Thursday, September 30, 2010

Thurs. Sept. 30, 2010 - Saint Jerome: Priest and Doctor, Father of Biblical Science, Teacher of Obedience - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online

St. Jerome, pray for us!!

Saint Jerome: Priest and Doctor, Father of Biblical Science, Teacher of Obedience - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online

Excerpt from above link:
For instance, he opposed the objections of Helvidius concerning the perpetual virginity of Mary. Among such false objections, as are common even today, were those based on scriptural references to "the brothers" of the Lord, the "carpenter's son," and Mary's "firstborn son" (see Mt 13:55; 1:24-25). .
Jerome responded: "Every only-begotten son is a firstborn son, but not every firstborn is an only-begotten. By firstborn we understand not only one who is succeeded by others, but one who has had no predecessors." In reference to the Lord's "brothers," St. Jerome tells us: "In Holy Scripture there are four kinds of brethren - by nature, race, kindred, love." Certainly we still associate the word "brother" with those same "kinds of brethren" today. St. Jerome explained that, as our holy Church teaches presently, the brothers of Jesus were his cousins and the nephews of the Virgin Mary. Showing both his usual yet wonderful bluntness, which often surfaced due to his love of truth, St. Jerome admonished Helvidius: "You neglected the whole range of Scripture and employed your madness in outraging the Virgin."

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