MEMORIAL OF SAINT SYLVESTER I, POPE AND CONFESSOR – FEAST DAY ~ DECEMBER 31ST: Today is the seventh day in the octave of Christmas and we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Sylvester I, Pope and Confessor.
SAINT SYLVESTER I, POPE AND CONFESSOR: Pope St. Sylvester called Silvester (c. 250-335 A.D.) was born in Rome, son of a Roman named Rufinus, he was raised as a Christian under the care of pious parents, and the religious instruction of a devout priest. St. Sylvester was later ordained by Pope St. Marcellinus to Holy Orders in Rome during the peace that preceded the outbreak of Christian persecutions of Emperor Diocletia and passed through those days of terror, witnessing the abdication of Diocletian and Maximian, and saw the triumph of Constantine in 312. During this time he became well-known as a good and holy priest, so much so that when the Pope died, St. Sylvester was appointed the new Bishop of Rome two years later in January 314. St. Sylvester was chosen by God to govern His holy Church during the first years of Her temporal prosperity and triumph over Her persecuting enemies. St. Sylvester occupied the chair of St. Peter as Pope from January 31, 314 A.D. until his death in December 31, 335 A.D. Little is known about Pope St. Sylvester other than the many important events in Church history that occurred under his pontificate. He served as the bishop of Rome at a crucial era in the history of Christianity, during the reign of Constantine I and the emergence of the Arian controversy, that involved matters pertaining to Christology and the Trinity.
During St. Sylvester’s pontificate, Christianity became the favored religion of the Roman emperor, after having endured centuries of intermittent persecution. Many important events in Church history occurred under his pontificate. He ruled the Church during the reign of Constantine when the Arian heresy and the Donatist schism had provoked great discord. He was the reigning pope during the Council of Nicea, he convoked the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea which condemned the Arian heresy. He did not himself attend the First Council of Nicaea in 325, but he was represented by two legates. He established the Nicene Creed; he was the Holy Father who converted and baptized the Roman Emperor Constantine. During his Pontificate, Rome’s greatest churches were built under his direction by Constantine, including the Basilica and baptistery of St. John Lateran, the Basilica of the Sessorian palace (Santa Croce), the Church of St. Peter in the Vatican, and several cemeterial churches over the graves of martyrs. The Church saw the beginnings of temporal prosperity and the establishment of the Christian Roman Empire and he gave the Church a new discipline for the new era of peace. He might be called the first “peace Pope” after centuries of bloody persecution. He also established the Roman school of singing. On the Via Salaria he built a cemeterial church over the Catacomb of St. Priscilla, and it was in this church that he was buried when he died on December 31, 335.A.D. St. Sylvester is celebrated on December 31st, the day of his burial in the Catacomb of Priscilla. He’s Patron Saint of Feroleto Antico; Sylvestrine; Benedictines; Nonantola. His feast day is December 31st.
PRAYER: Lord, come to the aid of Your people who are supported by the intercession of St. Sylvester Your Pope. May they pass the present life under Your guidance so that they may have the happiness of attaining life in heaven. Amen🙏