“After four years he went to Jerusalem to revisit the holy places, and to learn Hebrew more perfectly. Satan endeavored to disgust him with Holy Writ, pretending that the style was not so finished as that of Cicero, the pagan writer, whom he esteemed most highly, and often read with great attention. But God punished him severely for this. He relates himself that once, during a heavy sickness, it seemed to him that he stood before the judgment-seat of Christ. He was asked: ” Who art thou?” “I am,” answered he, “a Christian.” “Thou liest,” said the judge severely, “thou art a Ciceronian and no Christian ; for where your treasure is, there also is your heart.” Soon after this the judge ordered him to be scourged. During this punishment, Jerome cried: “O Lord, have pity on me, have pity on me!” The scourging ceased, but the marks on the body of the saint were a sign that the vision had been more than a dream. Jerome concluded from this that he had done wrong in spending so much time in reading a heathen orator. He laid all worldly books aside and once more began to study Holy Writ most diligently. He also translated many books of the Holy Scriptures from the Hebrew into Latin, and corrected others according to the Greek version, and added to all most learned commentaries.”

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