I love this image of Saint Jerome--as the Renaissance imagined him: in his study. (I keep it on my desktop at work.)
On Sept. 30, we should thank him for the Bible: he was the great editor of the Bible, and in the 4th century he translated it into Latin--that's the famous "Vulgate"--to make it widely accessible. He said that everyone should read Scripture. Jerome was also a scholar of Hebrew: he went to the Holy Land to study with learned rabbis when he was already well along in years.
Jerome was clearly a rather crusty man--one who did not suffer fools (or heretics) gladly. But he was a great scholar, and we should remember him today and thank him for all he gave us.
What shall we eat in his honor? Let's keep it simple and to the point: how about a sheet cake baked in a large rectangular pan, with white icing like a page of the Bible, with some great Biblical quote written on top? Perhaps "In the beginning was the Word"?--but you may have other thoughts, and you can hardly go wrong.
I love this painting of St. Jerome
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