By DEB PIROCH
“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty….and in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages….Begotten, not made, consubstantial of the Father, by whom all things were made. . . . And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. . . .” — Nicene Creed.
The early period of the Church was a difficult one, stained with the blood of many martyrs. Not until the conversion of the Emperor Constantine would Christianity suddenly become the favored and dominant religion, throughout the Roman Empire.
When Diocletian was ruler, he divided his empire into two parts and went into seclusion, from which he never returned. One part went to the father of Constantine, who died in battle. Constantine succeeded him. The night before facing off with his enemy for control of the empire, Constantine had a vision or a dream. He saw either a cross or the Chi Rho (a symbol for Christ, comprised of the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ), and with it the words:
In hoc signo vinces (In this sign thou shalt conquer)!
The next day Maxentius, his enemy, fell into the river with his armor and drowned. Thus became Constantine the Roman Emperor. It was from this victory in AD 312, which he credited to “the Christian god,” the only God, that we date his conversion.
Constantine has not been declared a saint but his friend, the thirty-third Pope, St. Sylvester (AD 285-335), has. Born of Roman parents, Rufinus and Justa, he is sometimes erroneously credited with having healed Constantine of leprosy and then baptizing him, but this is part of a medieval golden legend. The story also included Sylvester conquering a dragon and resurrecting an ox from the dead.
Because he dates to only the third century, not much information is available to us on Sylvester, especially compared with the historical standing Constantine. He did rule as Pope over two decades, placing him in a category of the longest serving Popes.
At this time of the year, in many parts of the non-English speaking world, one hears the name of “Sylvester” used synonymously as the word for “New Year’s Eve.” This is because his feast falls on December 31. This is the case in German-speaking countries, for instance. What a wonderful tribute to the saint, which continues nearly 1,700 years after his death.
Sylvester’s mother was devout and his parents had him tutored growing up by a priest by the name of Cyrinus. In their home they sheltered Timothy of Antioch, who was martyred, after which Sylvester buried the remains. The judge and executioner next imprisoned Sylvester, who likewise refused sacrifice to pagan gods. Sylvester predicted Tarquinus — for that was his name — would soon perish. Indeed, at midnight he choked to death on a fish bone. His captors therefore set him free.
A truly good man, Sylvester was ordained by Pope St. Marcellinus, and when the previous Pope died, the people wanted him as the next Bishop of Rome. Even in his new role, he remembered the poor and needy, the widows and orphans, and fasted multiple days a week. He was the reigning Pope during the first and second ecumenical councils ever held by the Church, the better known being the Council of Nicea.
Called actually by Constantine in AD 325, due to his age Pope Sylvester agreed to send two representatives and later agreed to the terms discussed. Many of those who came were church representatives from the east. Distinctive about Nicea were that out of the council came the famed Nicaean Creed, which we still say to this day, and that the Arian heresy was widely condemned. Also said to have attended the council was St. Nicholas. Angered by Arius and his dissent — which claimed Christ was unequal to God the Father, and neither consubstantial or co-eternal, making Jesus essentially a prophet — St. Nicholas hit Arius!
One story claimed he was then jailed by Constantine. That then overnight Mary and Joseph came to him, Nicholas asked God’s pardon, and in return they released his chains, dressed him in bishop’s clothes and handed him a tome, that he might read overnight. In the morning, his captors found the bishop reading Scripture and released him! Though this latter aspect is not likely true, we are left with the strong validation of the Creed, the Trinity as one God in three divine persons.
Famed basilicas and churches were also established during the time of St. Sylvester, as he was involved with the founding of St. John Lateran, St. Peter’s, and the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. Eventually when he passed away, he was buried in a church he’d built over the Priscilla Catacombs in the Via Salaria.
Sylvester’s time was remarkable in many ways. After the demise of Diocletian and conversion of Constantine, this was the first time the Church had enjoyed a period of peace. He had been blessed to live through dangerous times, yet not been martyred. And as Constantine distanced himself from Rome and moved east, Sylvester anchored the Church in Rome, where its center remains today. Today his pontificate is emblematic of how God protects Truth over schism and heresy, at this time in both at the Councils of Arles and Nicea.
How do we stay true to God in our own lives? Butler’s Lives gives a lovely digest of how we might best assemble our thoughts at the year’s end, and make a Catholic start to the year ahead:
“We ought therefore so to live that the days, hours, and moments of the year may form a crown made up of good works, which we may offer to God. Our forgetfulness of Him who is our last end, in almost all that we do, calls for a sacrifice of compunction in the close of the year: but this cannot be perfect or acceptable to God, unless we sincerely devote our whole hearts and lives to His holy love for the time to come. Let us therefore examine into the sources of former omissions, failures, and transgressions, and take effectual measures for our amendment, and for the perfect regulation of all our affections and actions for the future, or that part of our life which may remain” — Butler’s Lives of the Saints.
Those who pray the Te Deum on December 31st in thanksgiving for the past year gain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions.
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