, scrivendo testi storici, dottrinali, educativi e corrispondendo con gli amici di Roma con immutata veemenza. Perché così è fatto. E poi perché, francamente, troppi ipocriti e furbi inquinano ora la Chiesa, dopo che l’imperatore Teodosio (ca. 346-395) ha fatto del cristianesimo la religione di Stato, penalizzando gli altri culti.
Intanto prosegue il lavoro sulla Bibbia secondo l’incarico di Damaso I. Ma, strada facendo, lo trasforma in un’impresa mai tentata. Sente che per avvicinare l’uomo alla Parola di Dio bisogna andare alla fonte. E così, per la prima volta, traduce direttamente in latino dall’originale ebraico i testi protocanonici dell’Antico Testamento. Lavora sulla pagina e anche sul terreno, come dirà: "Mi sono studiato di percorrere questa provincia (la Giudea) in compagnia di dotti ebrei". Rivede poi il testo dei Vangeli sui manoscritti greci più antichi e altri libri del Nuovo Testamento. Gli ci vorrebbe più tempo per rifinire e perfezionare l’enorme lavoro. Ma, così come egli lo consegna ai cristiani, esso sarà accolto e usato da tutta la Chiesa: nella Bibbia di tutti, Vulgata, di cui le sue versioni e revisioni sono parte preponderante, la fede è presentata come nessuno aveva fatto prima dell’impetuoso Gerolamo.
E impetuoso rimane, continuando nelle polemiche dottrinali con l’irruenza di sempre, perfino con sant’Agostino, che invece gli risponde con grande amabilità. I suoi difetti restano, e la grandezza della sua opera pure. Gli ultimi suoi anni sono rattristati dalla morte di molti amici, e dal sacco di Roma compiuto da Alarico nel 410: un evento che angoscia la sua vecchiaia.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/24650
_nave_right_-_Altar_of_san_Giuseppe_da_Copertino_-_St.Jerome_by_A.Vittoria.jpg)
Alessandro Vittoria, San Girolamo, Basilica di Santa Maria
Gloriosa dei Frari, Venezia
GIROLAMO, santo
di Angelo FICARRA - Anna
Maria CIARANFI - - Enciclopedia Italiana (1933)
GIROLAMO, santo. - È
una delle figure più rappresentative e complesse nella storia della Chiesa e
dell'antica letteratura cristiana.
È ricordato sempre col
solo nome di "Girolamo" in tutte le opere sue e dei contemporanei;
l'aggiunta di "Eusebio", che apparisce nel Chronicon, deriva o
dal nome paterno o piuttosto da Eusebio di Cesarea da cui traduce; mentre "Sofronio",
che si trova in alcuni manoscritti, pare gli sia venuto dal monaco greco, suo
amico, che tradusse in greco alcune delle sue opere e forse anche il De
viris illustribus.
G. nacque circa il 347 a
Stridone, piccolo villaggio, oggi distrutto, d'incerta ubicazione, probabilmente
situato presso Aquileia. Apparteneva a una di quelle famiglie agiate e
influenti, che nelle città romane dell'impero formavano una specie di
aristocrazia provinciale; quindi i suoi genitori s'interessarono ben presto di
metterlo alla scuola di un litterator, il maestro elementare di quei
tempi. A somiglianza di Orazio, Giovenale, S. Agostino e altri, egli conservò
un ricordo poco gradito del suo primo maestro, che insegnava il verbo a suon di
nerbo. All'età di circa 12 anni, insieme con Bonoso, suo amico e compagno
indivisibile, fu mandato a Roma per proseguire gli studî. E a Roma
il grammaticus Elio Donato gl'ispirò viva passione per i grandi
scrittori latini e gli diede una formazione letteraria non comune. Dopo gli
studî di grammatica, G. passò alle scuole di retorica: taluno ha pensato che G.
sia stato discepolo del celebre retore Vittorino, ma ciò non pare a tutti
probabile. All'età di circa 20 anni, G. ricevette il battesimo dalle mani di
papa Liberio e si accinse a partire per la Gallia insieme con l'amico Bonoso.
Voleva egli con ciò sottrarsi alla seduzione della società romana, dal momento
che confessa di essere caduto nel lubrico sentiero dell'adolescenza? Oppure
voleva allargare gli orizzonti della sua cultura? Ovvero Treviri lo attirava
con gli splendori della sua corte e le promesse di una carriera brillante?
Probabilmente, nella sua decisione, ciascuna di queste ragioni ebbe la sua
parte. Durante il suo soggiorno nella Gallia, G. attese a copiare le opere di
Ilario di Poitiers e altri scrittori ecclesiastici, e maturò il proposito di
dedicarsi interamente all'ascetismo. Tornato in patria, si fermò ad Aquileia
(373) in un cenacolo di amici, che condividevano le sue aspirazioni e si
riunivano in casa del presbitero Cromazio. Ma quel periodo durò poco, e
"un improvviso uragano - come egli dice - un empio laceramento"
disperse il gruppo degli amici di Aquileia. Forse gli ariani, favoriti alla
corte imperiale, entrarono per qualche cosa in questa dispersione.
Verso il 374 G. partì per
l'Oriente, sperando trovare una dimora a sé adatta nel deserto di Siria.
Rimasto per un certo tempo ospite del suo amico Evagrio ad Antiochia e udite le
lezioni di Apollinare di Laodicea, egli s'internò nell'eremo della Calcide, col
proposito di dedicarsi ad austerità e penitenza. Ma anche là, lungi da Roma e
dalle seduzioni della capitale, non mancarono turbamenti interni ed esterni.
Appartiene a questo
periodo della sua vita la famosa visione anticiceroniana, che egli stesso
descrive nell'epistola XXII, 30, alla vergine Eustochio. Mentre perseverava
nello studio dei classici, si vide tratto in spirito dinnanzi al tribunale di
Cristo e interrogato sulla sua condizione, rispose di essere cristiano.
"Tu mentisci" osservò Cristo "giacché tu sei ciceroniano, non
cristiano". Allora egli implorò misericordia, tanto più che Cristo aveva
ordinato di batterlo, e giurò solennemente: "Signore, se mai avrò dei
codici profani, se li leggerò, ti avrò rinnegato".
Altri turbamenti
agitavano il suo spirito: nonostante i digiuni e le penitenze egli spesso si
sentiva come trasportato in mezzo alle delizie di Roma e ai cori delle
fanciulle; inoltre nel deserto di Siria non trovava quella beata solitudine che
il suo spirito inquieto aveva sognato. Moltissimi anacoreti popolavano l'eremo;
ma non contenti di pratiche ascetiche, venivano a contesa tra loro per il
concetto di ousia e di ipostasi e in occasione dello scisma
di Antiochia (v.), mentre gli eremiti del vicinato si sforzavano di trarre G.
dalla loro parte: cosicché egli finì con lo stancarsi del deserto e rientrò ad
Antiochia (380). Ivi, poco dopo, fu ordinato sacerdote dal vescovo Paolino.
Dopo tanti anni di studî G. era nella piena maturità del suo spirito; in Siria
aveva appreso anche l'ebraico sotto la guida di un ebreo convertito, e in quel
tempo si recò a Costantinopoli ad approfondirsi presso Gregorio Nazianzeno
nell'esegesi biblica e nelle scienze teologiche. Perciò, quando nel 382
s'imbarcò con Epifanio e Paolino per recarsi al concilio indetto in Roma da
papa Damaso per lo scisma antiocheno, egli vi era preceduto da fama di gran
santità e dottrina; e nella capitale si conciliò ben presto la stima del papa e
fece risplendere le proprie doti.
A richiesta di Damaso, C.
fece una revisione accurata della traduzione latina della Bibbia allora in uso
(v. bibbia, VI, p. 896 segg.) confrontandola con i più antichi manoscritti
greci. Tale correzione, necessaria a causa delle molteplici inesattezze
introdotte nei testi, fu fatta con certezza per i Vangeli e i Salmi, e
forse anche per tutto il Nuovo Testamento. Questa edizione latina
dei Salmi è nota col nome di Psalterium romanum.
Ma oltre che studioso G.
era anche un'anima di asceta, e così divenne ben presto la guida spirituale di
parecchie matrone romane, inclinate a vita devota. Esse si riunivano nella casa
di Marcella sull'Aventino, e fra tutte spiccavano Paola e la sua figlia
Eustochio. A quest'ultima fu indirizzato il celebre Libellus de custodia
virginitatis, che insieme col Liber adversus Helvidium in difesa
della perpetua verginità di Maria, suscitò tanti malumori contro G., che
fustigava a sangue i vizî del mondo romano in tali scritti. Quando morì la
vedova Blesilla, figlia di Paola, si accusò G. come fanatico quasiché l'avesse
ridotta a morte coi suoi consigli ascetici. La marea d'invidia e rancore saliva
contro di lui, anche in quello che egli chiamò il "senato dei
farisei", e, sopraggiunta la morte del suo protettore Damaso (dicembre
384), egli credette necessario dopo qualche mese lasciare Roma; questa volta
per sempre.
Sul punto di salpare dal
porto di Ostia, egli scrisse una lettera alla vergine Asella, in cui mira a
giustificare il suo tenore di vita romana contro il livore dei suoi nemici, e
la incarica specialmente di salutare Paola ed Eustochio. Queste, dopo qualche
mese, lasciavano Roma per raggiungerlo ad Antiochia, fare insieme con lui con
intenti di pietà e di cultura il pellegrinaggio dei luoghi santi, e quindi
fissare a Betlemme la sede definitiva. Queste donne, che alla nobiltà dei
natali univano altrettanta elevatezza di sentimenti formate alla scuola
spirituale di G., abbandonarono mondo e ricchezze per seguire il loro maestro,
e passarono alla storia insieme con la memoria di lui. Prima di stabilirsi
accanto alla grotta della Natività in Betlemme, G. con le sue pie pellegrine
visitò l'Egitto e i monasteri della Nitria, ebbe ad Alessandria occasione di
ascoltare Didimo il Cieco, si fermò a Cesarea per trascrivere forse tutto
l'Antico Testamento secondo il testo esaplare di Origene, perlustrò tutti i
luoghi della Palestina, e verso la fine del 386 si fissò a Betlemme. Ivi, a
poco a poco, si formò un monastero di uomini diretto da G., e un altro di donne
sotto la guida di Paola e di Eustochio. Così passarono circa 35 anni della vita
di G., e furono gli anni più laboriosi e fecondi del suo genio multiforme,
tutti consacrati al servizio della fede e della scienza. Questo è il tempo in
cui egli pubblicò i suoi lavori biblici, le traduzioni dall'ebraico e i
commentarî su molte parti dell'Antico e del Nuovo Testamento.
Ma anche a Betlemme non
gli mancarono dolori, specie nell'aspra e lunga polemica con l'amico Rufino.
Questi, che un tempo era stato per lui il dimidium animae, in una sua
traduzione del De principiis di Origene aveva cercato di presentarlo
come un seguace delle dottrine origeniste. G. si difese con tutti gli argomenti
della sua dialettica e del suo spirito irruente, e il dissidio acuto e
insanabile è uno degli episodî più dolorosi nella storia del monachismo. Anche
nella polemica contro Gioviniano, che mostrava disprezzo verso la verginità e
la mortificazione cristiana, i libri di G. toccano il culmine dell'aggressione
e della virulenza: egli ricorre con acre voluttà alle sue squisite attitudini
di colorista per dipingere il suo avversario nella maniera più umiliante, e
presenta dei quadri di un umorismo e di una vivacità veramente singolari.
Grandi dolori provò egli
anche per la morte di Paola e di Marcella, e per la notizia dell'eccidio di
Roma saccheggiata da Alarico nel 410; una profonda commozione pervade l'anima
sua che non ha più pace al sentire che l'impero romano va in rovina. Per
parecchi mesi non è in grado di continuare il suo commento ad Ezechiele;
quando poi riprende la penna per terminarlo, nuove cure vengono a distornarlo.
Dapprima entra in lotta contro i pelagiani, che arrivano persino ad invadere e
saccheggiare il suo monastero; poi deve anche piangere la morte di Eustochio.
Finalmente il 30 settembre 420 il solitario austero chiude la sua vita. Accanto
al letto del moribondo, la leggenda (v. appresso) ha messo un leone, ma la
storia ci addita la giovane Paola, nipote di Paola e di Eustochio, che fu
l'assistente dei suoi ultimi giorni. Le sue reliquie, inumate dapprima presso
la grotta della Natività di Betlemme, furono poi trasportate a Roma, ove si conservano
nella basilica di S. Maria Maggiore.
Opere.
- Epistolario. - Comprende 154 lettere, di cui 122 sono dello stesso G., e
le altre dei suoi corrispondenti: Damaso, Agostino, Epifanio, e altri. Esso,
divulgatissimo nel Medioevo e nel Rinascimento, è una vasta galleria in cui
sono dipinti uomini e cose, situazioni storiche e psicologiche, che abbraccia
un cinquantennio di storia politica e religiosa, e in cui soprattutto si
rispecchia l'anima dell'autore. In queste lettere specialmente appaiono la sua
educazione retorica e il lungo studio dei classici che gli hanno valso il
titolo di Cicerone cristiano e maestro della prosa cristiana per i secoli
posteriori; in esse appaiono anche i suoi ideali ascetici, difesi strenuamente
contro tutti gli avversarî.
Opere esegetiche. - Comprendono:
a) Le correzioni del testo della Bibbia latina per i vangeli e forse per tutto il Nuovo Testamento (v. sopra); per il libro di Giobbe (revisione fatta a Betlemme verso il 389), e per i Salmi, dei quali (oltre al già ricordato Psalterium romanum) fece a Betlemme nel 388 una seconda revisione chiamata Psalterium gallicanum perché usata da principio nelle Gallie.
b) Di una nuova correzione sul testo esaplare dei Settanta, G. ci dice soltanto che andò perduta fraude cuiusdam.
c) La traduzione dall'originale ebraico dei libri protocanonici dell'Antico Testamento e delle addizioni deuterocanoniche di Daniele, Geremia e Ester. Questa traduzione, compiuta a Betlemme tra gli anni 390-405 circa, è il lavoro più arduo e glorioso di G., e se da principio non mancò di suscitare diffidenze anche in Agostino, superò col tempo ogni ostacolo e si affermò vittoriosa in tutto l'Occidente (v. bibbia, VI, p. 898 segg.). "Per mezzo di essa entra nella civiltà romana tutto il fiotto, per così dire, del genio orientale, non tanto per il piccolo numero di parole ebraiche intraducibili che G. ha conservato, quanto per le costruzioni ardite che la lingua latina viene ad appropriarsi, per le inattese combinazioni di parole, per la prodigiosa abbondanza delle immagini, per il simbolismo che è proprio delle Scritture" (F. Ozanam).
d) I Commentarî alle
lettere ai Galati, Efesini, Tito, Filemone, a tutti i
profeti minori e maggiori (quello di Geremia rimase incompleto),
all'Ecclesiaste, Matteo e Apocalisse. Qui ricordiamo pure
le Quaestiones hebraicae in Genesim e il libro sulla toponomastica
ebraica. e) A questi si aggiungano il Tractatus de
Seraphim scoperto da A. Amelli e i Commentarioli, omelie e trattati
scoperti e pubblicati da G. Morin negli Anecdota Maredsolana, III.
Scritti storici. - Le tre
vite di Paolo, di Malco e di Ilarione (che non hanno valore storico);
il De viris illustribus, eccellente fonte d'informazioni, e la traduzione
del Chronicon di Eusebio di Cesarea (v.), con aggiunte relative alla storia
romana e contemporanea. Per mezzo di questi scritti, G. è stato un precursore
molto seguito in tre rami distinti di storiografia: le leggende agiografiche,
la letteratura cristiana e la cronaca universale.
Scritti polemici. -
Contro Elvidio, i luciferiani, Gioviniano, Giovanni di Gerusalemme, Rufino,
Vigilanzio, e i pelagiani. In questi libelli G. è il violento polemista nel cui
spirito Lucilio, Orazio e Giovenale evidentemente non passarono mai all'ultimo
posto.
Traduzioni. - Parecchie
omelie di Origene, il libro di Didimo sullo Spirito Santo, la Regola di S.
Pacomio e altri scritti dei cenobiti copti.
Percorrendo le opere di
G., si vede chiaramente che la speculazione filosofica e l'indagine teoretica
non erano i suoi campi speciali; furono tali invece gli studî critici e
filologici, le ricerche storiche e l'analisi testuale. Le risorse del suo
carattere e del suo ingegno, della vasta cultura assimilata nelle sue
permanenze e relazioni con i principali centri della cultura contemporanea, e
del suo dominio su molti spiriti contemporanei, furono messe a servizio della
doppia causa che formò l'ideale sovrano di tutta la sua vita: nel campo biblico
la diffusione e il trionfo dei testi originali da lui chiamati la graeca
fides per il Nuovo Testamento e l'hebraica veritas per l'Antico, e
sul terreno pratico la diffusione dell'ascetismo. Parve a molti un novatore,
mentre era in lui la nostalgia delle origini nel pensiero e nella vita. Nelle
più aspre lotte per i suoi lavori biblici e per il suo ideale ascetico sentì
spesso il bisogno di appellarsi al giudizio dei posteri. Né si può dire che il
suo appello sia caduto invano: come egli fu un maestro di ascetica fra i più
accreditati per tutto il Medioevo, così la sua autorità in materie bibliche gli
ha valso dalla Chiesa il titolo di doctor
maximus nell'interpretazione della Scrittura, e presso i dotti di
qualunque confessione un peso eccezionale attribuito alle sue testimonianze.
Iconografia. - Il santo
dovette essere presto rappresentato dagli artisti: non restano tuttavia esempî
di raffigurazioni anteriori al sec. IX quando appare nella Bibbia di Carlo il
Calvo (Biblioteca Nazionale di Parigi) o in quella di Carlo il Grosso (Roma, S.
Paolo), derivate, sembra, da un rotulo sul quale venivano in zone successive
riprodotte storie della vita di lui. Il santo v'è rappresentato imberbe,
giovane, tonsurato, in veste e pallio, e specialmente glorificato come maestro
e come traduttore e commentatore dei testi sacri. Poi a poco per volta
all'aspetto giovanile gli artisti sostituirono quello di un vecchio maestoso e
barbuto, ora in cattedra come Padre della Chiesa (e spesso associato
all'evangelista Matteo o al simbolo di lui) ora quale penitente nel deserto,
ora fra i libri nel suo studio. Il santo è contrassegnato quasi sempre dal
cappello cardinalizio (talvolta è in veste di cardinale) per un'errata
tradizione risalente al secolo IX, la quale gli attribuiva tale dignità, non
esistente ai suoi tempi. Gli è spesso vicino il leone, ricordo di una leggenda
che narrava come la fiera, liberata d'una spina dal santo, gli fosse divenuta
amica (l'episodio in realtà si riferiva a S. Gerasimo, eremita in Palestina).
Talvolta G. è rappresentato con la Chiesa in mano, perché sostenitore e aiuto
di questa. Più spesso, appena coperto di stracci, si flagella con una pietra il
petto. Ora gli son vicini o una candela o gli occhiali o libri o la penna a
indicarne la vita infaticabilmente studiosa. Talora medita dinnanzi a un
teschio nella spelonca in solitudini rocciose o nel ben fornito scrittoio, oppure
un angelo col suono della tromba celeste lo scuote a ricordargli il giudizio
finale. O appare, infine, morente, quando gli vien somministrata la comunione:
o, morto, quando se ne fanno le esequie.
L'arte italiana lo
raffigurò in tutte queste forme, talora accettando particolari da quella
oltramontana (p. es., le minute descrizioni del suo scrittoio). Massimo favore
ebbe la rappresentazione del santo quale eremita e penitente (Piero della
Francesca all'Accademia di Venezia; Cosmè Tura alla Galleria Nazionale di
Londra; Lorenzo Lotto al Louvre e al Prado; Leonardo alla Vaticana; Tiziano a
Brera, ecc.). Spesso si riprodussero alcuni episodî della sua vita: la serie
più bella è offerta dalle pitture del Carpaccio in S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni a
Venezia, dove, come da molti altri artisti (Antonello da Messina a Londra;
Domenico Ghirlandaio in Ognissanti a Firenze; Colantonio a Napoli), San G. è
dipinto anche nello studio, al lavoro. Così fu spesso effigiato in aspetto di
cardinale con gli attributi sopra elencati (Sandro Botticelli
nell'incoronazione agli Uffizî; Carlo Crivelli all'Accademia di Venezia;
Raffaello nella Disputa, ecc.). (V. tavv. LXXXV e LXXXVI).
Edizioni. -
L' editio princeps di tutte le opere è quella di Erasmo, Basilea
1516-1520. Seguono l'edizione di Mariano Vittorio, Roma 1565-1572; quella dei
Maurini Giovanni Martianay e Antonio Pouget, Parigi 1693-1706; e quella
superiore a tutte di Domenico Vallarsi, Verona 1734-1742, ristampata a Venezia
nel 1766 e riprodotta nel Migne, Patrologia Latina, voll. XXII-XXX.
Il Corpus Script. Eccles. Lat. ha dato finora solo
le Epistole ed. da I. Hilberg (Vienna 1910-18) e il Commentario
a Geremia, a cura di S. Reiter (Vienna 1913). Tra le edizioni parziali la
più celebre è quella curata da P. Canisio (Augsburg 1565).
Bibl.: Acta
Sanctorum, 30 settembre; Le Nain de Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à
l'histoire ecclésiastique, XII, Venezia 1732 segg.; R. Ceillier, Histoire
générale des auteurs ecclésiastiques, X, Parigi 1729-1763; Engelstoft, Hieronymus
Stridonensis, Copenaghen 1797; F. Z. Collombet, Histoire de Saint Jérôme,
père de l'église au IVe siècle, Parigi e Lione 1844; O. Zöckler, Hieronymus,
Sein Leben und Wirken aus seinen Schriften dargestellt, Gotha 1865; C.
Martin, Life of St. Jerome, Londra 1888; G. Grützmacher, Hieronymus.
Eine biographische Studie zur alten Kirchengeschichte, voll. 3, Lipsia e
Berlino 1901-1908; E. Bernard, Les voyages de Saint Jérôme, Parigi 1864;
A. Thierry, Saint Jérôme. La société chrétienne à Rome et l'émigration
romaine en Terre Sainte, Parigi 1867; A. Ebert, Histoire générale de la
litterature du Moyen Âge en Occident, Parigi 1883; J. Brochet, Saint
Jérôme et ses ennemis, Parigi 1905; A. Luebeck, Hieronymus quos noverit
scriptores et ex quibus hauserit, Lipsia 1872; H. Rönsch, Itala und
Vulgata, Marburgo 1875; C. Paucker, De latinitate B. Hieronymi
observationes, ecc., Berlino 1880; S. Berger, Histoire de la Vulgate,
Parigi 1893; H. Goelzer, Étude lexicographique et grammaticale de la
latinité de Saint Jérôme, Parigi 1884; M. Schanz, Geschichte der römischen
Litteratur, IV, i, Monaco 1914; G. Harendza, De oratorio genere
dicendi quo Hieronymus in epistulis usus sit, Breslavia 1905; L. Sanders, Étude
sur S. Jérôme, Parigi 1903.
Sulle opere uscite nel
decennio 1910-1920 vedi l'accurato Bollettino Geronimiano di A.
Vaccari, in Biblica, I (1920). Per l'ultimo decennio ricordiamo: Miscellanea
geronimiana. Scritti varî, Roma 1920; Conference geronimiane dei
cardinali P. Maffi, D. Mercier e A. Gasquet, Roma 1921; Biblica, I (1920),
fasc. 4; Dem hl. Hieronymus Festschrift, Beuron 1920; E. Buonaiuti, S.
Girolamo, Roma 1919; U. Moricca, S. Girolamo, voll. 2, Milano s. a.; N.
Turchi, Lettere di S. G. voll. 2, Roma 1920; A. Vaccari, S.
Girolamo, Studi e schizzi, Roma 1921; F. Cavallera, Saint Jérôme, sa vie
et son oeuvre, I, i e ii, Lovanio 1922; A. Ficarra, La
posizione di S. Girolamo nella storia della cultura, voll. 2, Agrigento 1916 e
1930; P. Monceaux, Saint Jérôme au désert de Syrie, in Revue des Deux
Mondes, luglio 1930. Sulla dibattuta questione dell'ubicazione di Stridone, v.
F. Bulic, Wo lag Stridon, die Heimat des hl. Hieronymus, Vienna 1898;
id., Stridone luogo natale di S. Girolamo, in Miscellanea geronimiana,
citata, p. 253 segg. - Per l'iconografia v.: P. C. Cahier, Caractéristiques
des Saints, Parigi 1867; M. Liefmann, Kunst und Heilige, Jena 1912, p.
152; N. e W. Drake, Saints and their Emblems, Londra 1916, p. 66; A.
Venturi, L'arte a S. Girolamo, Milano [1924]; K. Künstle, Ikonographie
d. Heiligen, Friburgo in B. 1926; A. Strümpel, Hieronymus im Gehäus,
in Marburger Jb. f. Kw., II (1925-26), p. 173 segg.; F. Doyé, Heilige
und Selige der röm. kath. Kirche, Lipsia 1928-30, I, p. 511 segg.; C.
Ricci, Mille santi nell'arte, Milano 1931.
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/santo-girolamo_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/
SAINT JERÔME. Œuvres.
Publiées par M. Benoît MATOUGUES, sous la Direction de M. L. Aimé-Martin,.
Paris, Auguste Desrez, Imprimeur-Editeur Rue Neuve-Des-Petits-Champs, n° 50,
MDCCCXXXVIII : http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/eglise/jerome/table.htm
Saint Jerome. De viris illustribus : http://www.istrianet.org/istria/illustri/jerome/works/viris-illustribus.htm
Saint Jerome: The Iconography : https://www.christianiconography.info/jerome.html
