St. Jerome Prayer Before Reading the Bible (Sept. 30)

St. Jerome (about 347–420), the brilliant and fiery scholar who translated the Bible into Latin, gave the Western Church the Vulgate, the Bible it read for more than a thousand years. He spent the last decades of his life in a cave near the place of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, studying Hebrew and Greek and writing commentaries, and he is a Doctor of the Church and the patron of Bible scholars, translators and librarians. His famous saying, “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ,” is quoted by the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism. Below are prayers to St. Jerome before reading the Bible, for translators and students, and for those who struggle with anger, Scripture and his story.

A prayer before reading the Bible

Written for this page:

Lord, through the prayers of St. Jerome,
open my mind and my heart as I read your word.
Let me hear your voice in these pages,
understand what you are saying to me today,
and put it into practice with love. Amen.

St. Paul on the Scriptures:

All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice,
That the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.

See also how to start a prayer and the Sunday Mass readings.

A prayer to St. Jerome

St. Jerome, lover of the word of God,
you gave your life to translating and explaining the Scriptures
so that all could know Christ.
Pray for me, that I may love the Bible, read it daily
and come to know Jesus through it.
Obtain for me the grace I ask: (name your intention). Amen.

This prayer was written for this page.

A prayer for translators, scholars and students

St. Jerome, patron of translators and scholars,
bless all who study, translate, teach and preserve the word of God and human learning.
Give them accuracy, patience and humility,
and let their work bring truth and understanding to many. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page. September 30, his feast, is also International Translation Day.

A prayer for those with a hot temper

Jerome was known for his sharp tongue and quick anger, and he struggled all his life to master them.

St. Jerome, you knew the battle against anger and harsh words.
Help me to control my temper, to think before I speak,
to apologize when I have hurt others,
and to let God make me gentle. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page. See the examination of conscience.

The life of St. Jerome

Eusebius Hieronymus, known as Jerome, was born around 347 at Stridon, on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia (in the region of present-day Slovenia and Croatia). He studied grammar and rhetoric in Rome, where he was baptized, and loved the Latin classics so much that he later described a dream in which Christ rebuked him for being “a Ciceronian, not a Christian.”

Seeking holiness, he lived as a hermit in the Syrian desert, where he learned Hebrew. Ordained a priest, he went to Rome in 382 as secretary to Pope St. Damasus, who asked him to revise the Latin translation of the Gospels. After Damasus died, Jerome left Rome with a group of disciples, including the widow St. Paula and her daughter Eustochium, and in 386 settled in Bethlehem. There they founded monasteries for men and women, and Jerome spent the rest of his life translating most of the Old Testament directly from Hebrew and writing commentaries and letters.

He died in Bethlehem on September 30, 420. His remains were later brought to the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. The legend that he tamed a lion by pulling a thorn from its paw was borrowed from the story of another saint, St. Gerasimus, but the lion has remained his symbol.

Feast day and patronage

Feast day: September 30. A novena can run from September 21 to 29.
Patron of: Bible scholars, translators, librarians, archivists, students and schoolchildren.
Symbols: a lion, a red cardinal’s hat (an anachronism of later art), a book or the Bible, a skull and a stone with which he struck his breast.

Frequently asked questions

What is St. Jerome the patron saint of?

Bible scholars, translators, librarians and archivists.

When is St. Jerome’s feast day?

September 30, the day he died in Bethlehem in 420.

What did St. Jerome say about the Bible?

“Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ,” from the prologue of his commentary on Isaiah.

What is the Vulgate?

Jerome’s Latin translation of the Bible, which became the standard Bible of the Western Church. The Council of Trent declared it authentic for use in the Church, and the Douay-Rheims Bible quoted on this site is an English translation of it.

More prayers

Texts and sources

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16–17, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
St. Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah, prologue; Letter 22 (to Eustochium); Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum 25; Catechism of the Catholic Church 133.
The prayers were written for this page.