Our Father among the Saints Sylvester, Pope of Rome (+335)

Saint Sylvester, Pope of Rome, was born in Rome into the family of the devout Christians Rufinus and Justa. His father soon died, and he was left in the care of his widowed mother. The teacher Cyrinus educated the boy and brought him up as a true Christian. Sylvester took on the labour of serving his neighbour. He cared especially for receiving strangers. He would wash them and give them rest in his own house. During the persecution the saint fearlessly sheltered the confessor Timothy, who stayed with him for more than a year and by his preaching converted many to the Christian faith. After Timothy’s martyrdom Sylvester secretly carried away his body and buried it with honour. When Tarquinius, the head of the city, heard of this, the saint was seized and brought before the tribunal, and they threatened him with torture and death, but the courageous confessor of Christ did not waver. Then he was thrown into a dungeon. Soon Tarquinius died and the saint was released. He fearlessly proclaimed the word of God to the pagans and converted many to the true law. At thirty Sylvester was ordained deacon, and then Pope Marcellinus (296–304) ordained him priest as well; after the repose of Pope Miltiades (311–314) the saint became Bishop of Rome. He laboured diligently for the purity of his flock’s life, and watched that the priests should not be weighed down with vain earthly cares and should carry out their duties honourably.

The hierarch Sylvester was famous for his knowledge of Holy Scripture and his unshakeable faithfulness to the Orthodox faith. In the time of the Emperor Constantine the Great, when the persecution of the Christians had ceased, the Jews held a debate about the true faith, which was attended by the Emperor Constantine, Equal to the Apostles, his mother the Empress Helen, and many nobles. On the Christian side Pope Sylvester took part in the debate, and on the Jewish side many learned rabbis, headed by the famous magus and sorcerer Zambri. Relying on the books of the Old Testament, the holy pope convincingly showed that all the prophets had foreseen the birth of Jesus Christ from the holy Virgin, His voluntary Crucifixion, Passion and death for the redemption of fallen Adam, and His radiant Resurrection. Saint Sylvester was acknowledged the victor in this contest of words. Then Zambri tried to bewitch the hierarch with sorcery, but he drove off the evil that pressed upon him by calling on the holy name of Jesus Christ. The magus, rendered powerless, believed in the power of Christ together with other Jews and asked for baptism.

The holy Pope Sylvester governed the Church of Rome for more than twenty years and enjoyed the deep respect of the Christians. He reposed in peace in 335.