St. Sylvester
Feast Day: December 31
For almost three hundred years, being a Christian in Rome could cost you your life.
Then everything changed.
The persecutions ended.
Churches could be built in the open.
Christians could worship without hiding.
And the man leading the Church in Rome during that dramatic change was Pope Sylvester.
He did not end the persecutions himself.
But he guided the Church through one of the biggest turning points in its history.
And the Church still remembers him on the last day of every year.
St. Sylvester, pray for us.
Who Was St. Sylvester?
Sylvester was a priest of Rome who became pope in A.D. 314.
He led the Church for more than twenty years, until his death in A.D. 335.
Not many details of his early life survive.
What we know is the world he lived in.
And it was a world being turned upside down.
From Persecution to Freedom
Just a few years before Sylvester became pope, the Roman Empire carried out its worst persecution of Christians, under the Emperor Diocletian.
Churches were destroyed.
Scriptures were burned.
Many Christians were tortured and killed.
Then, in A.D. 313, the Emperor Constantine and his co-emperor issued the Edict of Milan, giving Christians freedom to practice their faith.
Within a year, Sylvester was the bishop of Rome.
He inherited a Church that had survived the arena and now had to learn how to live in the light.
The Great Basilicas
During Sylvester’s time as pope, great churches began to rise in Rome.
The Lateran Basilica, the cathedral of the pope, was built on land given by Constantine.
The first St. Peter’s Basilica was begun over the tomb of St. Peter on the Vatican Hill.
Christians who had once prayed in homes and catacombs now had places of worship that everyone could see.
The Council of Nicaea
In A.D. 325, the first great council of the whole Church met at Nicaea.
A priest named Arius had been teaching that Jesus was not truly God.
The bishops gathered to defend the faith handed down from the Apostles.
Sylvester was elderly and did not travel to the council, but he sent representatives in his name.
The council gave the Church the Nicene Creed, which Catholics still pray at Sunday Mass:
“We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible.”
— Nicene Creed
(More in Did Constantine Create the Catholic Church?)
Legends and History
Over the centuries, many stories grew up around Sylvester.
Some said he baptized Constantine.
In fact, Constantine was baptized near the end of his life, in A.D. 337, after Sylvester had died.
A famous document called the “Donation of Constantine,” which claimed the emperor gave the pope power over the West, was later shown to be a forgery written centuries afterward.
The real Sylvester did not need legends.
His faithfulness in a time of enormous change was enough.
Why December 31?
Sylvester died on December 31, A.D. 335, and was buried in the Catacomb of Priscilla.
He was one of the first saints honored who was not a martyr.
In many countries, New Year’s Eve is still called “Silvester” in his honor.
So while the world counts down to midnight, the Church remembers a pope who helped the faith step out of the shadows.
What St. Sylvester Teaches Us
Sylvester teaches us that faithfulness matters in good times too.
Persecution tests our courage.
Freedom tests our faithfulness.
When Christianity became safe, it would have been easy to grow comfortable.
Sylvester’s task was to keep the Church rooted in the faith of the Apostles while the world around it changed.
That is still the task today.
When Is the Feast of St. Sylvester?
The Catholic Church celebrates the optional memorial of St. Sylvester I, Pope, on December 31.
He is remembered as the pope who guided the Church after the end of the Roman persecutions and during the time of the Council of Nicaea.
Prayer Inspired by St. Sylvester
Lord Jesus Christ,
as one year ends and another begins,
help us remain faithful to You in every season.
Like St. Sylvester, may we guard the faith handed down from the Apostles,
in times of trial and in times of peace.
Thank You for every grace of this past year,
and lead us into the new year with trust in You.
St. Sylvester, pray for us. Amen.
