The Catholic Church has given us many heavenly intercessors. These patron saints pray to God unceasingly on our behalf. (Catholics praying to saints is often misunderstood, suffice to say here that praying to saints doesn't mean we can't pray to God directly, indeed we can and should, however just like you can get your friends to pray with and for you, saints are your heavenly friends whom also pray with and for you, the only difference is that they can do it non-stop with perfect love and dedication.)
A patron saint is chosen due to their particular connection with the subject of the prayer. Indeed, many, if not most occupations and professions have one (and sometimes more than one), and Translation is no exception. St. Jerome is our saint.
St. Jerome (b. 340-2 and d. 420) was born in Stridon, a town on the confines of Dalmatia and Pannonia (Croatia). With his passion for books and great thirst for knowledge he went of to study in Rome. Indeed, St. Augustine said of him, “What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known.” It was also in Rome where he was baptized in approximately 360.
Unlike many saints which are remembered for their outstanding virtue or peaceful nature, St. Jerome is often remembered for his bad temper! This doesn't mean he was any less holy however. He was so passionately in love with Christ that he used his mighty pen to, lets say, instruct the ignorant. Indeed anyone who taught error was an enemy of God and truth, and St. Jerome went after him or her with his mighty and sometimes sarcastic pen.
He travelled, particularly in Palestine, and studied theology but eventually became ill at Antioch. He withdrew to the wild desert in Syria where he ever increased in holiness and wisdom. In 379 be was ordained. Three years later, in Rome, he became Secretary to Pope Damasus I. However when Pope Damasus I died in 384, St. Jerome's position in Rome became very difficult due to pressure from his enemies (many of them gain by his harsh criticism). St. Jerome was compelled to leave Rome and settled in Bethlehem in 386 where he lived a life of asceticism and study.
It was in Bethlehem where his great works were competed. St. Jerome is best remembered for his revision of Latin translations of the Gospels and Psalms and translation of the Old Testament into Latin from Hebrew and Greek. In simple terms, these translations collectively form the Vulgate. Furthermore, St. Jerome also wrote extensive biblical commentaries.
St. Jerome died on September 30th, 420.