This is actually Saint Jeromes cell! This is all part of a large cave connected to where Jesus was actually born! Again Im going to add a great link at the bottom of this so you can learn more about this amazing place I was so blessed to explore! Down narrow steps, we encounter a series of caves. One cave is dedicated to the Holy Innocents killed by King Herod, while St Joseph’s Chapel is dedicated to Mary’s husband. The chapels of St Eusebius, St Paula, and St Jerome are all named after those who were buried in them. St Paula and her daughter Eustochium travelled with St. Jerome and helped him with his monastery. St Eusebius led the monastery after St Jerome’s death in 420 AD. He was buried here until the Crusaders took his body to Rome. Today, he rests at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. St. Jerome is a great patron saint for those of us who love books and languages. He was born in 342 AD in a small town at the head of the Adriatic, somewhere in Croatia or Slovenia. His native language was the Illyrian dialect, but he learned Latin and Greek, and eventually Hebrew. He loved learning, and began building a library for himself when owning books wasn’t as easy as it is today. Every book he owned, he had to copy with his own hand! He was baptized in 365 AD, and in 373 AD he joined a colony of hermits in the desert east of Antioch—and not only did he bring his books with him, but he kept adding to his library! He was ordained a priest in 379 and began his life as a Biblical scholar. In 385 A.D, he moved to Bethlehem. He finished his translation of the Bible in 404 AD, and in 416, his library was destroyed when Bethlehem was sacked by bandits. Boo. St Jerome is believed to have been the second most voluminous writer in ancient Latin Christianity. spiritualdirection/2014/09/30/st-jerome-bethlehems-church-st-catherine
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 03:58:47 +0000
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