The Satirical Letters of St. Jerome

By Paul Carroll, Jerome

1956

First Published

4.60

Average Rating

230

Number of Pages

6H59M

Audio Length

How do you mark a saint? By his holiness and, as these letters brilliantly reveal, by his humor. The Catholic Church honors Jerome (345-420 A.D.) as one of her greats, calling him Doctor Maximus in exponendis Sacris Scripturis: doctor of biblical translation and exegisis. But this translation of letters (first published in 1956 but never reprinted) presents an unexpected view of the man as well as of the Church who claims him for her own. For onstage in these pages is one of the West's most vigorous and gifted satirists. Nothing escapes Jerome's pen—whether it be effeminate, ambitious, lecherous priests; the comfortable vanities of nuns; the pomposities of bishops and of saints; or the decadence of Roman society and the sophistry of the educated. Everything that offends against the truths he holds dear is fair stalking for Saint Jerome. And, as the introduction makes clear, what shines through all the more powerfully in these models of high, literate satire, is the permanent core of beliefs, breathtakingly unsanctimonious, that fueled his literary gifts and, according to ancient Christian tradition, also made him a saint.

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Authors

Paul Carroll

Author · 1 book

Paul Carroll is a writer from Dublin. He is also a qualified teacher, a part-time bookseller, a director of student Drama, a video blogger, and an uncle. He has been writing since the age of twelve, with a love of words going back further than he can remember. He is currently studying Multimedia at a Masters level.

Jerome

Author · 8 books

St. Jerome (born c. 347) (formerly Saint Hierom) (Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Greek: Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος) was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia (possibly in modern Croatia or Slovenia). He is best known for his translation of the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate), and his list of writings is extensive. He is recognized by the Catholic Church as a saint and Doctor of the Church, and the Vulgate is still an important text in Catholicism. He is also recognized as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church, where he is known as St. Jerome of Stridonium or Blessed Jerome.