Famous for saying, “Forgive me, Lord, for I am a Dalmatian,” Saint Jerome is the protector of Dalmatia and is honored on Saint Jerome’s Day on September 30. Interestingly, according to the oldest and most famous Encyclopedia Britannica, Jerome was born in Stridon, a village near Emona on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia, probably near modern Ljubljana in Slovenia.
However, as it has yet to be scientifically proven, Split-Dalmatia County Prefect Blaženko Boban doesn’t seem to mind, so much that he will launch an initiative to confirm just how much Saint Jerome means to Dalmatia, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.
“Saint Jerome is our saint, the protector of Dalmatians and Split-Dalmatia County. His birthplace, which has never been scientifically proven, was not the motive for choosing Saint Jerome, whom we have long worshiped in our area, as our heavenly protector. We sincerely hope that the whole world will worship and respect him as we do. May he be the protector of the whole world!”
Boban added:
“In my opinion, the wrong direction is to limit the worship of a saint to the place of birth. For example, Saint Dujam, the patron saint of the city of Split, is worshiped by the people of Split, even though he was not born in this area. Through the generations, numerous families give names to their children in honor of our saints, Dujam and Jerome. There is a wide range of names – Dujam, Duje, Jere, Jeronim, Jerko, Jeronima, Jerka … And the proof of the veneration of Saint Jerome in our area over the centuries is numerous churches dedicated to this saint.”
Therefore, in honor of the heavenly patron of Dalmatia, the Split-Dalmatia County Prefect announced the following important step in branding the favorite Dalmatian saint:
“Our exclusive motive is to worship Saint Jerome. Moreover, we plan, in agreement with the mayors, the competent ministry, the airport administration, and other stakeholders, to launch an initiative to rename our Split Resnik Airport after our heavenly patron, Sveti Jeronim Dalmatinac.”
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