Eastern Rite - Holy Prophet Amos & Venerable Jerome, Presbyter of Stridon

Today is the Feasts of the Holy Prophet Amos and of the Venerable Jerome, Presbyter of Stridon.

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The Holy Prophet Amos, the third of the Twelve Minor Prophets,1 lived during the eighth century before Christ. He was from Judah, and was born at Tekoah in the land of Zebulon, six miles south of Bethlehem.

At that time, the Hebrew nation was divided into two Kingdoms: Judah in the south, and Israel in the north. King Uzziah ruled in Jerusalem, but the other ten tribes of Israel were ruled by Jeroboam II, who was an idolator. At Bethel he set up an idol in the shape of a golden calf, which the people worshipped, turning away from the true God.

Simple and uneducated, yet fervent in his faith and zealous for the glory of God, this former shepherd of sheep and goats, and dresser of sycamore trees (Amos 7:14-15) was chosen by the Lord for prophetic service. He was sent to the Kingdom of Israel to denounce King Jeroboam's impiety, as well as that of the Israelites. The Prophet predicted great misfortunes which would befall Israel because of its ungodliness. As a result of his denunciations, Amos repeatedly endured beatings and torture.

Amaziah, the chief priest of the royal sanctuary at Bethel, hated Amos, who predicted that the Gentiles would conquer Israel; that they will slay the King, as well as Amaziah's children; that Amaziah's wife would become a harlot; and that Amaziah himself would die in a pagan land, because he led the people into adultery with idols (7:17). Amaziah became furious and had Amos beaten, but all of these prophecies were fulfilled.

According to a later tradition, Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, struck the Prophet Amos with a club, seriously wounding him. He was taken to his native village of Tekoah in Judah, and died there after two days (circa 787 B.C.) He should not be confused with Amoz, the father of the Prophet Isaiah.

In iconography Amos is depicted as an old man with a pointed beard. His scroll reads: It is he who builds his ascent up to Heaven (Amos 9:6).

1 The terms major and minor Prophets refer to the length of their books, not to their individual prominence. Although Amos is ranked third, his prophecy was the first to be recorded.

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Saint Jerome of Stridon was born into a Christian family in the city of Stridon located on the border between Dalmatia and Pannonia. His full name is Eusebius Hieronymos Sophronius. His parents sent him to Rome, where he studied the secular sciences. At the beginning of his life in the capital, the youth was captivated by worldly vanities and fell into temptation. At the end of his time in Rome, Jerome resolved to change his life and to live in goodness and purity. When the youth was about 20 years old, he accepted holy Baptism. After this he visited in Gaul (France). Then Saint Jerome decided to dedicate himself totally to God, and to become a monk.

In about the year 372 Saint Jerome returned to his native city, but his parents had already departed this life. On him fell the responsibility of raising his younger sisters and his brother Paulinian. These cares forced him to put aside his plans to enter a monastery, at least for a time.

Having made arrangements for the care of his siblings, he journeyed to the East with several of his friends. In 374, he decided to dwell in the desert of Chalcis southeast of Antioch. There he remained for about 5 years, combining work on the Holy Scriptures with austere ascetic deeds. Besides this, Saint Jerome mastered the Hebrew and Chaldean languages. During this period he began his correspondence with numerous persons upon a variety of questions. About 120 letters, considered as authentically written by Saint Jerome, have been preserved.

At the beginning of the 360s there arose a controversy between the proponents of bishops Meletius, Paulinos and Vitalis. The controversy also reached the monastery where Saint Jerome toiled. In consequence, the disputes caused him to leave the monastery and go to Antioch. Here Bishop Paulinos ordained him to the priesthood. Afterwards, Saint Jerome visited Constantinople and conversed with the holy hierarchs Gregory the Theologian and Gregory of Nyssa In the year 381 he set off for Rome. At Rome he continued his studies. The holy Pope Damasus I (366-384), who also devoted much of his time to the study of Holy Scripture, made Jerome his secretary.

But because the saint denounced the morals of the contemporary Christian society, a whole party of those bearing malice towards the saint came forward to spread slanders about him. After a three year stay at Rome, Saint Jerome felt compelled to abandon this city for good. Together with his brother Paulinian and friends, Saint Jerome visited the Holy Land, and also the monks of the Nitria wilderness monastery. In the year 386 he settled into a cave at Bethlehem near the cave where Christ was born, and there he began a life of austere asceticism.

This was the period of blossoming of his creative activity. Attending to the studies of his time, Saint Jerome left to the Church a rich written legacy: collections of dogmatic-polemic works, moral-ascetic works, commentaries on Scripture, and historical works. But the most important of his works was a new translation the books of the Old and New Testaments into the Latin language. This Latin translation is called the “Vulgate,” and it passed into general use throughout the Western Church.

Saint Jerome lived through the fall of his beloved city Rome, which was sacked by the Goths in the year 410. In the year 411 a new ordeal beset the saint, Bethlehem was invaded by wild Bedouin Arabs. Only through the mercy of God was the community of the aged ascetic saved from complete destruction. He finished his life at the cave in Bethlehem. Saint Jerome is believed to have reposed in 420. His relics were transferred from Bethlehem to Rome in 642, but their present location is unknown. His hand is enshrined in a church near Rome’s Piazza Farnese.