BIG C CATHOLICS

On December 11th, the Church observes the feast of Pope St. Damasus I, who lived in the mid-300s just after the early persecutions of Christians had ended. When Damasus assumed the papacy, there were numerous Gospels and stories of Jesus’ life that were then circulating. Many of these were not inspired. Pope Damasus convened an ecumenical council to determine once and for all which Gospels and letters should comprise the New Testament. He also commissioned St. Jerome to translate the Bible into Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. __________________________________________ Pope St. Damasus I: A Consequential Papacy On [Pope] Liberius' death, riots broke out over the election of a successor. The majority favored Damasus, who was born in Rome of Spanish descent. He had served as a deacon under Liberius and upheld the Nicene Creed. In less than a month, Damasus was installed in the Lateran palace. A minority refused to accept the decision and set up the antipope Ursinu

Memorial - September 30th Anyone who ran afoul of Saint Jerome would not be likely to soon forget it. This formidable Doctor of the Church was as well known for his sarcastic tongue and blunt correspondences as he was for his redoubtable scholarship. The former was aimed at those who taught heresy or who did not uphold the moral standards of the Church. The latter led to his translation of the Bible into Latin, the common language at the time. That translation, the Vulgate, is the Church's official text. Saint Jerome was born Eusebius Hieronymous Sophronius in the year c. 342, in Dalmatia, a region of Croatia. His father, who was a Christian, saw to it that his son was well educated in terms of both faith and academics. Jerome’s instruction began at home, but when he got older, his father sent him to Rome to study with some of the best pagan and Christian scholars of the day. However, as most young men will, Jerome spent at least part of his early youth indulging in life’s