Saint Jerome
Patron of Translators
Saint Jerome was born in Dalmatia about 330 A.D. and went to school in Rome. He had a passionate love of books and a great thirst for knowledge. He travelled and studied for a period and eventually became ill at Antioch. He withdrew to the wild desert in Syria and grew in holiness and wisdom. He was ordained in 379 and three years later became Secretary to Pope Damasus. He was given the job of revising the the Latin translations of the Gospels and Psalms. He also made his own translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Latin. These translations together formed what is known as the Vulgate edition of the Bible which is still in use in the Catholic Church. This work and much of his other writing was done at Bethlehem the birthplace of Jesus Christ. He died there in 420 A.D.St Jerome's feast day is celebrated on September 30th.
Some of St Jerome's writings can be found on the internet in the Christian Classics Etherial Library at the server at Wheaton College. http://ccel.wheaton.edu/fathers