St Jerome was born around 345 to wealthy Christian parents who raised him in faith. At the age of 15 he travelled with a friend to Rome where he began his studies in rhetoric and philosophy. His instruction also included study of both Latin and Greek, which later in life he would supplement with the study of Hebrew. While in Rome he struggled with temptations, and would alternate between giving in to youthful passions and periods of a form of penitential asceticism to assuage his guilty conscience, and would also visit the tombs and catacombs of martyrs and saints under Rome. His fear of the darkness of those tombs was a reminder, he would later write, of the Hell that awaited him if he did not repent of his sinful ways.The Feast of Jerome, Doctor, Presbyter in Rome and Bethlehem, Translator of the Scriptures, 420O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant Jerome, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
St Jerome officially converted to Christianity at the age of 19 and was baptised by the Bishop of Rome. He then moved to Treves, modern day Trier, in Gaul where he began his theological studies. In Treves, he began making copies of the writings of St Hilary of Poitiers which he sold to wealthy patrons, and some of which he kept for himself forming the basis of his own theological library. Upon completion of his studies in Treves he returned to Aquileia, a city near the place of his birth in North-Eastern Italy. There he began making friends in the Christian community, and also developed enemies due to his sharp tongue and less than diplomatic nature. Eventually he chose to leave, heading east for Antioch where he arrived in 373. He studied under some of the local Christian leaders and ultimately began leading an ascetic lifestyle in the desert and where he began his study of Hebrew in order to better understand the Old Testament. Shortly before leaving Antioch, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Paulinus, the Nicaean Bishop of Antioch, in recognition of his academic studies, but only on the condition that he would not be required to fulfil priestly duties.
Around 380 St Jerome travelled to Constantinople where he studied under St Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople, before being asked by Bishop Paulinus to accompany him to Rome in 382 for a Council to resolve controversies over a schism in Antioch between Arian and Nicene Christians. The Council was held under the leadership of the Bishop of Rome, St Damasus I who ultimately was greatly impressed by Jerome’s arguments and convinced him to stay in Rome and serve as his secretary. St Jerome served the Bishop until Damasus’s death in 384 after which St Jerome was forced to leave Rome due various false charges and scandals being raised against him by the many enemies he had made over his years there. He eventually settled in Jerusalem where he spent the last thirty years of his life working on a Latin translation of the Bible, which had originally been commissioned by St Damasus in 382. It was not completed in St Jerome’s lifetime, but his work ultimately became the standard Bible of the Roman Catholic Church, the Latin Vulgate Bible, for centuries after.
St Jerome is well-known for his writings, with many of his letters, treatises and other works suriving to this day. While his contribution of the Latin Vulgate Bible is probably his most well-recognized contribution, he was considered an extremely learned and articulate writer in his time and many of his other thoughts were considered extremely persuasive.
It was in 383 that St Jerome published his treatise on the Virginity of the Blessed Mary, in response to claims made by Helvidius. Helvidius contended, supported by the writings of Tertullian and St Victorinus of Pettau that references to brethren of Christ in the Scriptures confirmed that Mary had issue subsequent to Christ. Jerome responded with three propositions which today are maintained as Catholic doctrines on the Blessed Virgin Mary. Over the hundred years that followed the publication of the treatise, the views articulated by St Jerome would become the foundation of the views of the Church Fathers on Mary which would survive until modern times. To this day, the Anglican tradition holds that, “ancient Christian authority,” affirms Mary’s perpetual virginity.
St Jerome’s treatise provided three arguments. First that Helvidius had gravely misinterpreted the Gospel of St Matthew 1. 18-25 which describes St Mary and St Joseph. Second, that the use of the term “brethren” of the Lord doesn’t imply biological siblings born of St Mary, but rather that they were Christ’s cousins. Third, St Jerome concluded that virginity is greater than a married state.
On his first claim, in response to verse 25, which reads, “But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” St Jerome argued that Scripture showed that the word until did not have a fixed meaning as Helvidius replied, citing a number of verses:
St Jerome concluded by noting a life of single celibacy, in contrast to Helvidius’s arguments, could more easily be viewed as fruitful to Christian life as married life brings with it many distractions from God, from the concerns of maintaining a household to the raising of children. “Tell me, pray,” asks St Jerome, “where amid all this is there room for the thought of God?”
St Jerome’s blunt words to Helvidius articulated a doctrine on Mary which has been held by the Church for centuries since, and strongly reminds all Christians of the importance of the primacy of Scripture: “We believe that God was born of the Virgin, because we read it. That Mary was married after she brought forth, we do not believe, because we do not read it.”
St Jerome’s treatise provided three arguments. First that Helvidius had gravely misinterpreted the Gospel of St Matthew 1. 18-25 which describes St Mary and St Joseph. Second, that the use of the term “brethren” of the Lord doesn’t imply biological siblings born of St Mary, but rather that they were Christ’s cousins. Third, St Jerome concluded that virginity is greater than a married state.
On his first claim, in response to verse 25, which reads, “But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” St Jerome argued that Scripture showed that the word until did not have a fixed meaning as Helvidius replied, citing a number of verses:
Paul the Apostle writing to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15. 23) says, “Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ’s, at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” Granted that the passage relates to our Lord’s human nature, we do not deny that the words are spoken of Him who endured the cross and is commanded to sit afterwards on the right hand. What does he mean then by saying, “for he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet”? Is the Lord to reign only until His enemies begin to be under His feet, and once they are under His feet will He cease to reign? Of course His reign will then commence in its fulness when His enemies begin to be under His feet.The second counter-argument hinges on St Jerome’s contention that Helvidius misunderstood St Luke’s gospel as well where in Lk 2. 6-7 it says, “While they were [in Bethlehem], the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.” A similar counter-argument is presented that simply because Christ is called Mary’s firstborn does not require that there be subsequent issue. In St Jerome’s words:
Our position is this: Every only begotten son is a first-born son, but not every first-born is an only begotten. By first-born we understand not only one who is succeeded by others, but one who has had no predecessor. “Everything,” says the Lord to Aaron (Nm 18. 15), “that openeth the womb of all flesh which they offer unto the Lord, both of man and beast, shall be thine: nevertheless the first born of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.” (The word of God defines first-born as everything that openeth the womb. Otherwise, if the title belongs to such only as have younger brothers, the priests cannot claim the firstlings until their successors have been begotten, lest, perchance, in case there were no subsequent delivery it should prove to be the first-born but not merely the only begotten.Similar Scriptural arguments are presented to show that the term brethren and brothers are used to refer to cousins and other relations, and therefore a reference to James as the brother of the Lord does not necessarily mean he was the son of St Mary and St Joseph.
St Jerome concluded by noting a life of single celibacy, in contrast to Helvidius’s arguments, could more easily be viewed as fruitful to Christian life as married life brings with it many distractions from God, from the concerns of maintaining a household to the raising of children. “Tell me, pray,” asks St Jerome, “where amid all this is there room for the thought of God?”
St Jerome’s blunt words to Helvidius articulated a doctrine on Mary which has been held by the Church for centuries since, and strongly reminds all Christians of the importance of the primacy of Scripture: “We believe that God was born of the Virgin, because we read it. That Mary was married after she brought forth, we do not believe, because we do not read it.”