I design, carve, and cast the medals myself. The medals are made of lead-free pewter and have designs on both sides. The medal comes on either an 18-inch or 24-inch chain with a lobster clasp. Each necklace comes in a felt jewelry pouch with a history card that states: "Born in what is now Croatia, Jerome (ca. 345-420) became a monk around the age of 25. After a dream in which he was told he was not Christian enough, he moved to the Syrian desert to become a hermit. Jerome went to the desert like others, with the intention of abandoning attachment to certain things so that he might embrace All, but he could not detach himself from learning: while others took nothing but rags with them to the desert, Jerome brought his library. For this, and other reasons, he is the patron of booklovers, librarians, and scholars. In the desert, Jerome taught himself Hebrew (he already knew Greek) so that he could be closer to the original languages of the Bible. After four or five years in the desert, he returned to Rome, where Pope Damasus asked him to take on an immense task: to translate the entire Bible into Latin. Jerome spent the rest of his life on the project, a work (the Vulgate) of almost unimaginable breadth. (For this he is the patron of translators.) Finally, Jerome is often depicted, as here, with a lion. The story: one day a lion limped into the monastery where Jerome was at work. The other monks fled. Jerome, lion-like himself, stayed calm. The lion handed Jerome its paw. Jerome withdrew a thorn. For the rest of its life, the lion protected the scholar. This story is the reason that statues of lions often appear before libraries: those are Jerome’s lions. This medal of Jerome and his lion was handmade at In the Co. Of Saints in Covington, Louisiana."
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