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Name: Creations of Blessed Jerome of Stridon
Authors: Blessed Jerome of Stridon
Pages: 6904
Formats: pdf
Publication year: 1880

Sophronius Eusebius Hieronymus (lat. Sophronius Eusebius Hieronymus; 342, Stridon on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia - September 30, 419 or 420, Bethlehem) - church writer, ascetic, creator of the canonical Latin text of the Bible.

Blessed Jerome of Stridon was born into a Christian family in the city of Stridon (Dalmatia and Pannonia). To complete his education, his parents sent him to Rome, where he studied secular sciences. At the beginning of his life in the capital, the young man was carried away by worldly fuss, but soon a decision ripened in him to radically change his life. When the young man was about 20 years old, he received holy Baptism. After that he visited Gaul. Here, Saint Jerome awakened the desire to devote himself entirely to God and accept monasticism.

Around the year 372, Blessed Jerome returned to his native city, but he no longer found his parents alive. He was responsible for the upbringing of his younger sister and brother Pavlinian. The tonsure had to be postponed for a while. Blessed Jerome began to zealously study the Holy Scriptures.

Having arranged household chores, he went to the East and lived for about 5 years in a Syrian monastery, combining work on the Holy Scriptures with severe ascetic deeds. In addition, Saint Jerome perfectly studied the Hebrew and Chaldean languages. During this period, he began to correspond with numerous people on a wide variety of issues. Up to 120 letters have survived, undoubtedly written by Blessed Jerome. At this time, disagreements were taking place in Antioch between the supporters of the bishops Meletius, Peacock and Vitalius. Disputes also reached the monastery where blessed Jerome labored. Due to disagreements, he had to leave the monastery and go to Antioch. Here Bishop Pavlinus consecrated him to the rank of presbyter. Then Blessed Jerome visited Constantinople, talked with Saints Gregory the Theologian and Gregory of Nyssa, and in 381 went to Rome. In Rome, he continued his scientific work. Saint Pope Damasus I (366 - 384), who was also engaged in the study of Holy Scripture, brought him closer to himself. But because of the denunciation by the blessed of the mores of contemporary Roman Christian society, a whole party of ill-wishers of the blessed was formed. After a three-year stay in Rome, blessed Jerome was forced to leave this city forever. Together with his brother Paulinian and friends, Blessed Jerome visited the Holy Land, the monks of the Nitrian desert, and in 386 he settled in a cave in Bethlehem, near the cave of the Nativity of Christ, and began a life full of harsh deeds.

This was the heyday of his creative activity. An outstanding scholar of his time, Blessed Jerome left a rich written heritage to the Church: dogmatic-polemical, moral-ascetic works, works on the interpretation of Holy Scripture, and historical works. But his main achievement was the re-translation into Latin of the books of the New and Old Testaments. This translation, called the Vulgate, has come into general use in the Western Church.

Blessed Jerome with deep sorrow experienced the fall of his beloved city of Rome, conquered by the Goths in 410. And in 411, the blessed one suffered a new test - a raid of wild Bedouin Arabs. It was only by the grace of God that the community of the elderly ascetic was saved from complete ruin. He ended his life in the same Bethlehem cave. The date of death of blessed Jerome is considered to be 420. His relics were transferred from Bethlehem to Rome.

Part 1. (Book 3.) Letters.
Part 2. (Book 4.) Letters.
Part 3. (Book 5.) Letters.
Part 4. (Book 6.) Life of Pavel the Hermit. Life of St. Hilarion. The life of the captive monk Malchus. Preface ... to the translation of the rules of St. Pachomia. Conversation against the Luciferians. On the ever-virginity of Bl. Mary. Two books against Jovinian. Book against Vigilance. Book against John of Jerusalem.
Part 5. (Book 8.) Apology against the books of Rufinus. Conversation against the Pelagians... A book about famous men... Exposition of the Chronicle of Eusebius Pamphilus. Chronicle of Bliss. Jerome [partial translation]. Translation of Didyma's book about St. spirit.
Part 6. (Book 11.) Interpretation of the book of Ecclesiastes ... Translation of two conversations of Origen on the book of Song of Songs. Six books of interpretations on the prophet Jeremiah.
Part 7. (Book 13.) Interpretations on the prophet Isaiah. Book. 1-8.
Part 8. (Book 15.) Interpretations on the prophet Isaiah. Book. 9-14.
Part 9. (Book 16.) Interpretations on the prophet Isaiah. Book. 15-18.
Part 10. (Book 17.) Interpretations on the prophet Ezekiel. Book. 1-8.
Part 11. (Book 19.) Interpretations on the prophet Ezekiel. Book. 9-14.
Ch. 12. (Book 21.) Interpretations of the prophets: Daniel, Hosea, Joel.
Ch. 13. (Book 23.) Interpretations of the prophets: Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum.
Ch. 14. (Book 24.) Interpretations on the prophets Micah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Haggai.
Ch. 15. (Book 25.) Interpretations on the prophets Zechariah and Malachi.
Ch. 16. (Book 26.) Four books of interpretations on the Gospel of Matthew. - partially.
Ch. 17. (Book 27.) Interpretations on the Epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians and to the Ephesians. - partially.

(c.330-420)

Birth

Jerome is believed to have been born between 330-340 BC. in Stridon, lying on the border of Dalmatia and Panionia (on the north-east of the Balkan Peninsula).

Jerome's family belonged to the Roman landowning colonists, although, according to some sources, his parents were either Greeks or Illyrians (the Illyrians are the ancestors of the current Albanians).
He had a brother Paulinian and a sister.

Christian succession

He came from a Christian family
At the age of approx. At the age of 25 he was baptized by Pope Damasus around 367.

Acts

Primary education is received at home.
Then he studied in Milan.

STUDY IN ROME

In 354 Bl. Jerome enters, together with a childhood friend, Bonoz, the school of the famous Roman grammarian Aelius Donatus.

Then he studied rhetoric with the most popular rhetorician of the time, Mariya Victorina Arfa.

He studies Greek philosophy as expounded by Cicero and Seneca.
Here his friendship is established with Vonotius and Rufinus of Aquileia.

Accepts baptism

JOURNEY IN GALLIA.

Stops in Trier, resumes his studies.
Begins his theological studies.
There, a decision ripens in him to devote himself entirely to God and ascetic exploits.
Departs for Aquileia.
Together with friends, he accepts obedience from Chromatius, Bishop of Aquileia.
After the brotherhood, to which Jerome joined, broke up, he goes to the East.

EAST

Antioch

Heading to Palestine to worship holy places, he stops here due to illness (370)

Here he sees his famous dream:

Suddenly I was seized with the spirit and placed before the throne of the Judge... When they asked me who I was, I answered - a Christian. You lie, was the answer. - You are a follower of Cicero, not a Christian. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I immediately became dumb, and while I was being whipped (since He ordered me to be whipped), I was more tormented by the fire of conscience ... I swore an oath and called on His name: “Lord, if I ever have worldly books or if I read them, it means that I have rejected You.” From that time on, I read the books of God with more zeal than I had previously read the books of men.

Letter 22:30

After Jerome took an oath not to take the classics into his hands, he really did not read either Cicero or Virgil for 15 years.

Meet Apollinaris.

Not striving to understand the numerous Antiochian sects, he keeps aloof from everyone.

Studying Greek.

Visits the Holy Land

desert Khalkis(d)

in 374 he retires to the desert (it was the center of Syrian asceticism) for almost 5 years

• indulged in hermitage
• conducted scientific studies,
• studied Hebrew,
• rewrote books and compiled his own library
• began correspondence with many on various issues (up to 120 letters have been preserved)

Antioch

Unrest among the Chalkid monastics (due to a disagreement between the supporters of the bishops Meletios, Peacock and Vitaly) forced bl. Jerome to return to Antioch. Here Bishop Peacock (362-388) he was consecrated to the rank of presbyter.

Constantinople

On the way from Syria to Rome, he visits Constantinople.

Here he meets St. Gregory of Nazianzus and St. Gregory of Nyssa. Thanks to them, Jerome gets acquainted with the works of Origen and becomes his zealous admirer.

It seems that he attended the Second Ecumenical Council.

ROME

Arrives in Rome in 382.

At the council of 382, ​​he participates in the consideration of the Meletian schism.

Jerome acting as personal secretary and librarian to Pope Damasus (366–384)

Pope Damas instructs Jerome to revise the Latin. translations of the Bible Presents to the pope the revised NT and Psalter (382-83).

He writes a number of polemical and morally instructive works.

Gathers a circle of noble matrons who, under his guidance, study the Word of God.

After the death of Pope Damasus (December 11, 384), Jerome's position becomes very difficult, as many cannot come to terms with his harsh criticism.
A few months later he is forced to leave Rome.

Visits Antioch.

Visits Alexandria.
Here listening to Didyma the Blind

BETHLIEM

Stops at Bethlehem in 386.

On his instructions, a male and 3 female monasteries were built, and Jerome spends the last 33 years of his life in the first of them.

Here he devotes himself entirely to scientific work and collects a rich library.

Here for 15 years he has been working on his translation of the Scriptures, called the Vulgate (Vulgata)

demise

* * *

Personality Bl. Jerome, his exploits served as a role model among Catholic monasticism, in which from the Middle Ages there were societies of "Jeronymites", who considered bl. Jerome as their patron, and lived strictly according to the rules extracted from his various letters about monastic life.

_______________________

From the testimony of Jerome himself, we learn that city ​​of Stridon was destroyed by the Goths and, therefore, already in the 5th century. n. e. it did not exist, and therefore it is difficult to determine exactly where it was. There is, for example, evidence that Stridon was located near the Mura River, in the very heart of Pannonia, and not on the border with Dalmatia. The Roman provinces of Dalmatia (the territory of modern Croatia and Montenegro) and Pannonia (the territory of modern Hungary and part of Austria with Yugoslavia) were formed in 8 AD. e. after the division of the province of Illyricum.

Chromation, Chromatius, mind. OK. 407 CE e., Greek Christian writer Bishop of Aquileia (387-407). He was associated with the ascetic movement in Aquileia. Of his writings, 25 homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, the Homilies of the 8 Blessings (Sermo de octo beatitudinibus) and 31 recently discovered homily have survived. He was acquainted with John Chrysostom and corresponded with him. Jerome and Rufin, who corresponded with him, dedicated some of their writings to him.

Blessed Jerome of Stridon

Blessed Jerome was born between 340 and 350 and died in 419/20. He was from Dalmatia (Pannonia) from a wealthy Christian family. He received his education in Rome, after which his parents sent him to travel. Having visited Gaul and Palestine, after many years of wandering, Jerome arrived in Antioch, where he unexpectedly decided to become a monk. He retired to the Khalki desert, where he lived as a hermit. Practicing extreme asceticism, he walked naked and never washed, which is why many Renaissance artists later depicted St. Jerome in a cave in a rather unsightly, albeit inspired form.

Jerome had a lot of free time in the desert and learned Hebrew and Greek. He was ordained a priest by Peacock, an "Old Nicene" Bishop of Antioch, who was at enmity with the same Meletios who had ordained Chrysostom. Jerome also adhered to an extreme version of Nicene Orthodoxy, which in the last decades of the 4th century was also supported by the Roman Church.

In 381, he is in Constantinople, where the Second Ecumenical Council is taking place. Together with his friend Maxim Cynic, he argues with St. Gregory the Theologian, accusing him of insufficiently Orthodox views.

During all these years, he intensively studied the Holy Scriptures and improved his knowledge of the Greek language. Does he write in Latin the biographies of Eastern monks? one of the first hagiographic works in history. He translates into Latin the "Chronicle" of Eusebius, as well? the most important? Origen's sermons on the books of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. Jerome remained a devoted admirer of Origen and his exegetical method throughout his life, which later played a big role in his life.

In 382 Blessed Jerome returns to Rome, where he spends four years. Despite the fact that he continues the monastic lifestyle, a small secular society gathers around him, consisting mainly of wealthy Roman women (mostly devout widows and virgins) who liked to spend time in learned conversations. The protagonists of subsequent events are Markella, Fabiana and Paula, who, under the influence of Jerome, learned Hebrew and Greek, after which they began to work together to translate the Bible into Latin. Their translation of the Psalter (the so-called "Roman Psalter") formed the basis of the Western liturgical tradition and has been used almost unchanged for the past sixteen centuries.

In 386, Jerome moved to live in Bethlehem, accompanied by widows and maidens who helped him, whom he placed in the surrounding monasteries. They continue to work together on the translation of the Bible, using primarily Origen's Hexaples. Sometimes, but not too often, they checked their translation against the original Hebrew. The result of their labors was the Latin Bible, the Vulgate.

In addition to this, Saint Jerome wrote several books on asceticism. Also, being a direct participant in the first outbreaks of the Origenist dispute, he wrote a treatise Against Rufinus. Rufinus was one of the disciples of the blessed Jerome. Sharing his teacher's interest in Origen, he translated into Latin Origen's classic On Principles. In his translation, Rufin smoothed out all the dubious passages as much as possible, making Origen more Orthodox than he actually was. The anti-Origenist attacks of St. Epiphanius of Cyprus (the same one who collected heresies) and Archbishop John of Jerusalem moved Rufinus to publicly renounce Origen. On the contrary, Jerome, who perfectly understood all the controversial points of Origen's teaching, remained faithful to his memory and came out with a refutation of his enemies.

On the whole, Blessed Jerome appears before us as an unusually whole, consistent nature, as a very sympathetic, albeit whimsical person, and, moreover, extremely industrious. He did not leave us interesting theological works, but in his letters we find a discussion of one issue, which is still of ecclesiological interest, connected with the problem of the origin of the episcopate. Here it should be noted that the extensive correspondence of Jerome, addressed mainly to his assistants already mentioned, is the most precious source of information about the life of the Church at that time. Also extremely interesting are his personal opinions, in particular his undisguised hostility towards the bishops. Blessed Jerome, being himself a presbyter, was convinced that there was no difference between bishops and presbyters:

It follows that the priest and the bishop? one and the same thing, and what before, instigated by the devil, ambition came into religion, and people began to say: “I am Pavlov”, “I am Apollos”, “I am Ceph”, ? The Church was one body and was led by priests.

(“On a letter to Titus”, 1, 1, 5)

Thus, Saint Jerome advocated the need to preserve the collective leadership of the presbyters in the Church.

In his famous letter to the Gospel, Jerome expounds the same idea of ​​the equality of priests and bishops. He emphasizes the utilitarian nature of the bishopric:

When subsequently one presbyter was chosen to lead all the others, this was done in order to heal the schism and prevent the Church from being torn apart by various persons who wanted to draw her to themselves.

Even in Alexandria, since the time of the Evangelist Mark... the presbyters have always called one bishop chosen from among them... For, besides consecration, what is the function of a bishop, what would not be at the same time the function of a presbyter?

For very obvious reasons, these sayings of St. Jerome have always inspired Protestants, but not only them. When in 1922 the Ukrainian Church did not want to recognize the Russian episcopate, a group of priests gathered and ordained several priests from their number as bishops, carrying out exactly the same "Alexandrian" method of ordination, which Jerome reports.

Concerning a specific historical incident in Alexandria, is this letter? our only source, and not a very reliable one at that. It is not clear whether Jerome is talking about ordination or about the election of bishops as presbyters. In addition, since Alexandria was a large city, there were several permanent Eucharistic communities, each headed by its own presbyter, who acted as a sort of bishops. Their role in the election of the archbishop may be due to this.

On the other hand, already in the first century, as we find in St. Ignatius of Antioch, the bishop presides over the assembly of presbyters, which acts as an advisory body; so there can only be one bishop in any particular place? chairman of the eucharistic assembly.

Obviously, the solution of the important problem of the origin of the episcopate cannot be based either on the personal preferences of the blessed Jerome, or on the separate and unreliable historical event he sets out.

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bl. Jerome of Stridon Life Most of the life of his bl. Jerome spent in the East, where he wrote most of his works. But by the nature of his initial upbringing, he is a Roman, and therefore by all his sympathies, by the nature of his scientific works,

Blessed Jerome returned to his native city for a year, but he no longer found his parents alive. He was responsible for the upbringing of his younger sister and brother Pavlinian. Blessed Jerome began to zealously study the Holy Scriptures.

From here he went, in the company of Epiphanius of Cyprus, to Rome, where Pope Damasus made him his closest adviser and, in the words of Jerome himself, "spoke in his words." But because of the denunciation by the blessed of the mores of contemporary Roman Christian society, a whole party of ill-wishers of the blessed was formed. After a three-year stay in Rome, blessed Jerome, after the death of Damasus (), was forced to leave this city forever.

Together with his brother Paulinian and friends, blessed Jerome visited the Holy Land, the monks of the Nitrian desert, listened to the famous Didyma in Alexandria, and in the year he settled in a cave in Bethlehem, near the cave of the Nativity of Christ, and began a life full of harsh exploits.

This was the heyday of his creative activity. An outstanding scholar of his time, Blessed Jerome left a rich written heritage to the Church: dogmatic-polemical, moral-ascetic works, works on the interpretation of Holy Scripture, historical works. But his main feat was the re-translation into Latin of the books of Holy Scripture (known as the Vulgate).

Blessed Jerome with deep sorrow survived the fall of his beloved city of Rome, conquered by the Goths in the year. And in the year of the blessed one, a new test befell - a raid of wild Bedouin Arabs. It was only by the grace of God that the community of the elderly ascetic was saved from complete ruin. He ended his life in the same Bethlehem cave. The date of death of blessed Jerome is considered to be a year. His relics were transferred from Bethlehem to Rome.

Jerome of Stridon is recognized in our country only as blessed - while in the Western Church he is canonized as a saint - according to the conditions of canonization in ancient times. universal church, which he even led. the saints of the East and West were only locally venerated until the time of Constantine Porphyrogenitus (see Canonization). Jerome belongs entirely to the West, for which he is a local saint, by virtue of the great services rendered to the Western Church. In the East, where he spent about half of his life, he was known not so much as an ascetic monk, like Hilarion or Anthony, but as a learned ascetic, like Origen. The controversy that he led with Rufinus and other learned and unlearned enemies was sometimes distinguished by passion and vehemence; proud and proud, Jerome knew, in a worldly way, his own worth and was a stranger to monastic humility. All this, in connection with his love for pagan classics, did not give him, in the eyes of Eastern people, a reputation for holiness.

Troparion Jerome of Stridon

Thee has a great representative, the Wise God, / Orthodox assembly, / as if you were the interlocutor of the venerable ones / and partaker of Divine wisdom, / taco, wonderful Jerome, / praying to Christ God / grant us great mercy.

Proceedings

Of the mass of works by Jerome Stridon, few (the first in time) provoked reproaches from critics: all the rest were highly valued not only by the generations closest to him, but also in later times.

They are divided into four main groups: interpretations on St. Scripture, dogmatic, moralistic and historical.

The main work of the first group is the Latin translation of St. Scriptures known as the Vulgate. It was executed by Jerome on behalf of Pope Damasus, to replace the old texts of the Bible used in the West, which were all corrupted by scribes. To some extent, work is blissful. Jerome was relieved by the preceding work of Origen; nevertheless, Jerome had to work hard on his own. There is great merit in his translation of the Bible, although in some places there are inappropriate deviations from the translation of the seventy. He caused, however, a lot of reproaches, by the way, and from Augustine: but after these beat. Everyone recognized Jerome's explanations for his great merit. At the beginning of the 7th century its translation in the West was already in common use, and although it was often distorted by scribes, so that until the 16th century. it took at least 10 new reviews of it, nevertheless, the Council of Trent in 1545 canonized this translation as the only church one.

Bliss explained. Jerome, as a whole, all the books of the prophets great and small, the books of Genesis, Ecclesiastes, the Gospel of Matthew and the epistles of St. Paul to the Galatians, Ephesians, Titus and Philemon. Of the other books of St. Scripture, countless passages interpreted by him in other writings, episodically.

Although not free from errors, Jerome's interpretations are among the best. In connection with them, he wrote two essays: on Jewish places and on Jewish names; the first is a revision of the work of Eusebius, the second is a revision of Philo, with the help of Origen.

Dogmatic writings blissful Jerome are predominantly of polemical origin and content: in some he denounces the Montanists, Ebionites, Pelagians, Valentinians, Origenists, and many other heretics; in others, he explains the positive teaching of the Church about the main dogmas of Christology, about the sacraments, about the veneration of holy icons, etc.

In polemic he is stronger than in expounding the positive teaching of the Church; in the latter he is surpassed by the fathers of the Eastern Church.

Moral Christian teaching, which he sets out mainly in his numerous messages and letters, has as its subject not a clarification and presentation of general principles, but only an explanation of particular issues: about the upbringing of children, about patience in misfortunes, about unceasing self-improvement, etc. He wrote especially much in epistles about the virtues of virginity and monastic life (against Helvidius). There is a lot of wit and brilliance in his polemics: his dispute with Rufinus is especially remarkable, in which the latter defended the conservative, in his opinion, principles of church doctrine, and Jerome defended freedom of inheritance for the benefit of the church.

From historical writings Jerome, of particular importance is the book "On Famous Men" ("De viris illustribus"), "Chronicle" and "Lives of the Fathers" ("Vitae patrum").

The first contains precious information (albeit brief) about the life and writings of the church fathers and church writers of the first four centuries.

"Chronicle" - for the most part - a translation of the work of Eusebius of Caesarea, but in the last section (from 325 to 378) is an independent work; the whole work has the task of establishing the correspondence of sacred history with the legends of pagan historians.

The "Biographies of the Fathers" deal with the lives of Egyptian monks. Complementary to this work is a composed bliss. Jerome "Martyrology".

The main merit of bliss. Jerome - in the field of study of St. Scriptures. In this regard, he stands on the same level of historical significance as Basil the Great - in the field of Christian moral teaching, and Gregory the Theologian - in the field of dogma.

All writings are blessed. Jerome, not counting small letters, about 180. Deserves attention in the worldview of Jerome Stridonsky is his attitude towards a woman. While his learned friends often tormented him with slander and gossip, several noble women (Paul, Ageruchia, Eustachia, Markella) remained his constant friends. Letters to them are blessed. Jerome are distinguished by special sincerity.

"The writings of Jerome shine throughout the world like sacred lamps; he is the man of both extensive learning, so tested and pure teaching, a teacher of the Orthodox."

"I will go to the treasury of St. Jerome, although he is poor in spirit, like a lawyer, who has sworn to keep poverty, but he is not poor in spiritual possessions, and as if he is not the last teacher in the Church of Christ ...".

Editions of the works of the blessed. Jerome

• Vallarsi (Verona, 1734-1742);
• Minya, in Patrologiae cursus completus ser. latina (tt. XXII - XXX).
• Creations of Blessed Jerome of Stridon. Kiev: Typography of I. I. Gorbunov, (Library of the works of the Holy Fathers and teachers of the Western Church, published at the Kiev Theological Academy, in 17 volumes.)

Literature

Calculated in detail in Zoeckler "a," Hieronymus. Sein Leben und Wirken aus seinen Schriften dargestelt" (Gotha, 1865). The following deserve special attention:

• "Vita Hieronymi" - an article by Vallarsi, in volume XI of his edition of the works of Hieronymus;
• Collombet, "Histoire de S. Jérôme" (P., 1844);
• Luckbeck, "Hieronymus quos noverit scriptores et ex quibus hauriens scripsit" (Lpts., 1872);
• Amédée Thierry, "S. Jérôme. La société chrétienne à Rome et l"émigration romaine en Terre Sainte" (P., 1867; translation of several chapters from this work in the Proceedings of the Kiev Theological Academy, 1868 and 1869);
• And Smirnov, "Jerome, as a historian and polemist" ("Pravosl. Review" 1871);
• Shchegolev, "The Life of St. Jerome" (with the Kiev translation of his works, Kyiv, 1863);
• "The Life of Blessed Jerome" (in "Christian Reading" 1847);
• Filaret, Archbishop of Chernigov, in "Historical Teachings on the Fathers of the Church" (St. Petersburg, 1859, vol. II):
• Möhler, on Jerome's dispute with Rufinus, in "Gesammelte Schriften und Aufsätze" (Regensb., 1839).

Used materials

• Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron.
• Lives of the Saints Honored by the Orthodox Church (compiled by Archbishop Philaret of Chernigov). Publishing House of the Sretensky Monastery, 2000.

Little is known about the first years of the life of Blessed Hieronymus of Stridon. Time has obscured the exact date of his birth, and even his worldly name (however, there is reason to think that he was called Eusebius). The birthplace of Jerome is Stridon (a small town located near the borders of two regions: Dalmatia and Pannonia). Jerome's parents were Christians. There is a version that, according to their social status, they belonged to the number of wealthy otpuschennye.

Jerome received his primary education under the guidance of a teacher, at home. Then, at the behest of his parents, he went to Rome, where he continued his studies. Among other educational disciplines, he studied philosophy and eloquence. During his stay in Rome, he experienced many temptations, which he did not always overcome. With all this, he managed to maintain that flame of faith, which, as a child, was lit in his heart by his mother and father. On Sundays, for example, he liked to visit the tombs of the Christian martyrs, the impression of which touched his soul so strongly that, by his personal admission, it seemed to him that he himself, alive, was descending into the grave.

While in Rome, Jerome decided to change his life. Presumably, during this period he was baptized. After leaving the eternal city, while traveling in Gaul, he seriously thought about monasticism. Returning in 372 to his native Stridon, Jerome no longer found his parents alive. The need to take care of his sister and younger brother, as well as the parental inheritance, forced him to postpone his plans for a hermitage. For some time he lived in Aquileia, communicating with his comrades in a "semi-monastic" circle. Then he undertook a journey to the East, meaning to visit Jerusalem, Syria and Egypt. However, when he reached Antioch, he fell seriously ill.

After recovery, he settled in the Syrian Thebaid; believed to be in a local monastery. There he lived, in deeds and prayer, for about five years. At the same time, he studied the Holy Scriptures and the Hebrew language. In Antioch, he joined the community of Bishop Peacock and was ordained a priest. After a short time, he moved to Constantinople, where he had communion with two great saints: Gregory of Nazianzus and. Leaving Constantinople in 381, he went to Rome. At this time, a Council was held there, organized on the occasion of the Meletian schism. In Rome, the blessed father was honored with the position of secretary under Pope Damasus.

Not everyone accepted the highly spiritual life of Father Jerome: for many, he served as a denunciation. They began to intrigue against the saint. Slanders poured in. To all other accusations was added the accusation of sympathy for u.

With the death of Pope Damasus, which followed in 384, the pressure on Father Jerome only intensified: the new pope, Siricius, did not like him. Then the blessed one, taking with him brother Paulinian, left Rome and went to the Holy Land. Having honored the holy places, he undertook a pilgrimage to Egypt. Here he was lucky to listen to Didim the Blind, to talk with the Nitrian hermits.

In 386, Jerome became head of the monastic community in Bethlehem. In addition to managing the monastery and ascetic exercises, he was engaged in literary creativity.

Blessed Jerome's contribution to church literature can hardly be overestimated. He left behind a vast literary legacy. One of his most important merits is the translation of the Books of Holy Scripture into Latin. On September 30, 420, the saint departed to the Lord.

Troparion Jerome of Stridon

Great has thee a representative, the Wise God, / Orthodox assembly, / as if you are the interlocutor of the venerable ones / and partaker of Divine wisdom, / taco, wonderful Jerome, / praying to Christ God // to grant us great mercy.

Kontakion to the Monk Jerome of Stridon, tone 8

In the venerable reverend and in the blessed, the most blessed teacher, / with songs we praise Jerome the most praiseworthy, / faithful mentor and intercessor, calling to him with love: / Rejoice, Father God-wise.