Saint Sylvester, Pope and Confessor, A.D. 335
by VP
Posted on Tuesday December 31, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"ST. SYLVESTER was bishop of Rome: pray for his present successor, that inheriting his virtues, he may with a like fidelity take care of his flock.
It was in his time that the Church, after three hundred years of persecution, was restored to peace, by the command of the Emperor Constantine the Great; who destroyed the temples of the idols, ordered churches to be everywhere built to the living God. Pray for the peace of the Church, and the propagation of its faith among heathens and unbelievers; that idolatry being destroyed, the name of God may be sanctified in all nations of the earth.
It was under him that Arius was condemned by the Fathers assembled at the General Council of Nice, for denying the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. These holy Fathers declared what had been received from the apostles, that the Son was consubstantial with the Father, and God equal with him. Pray against the like errors of this unbelieving age, in which, under the Christian name, are promoted all the blasphemies of Arius and Socinus. Pray that God would make their abettors sensible of their errors, and preserve all Christians from their poison."
If Christ be God, honour and obedience are due to his law and where these are not, there is not that faith which God requires. Yet this is the faith in which too many Christians rest. The desire of satisfying their own passions excludes self-denial; courting the world leaves no place for humility, and the love of ease prevents them from stooping to the labours of the gospel. These are the errors which call upon all to pray that God would revive the primitive spirit ; whereby all may labour to manifest in themselves the life of Christ.
Pray for yourself, that as with this day we end the year, so you may put an end to all your former method, in which you have regarded the world and yourselves more than God. Ask pardon for all your past ingratitude, and beg now grace, that with the year may end all its disorders. The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
" Supreme Pastor of the Church of Christ, you lend to the beauty of the holy Octave of Christmas the lustre of your glorious merits. There you worthily represent the countless choir of Confessors, for you steered the barque of Peter after the three hundred years’ tempest, leading her with watchful love in her first hours of calm. The pontifical Diadem reflecting Heaven in its gems sits on your venerable brow. The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven are in your hands. You opened it for the admission of the Gentiles who embraced the faith of Christ. You shut it against the Arians in that august Council of Nicaea where you presided by your Legates, and to which you gave authority, by confirming it with your apostolic approbation. The furious storms will again soon rage against the Church, and the angry billows of heresy will beat against her. You will then be in the bosom of God but together with Saint Peter you will keep guard over the purity of the Faith of Rome. You will support Julius. You will rescue Liberius and Athanasius, aided by your prayers, will find a shelter within the walls of Rome. Under your peaceful reign Christian Rome receives the reward of her long-endured persecution. She is acknowledged as Queen of Christendom, and her empire becomes the sole empire that is universal. The son of your pastoral zeal, Constantine, leaves the city of Romulus which has now become the City of Peter. The Imperial majesty would be eclipsed by that greater one of the Vicar of Christ. He makes Byzantium his capital, leaving Rome to be that of the Pontiff-King. The temples of the false gods become ruins,and make room for the Christian Basilicas in which are enshrined the Relics of the Apostles and Martyrs. In a word, the Church has triumphed over the Prince of this world, and the victory is typified by the destruction of that Dragon which infected the air by its poisonous breath.
Honored with all these wonderful prerogatives, saintly Vicar of Christ, forget not the Christian people which was once your flock. It asks you, on this your Feast, to make it known and love the mystery of the birth of Jesus. By the sublime Symbol which embodies the Faith of Nicaea and which you confirmed and promulgated throughout the whole Church, you have taught us to acknowledge this sweet Infant as God of God, Light of Light, begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father. You bid us to come and adore this little child as He by whom all things were made. Holy Confessor of Christ,I vouchsafe to present us to Him, as the Martyrs have done, whose Feasts have filled up the days since His Nativity. Pray to Him for us that our desires for true virtue may be fulfilled, that we may persevere in his Holy love, that we may conquer the world and our passions, and at length, that we may obtain the crown of justice which is to be the reward of our Confessing Him before men, and is the only object of our ambition.
Pontiff of Peace, from the abode of rest where you now dwell, look down on the Church of God, surrounded as she is by implacable enemies, and beseech Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to hasten her triumph. Cast your eye on that Rome, which is so dear to you and which is so faithful in her love of you. Protect and direct her Pontiff. May she triumph over the wiles of political intrigue, the violence of tyranny, the craft of heretics, the perfidy of schismatics, the apathy of worldlings, and the cowardice of her own children. May she be honored, loved and obeyed. May the sublime dignity of the Priesthood be recognized. May the spiritual power enjoy freedom of action. May the civil authority work hand and hand with the Church. May the Kingdom of God now come and be received throughout the whole world, and may there be but one Fold and one Shepherd.
Still watch, O holy Sylvester, over the sacred treasure of the Faith, which you defended when on Earth, against every danger. May its light put out the vapors of man’s proud dreams, those false and daring doctrines which mislead countless souls. May every mortal bow down his understanding to the obedience of faith in the divine Mysteries, without which all human wisdom is but folly. May Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Mary, be King, by His Church, over the minds and hearts of all men. Pray for Byzantium that was once called the New Rome, but which so soon became the capital of heresies and the scene of everything that could degrade a Christian country. Pray that the days of her deep humiliation may be shortened; that she may again see herself united with Rome; that she may honor Christ and his Vicar; that she may obey, and by her obedience be saved. May the people, misled and debased by her influence and rule, recover their dignity as men, which can only subsist when men have faith, or be regained by a return to the faith.
And lastly, O Conqueror of Satan, keep this hellish monster in the prison to which you drove him. Confound his pride and his schemes. Let him no longer seduce the people of God’s Earth, but may all the children of the Church, according to the word of Peter, your predecessor, resist him by the strength of their faith."
