(In Isa., Prol.)
• "Read assiduously and learn as much as you can. Let sleep find you holding your Bible, and when your head nods let it be resting on the sacred page."
(Epist. ad Eustochium, 22, 17, 2.)
• "Constantly read the Bible; in fact, have it always in your hands. Learn what you have got to teach. Get firm hold of that "faithful word that is according to doctrine, that you may be able to exhort in sound doctrine and convince the gainsayers." "
(Epist. ad Nepotianum, 52, 7, 1.)
• "I earnestly warn the prudent reader not to pay attention to superstitious interpretations such as are given cut and dried according to some interpreter's fancy. He should study the beginning, middle, and end, and so form a connected idea of the whole of what he finds written."
(In Matt., 25:13)
~St. Jerome (c. 347 – 30 Sept. 420)
St. Jerome, by Franceso Bassano the Younger (Italian, 1549–1592).
Oil on canvas; private collection.