St. Jerome: to Mortify the World
“For fear of hell I have condemned myself to such a dungeon.”
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Above: St. Jerome Writing by Caravaggio (1605-6). Nothing is normal about this story. An academic goes from secular living to becoming radicalized by spending time in the catacombs of dead Christians, packs up his dearest possessions and heads out to the desert. He ends up settling in a 16×10 foot cave where he spends the next thirty-four years obsessing over vigils, virginity and the endless…
