Saint Jerome School Celebrates its Patron Saint

The New Crest is Unveiled

On September 30th, 2011 Saint Jerome School (SJS) celebrated its patron saint with a school Mass hosted by students of the 5th grade.

 

In the context of such an occasion, Fr. Jorge Randle, IVE, associate vicar at St. Jerome Parish in the Bronx, NY, introduced a new crest for the parish school.To the amazement of the students, a huge poster featuring the crest was displayed in the church while Fr. Randle commented on each of its elements.

St. Jerome School's Crest

He explained that the lion that rests at the top of the crest has a twofold meaning. On one had it represents the lion from whose paw St. Jerome once drew a thorn, while on the other, the lion represents Jerome himself, who fearlessly defended the faith with a lion's strength. The stars represent faith and reason, and the Bible St. Jerome's monumental achievement of translating the Old Testament from Hebrew and preparing a revised text, based on the Greek, of the Latin New Testament.

The New Crest is Explained

The words “Verbum Caro Factum Est” at the center of the Bible symbolize one of the greatest mysteries of our faith, the Incarnation of our Lord. The fleur-de-lis represents Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Saint Jerome’s work “De Perpetua Virginitate B. Mariae” in which he defended her perpetual virginity. Moreover, Fr. Randle explained that the color red represents the color most often associated with the Church's College of Cardinals, a title given Saint Jerome, as well as a symbol of the blood that all Christians should be ready to shed out of fidelity to Christ and the Church. The color blue is associated with Mary. The gold frame represents the virtues that all students should acquire.

The Mass at St. Jerome's

As a gift to all the students, they enjoyed a special treat during lunch, courtesy of the IVE priests: ice cream cones for everyone! Later, they enjoyed an extended recess outdoors on the newest addition of the school: a recently inaugurated basketball court.

We give thanks to Fr. Rolando Santoiani, IVE who designed the crest for SJS, and for all the blessings received by the St. Jerome school family.