He wasn’t an easy man. Jerome was brilliant, sarcastic and quick to quarrel, and he fell out with friends, bishops and fellow scholars. There’s a story that a pope, looking at a painting of Jerome beating his chest with a stone in penance, said, “You do well to carry that stone. Without it, the Church would never have canonized you.” Holiness, for Jerome, was a long fight with his own temper.
Historical Context
He’s often painted with a lion. The legend says he pulled a thorn from a lion’s paw, and the lion stayed with him. The story was probably borrowed from another saint, St Gerasimus, but it stuck.
A Prayer to St Jerome
St Jerome, you gave your life to God’s Word.
Pray that I may love Scripture as you did:
read it, study it, and let it change me.
Help me to know Christ through his Word.
And pray for me in my struggles with my own temper and pride.
Amen.
For Students and Scholars
St Jerome, patron of scholars,
pray for me as I study.
Give me focus, a good memory and a love of truth.
Amen.
For Translators
Lord, bless those who carry words from one language to another.
Make them faithful, careful and clear.
St Jerome, pray for them.
Amen.
Best Times for This Prayer
- On 30 September, his feast.
- Before Bible study or reading Scripture.
- Before exams or a big writing project.
Scripture Connection
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” — Psalm 119:105
Jerome spent his life making that lamp available to people who couldn’t read Hebrew or Greek. Every Bible in a language you can understand owes something to translators like him.
Related prayers
For another Doctor of the Church, see the St Anselm Prayer and St Francis de Sales Prayer. For anger, the Prayer to Remove the Spirit of Anger.