Patron Saints of Librarians

St. Jerome is one of the patron saints of librarians. His feast day is tomorrow, September 30. He is known for his Latin translation of the Bible, the Vulgate. Jerome is noted with this familiar quote, “Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied.” We have another patron saint as well, Lawrence. His story is a little more interesting. It is said that Lawrence was martyred on a gridiron, while tortured he cried out “Assum est, inquit, versa et manduca.” Latin for “this side’s done, turn me over and have a bite.” Every Friday since his death (in 257), it is said that he leads a suffering soul out of Pergatory and into heaven, as a reward for his own heroic martyrdom.

Who’s your patron saint? There are many ways to find out, I used the Encyclopaedia Britannica Online (one of our wonderful databases), a book called Saints Preserve Us! Everything You Need to Know About Every Saint You’ll Ever Need, and Wikipedia online.

We’ve got a couple new saint books that are on the first floor of the Faulk Central Library, A Feast of Holy Cards Patron Saints and Ancient & Modern Saints, both by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua. Even though our patron saints are not featured in either book, they are beautiful, full color texts on saints that you should check out nonetheless.