The Thunderer

My friend Matt sent it to me. You can itunes it. The song is called "The Thunderer" by Dion. Yes of the Belmonts for those of you who are older. Anyway, he has recorded this very cool song about St Jerome. It is kind of a musical biography which was originally written by Phyllis McGinley in 1954. Dion added a chorus but this is the original poem. He was a messed up man, who was crotchety and not "plaster" but he was passionate for Christ. It truly takes all kinds to make a heaven:

"God’s angry man, His crotchety scholar
Was Saint Jerome, the great name-caller
Who cared not a dime for the laws of libel
And in his spare time, translated the Bible.
Quick to disparage all joys but learning
Jerome thought marriage better than burning;
But didn’t like woman’s painted cheeks;
Didn’t like Romans,didn’t like Greeks,
Hated Pagans for their Pagan ways,
Yet doted on Cicero all of his days.
A born reformer, cross and gifted,
He scolded mankind
Sterner than Swift did;
Worked to save the world from the heathen;
Fled to a cave for peace to breathe in,
Promptly wherewith for miles around
He filled the air with fury and sound.
In a mighty prose for Almighty ends,
He thrust at his foes,
Quarreled with his friends,
And served his Master,
Though with complaint.
He wasn’t a plaster sort of a saint.
But he swelled men’s minds with a Christian leaven.
It takes all kinds
To make a heaven."