From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   December 31st - St. Sylvester (Silvester) I, Pope (RM)   
      
   Born in Rome, Italy; died there in 335; feast day in the East is January 2.   
   The Liber Pontificalis says that Silvester was the son of a Roman named   
   Rufinus. Sylvester rejoiced at his good fortune in succeeding Saint   
   Miltiades, who died on January 10, 314. The year before, Sylvester was a   
   simple priest in Rome, attached to the parish of Equitius and with some sort   
   of relationship to Pope Saint Miltiades, as he had previously been in the   
   entourage of Pope Saint Marcellinus.   
      
   On January 31, 314, Sylvester, Roman citizen, took the chair of Saint Peter,   
   a few days after his election and after Emperor Constantine granted   
   toleration to the Christian Church by enacting the Edict of Milan in 313. It   
   was an easy succession. Sylvester did act as counselor and spiritual   
   director of Constantine.   
      
   In consequence an extraordinary fable arose about his pontificate. It is   
   said that Constantine had been told by his doctor that the best way to cure   
   leprosy was to bathe in the blood of children. A vision in which SS Peter   
   and Paul appeared to the emperor charging him instead to seek baptism at the   
   hands of Sylvester changed Constantine's mind. Sylvester baptized him; the   
   emperor was healed; and in gratitude granted the islands of Sicily,   
   Sardinia, and Corsica (of course this is not true; Constantine postponed his   
   baptism until his deathbed). These lands became known as the Donation of   
   Constantine and formed the basis of the future Papal States.   
      
   Nevertheless, even while Miltiades was still alive, Constantine donated   
   large tracts of land in and around Rome for the building of basilicas.   
   Christians had been building small, everyday places of worship in Rome since   
   the 3rd century but Constantine envisioned one large enough to hold the   
   entire clergy and a major portion of the population of the city, as well as   
   basilicas built over the tombs of the most illustrious martyrs. From the   
   Imperial Treasury, Constantine gave Miltiades the Lateran Palace as his   
   residence.   
      
   That Sylvester was not the founder of the pontifical monarchy has been   
   suspected since the 8th century and acknowledged since the 15th. Many Romans   
   looked with suspicion on the impious legalization of Christianity; it marked   
   the end of a glorious tradition. (Remember Christians had been persecuted   
   because of their impiety, i.e., refusal to offer sacrifices to the gods who   
   protected Rome and its empire.)   
      
   Sylvester's own virtues must have been considerable, if only because he is   
   one of the first Christians who did not die a martyr and yet was honored as   
   a saint (there were a few others). He sent legates to the Council of Arles   
   to deal with the Donatist dispute. The bishops there commended Sylvester for   
   not coming in person but instead remaining in the place "where the Apostles   
   daily sit in judgement."   
      
   Arianism arose during Sylvester's pontificate. Arius, priest of Alexandria,   
   Egypt, began to teach doubtful propositions concerning the mystery of the   
   Trinity. Constantine became aware of it and sent Bishop Hosius of Cordova to   
   investigate. It was Constantine, encouraged by Hosius and the Eastern   
   episcopate, who took the initiative to convene the first ecumenical council   
   in Nicaea, Bithynia, in 325, to consider the issue. The council was attended   
   by about 220 bishops, nearly all of whom were orientals. Constantine   
   presided and invited Sylvester to share the honor but Sylvester remained in   
   Rome and sent legates to Nicaea-Vincent and Victor. The presiding Western   
   bishop, Hosius of Cordova, also represented the holy father. The council   
   condemned the heresy of Arius. There is no record that Sylvester formally   
   confirmed the signature of his legates to the acts of the council.   
      
   Should Sylvester be berated for not upholding the primacy of the pope   
   testified to earlier by Saint Irenaeus and Saint Cyprian of Carthage? No,   
   the new conditions were mystifying. The Church was moving into a new period.   
   The role of the pope in a persecuted Church was quite different from that of   
   the emperor's Church. As long as the emperor arranged things for the better,   
   perhaps Sylvester should remain uninvolved and implicitly delegate his   
   authority.   
      
   Unfortunately, Constantine eventually made a mess of theology and botched up   
   most of the good work he had done. Sylvester, with the bad habits of   
   tolerance he had acquired, reacted too timidly-or not at all. The influence   
   of the beneficial Hosius gave way to that of the Arian Eusebius of Nicomedia   
   and Constantine threw the Church into confusion. It was Eusebius who   
   baptized Constantine on his deathbed.   
      
   Sylvester also set himself the task of creating churches worthy of the faith   
   in the city of Rome. He either restored or founded the churches of Saint   
   Peter on Vatican Hill, Saint Lawrence-Outside- the-Walls, and Santa Croce.   
   His ancient episcopal chair and his mitre-the oldest one still to   
   survive-can today be seen in the church of San Martino ai Monti, which he   
   built over a house near the Baths of Diocletian used for worship during the   
   years of persecution. Saint Sylvester also built a church at the cemetery of   
   Priscilla on the Salerian Way.   
      
   It is probable that it was to Sylvester, rather than to Miltiades, that   
   Constantine gave the Lateran Palace. Sylvester made the basilica of Saint   
   John Lateran his cathedral. There you can still see the famous mosaic   
   commissioned by Pope Leo III (reigned 795- 816). In the middle stands Jesus   
   surrounded by the 12 Apostles, and at each side two parallel scenes: Jesus   
   gives the keys to Saint Sylvester with one hand and, with the other, the   
   flag to Constantine; on the other side Saint Peter hands the pallium to Leo   
   III and the flag to Charlemagne. What is the significance?   
      
   Constantine's father, Constantius Chlorus, from 303 neglected to apply the   
   anti-Christian edicts that were still in effect. Humanitarianism and   
   political realism were at the root of this tolerance: In spite of three   
   centuries of legal and bloody persecution, Christianity triumphed everywhere   
   and even succeeded in erecting a house of its own in Rome. Thus, it was   
   easier and wiser to tolerate it, perhaps even give it legal standing, and   
   make use of its strength and unity. That is the situation inherited by   
   Constantine, who was racked by metaphysical, and perhaps mystical, concerns.   
   He seriously wondered if God existed and, if He did, who might He be. This   
   personal problem for Constantine was capital for Sylvester.   
      
   Constantine started with a religion that had 36 gods and goddesses and tried   
   to put some order into this world. But once direction had been given, it   
   seemed insufficient to him and he was tempted to abandon Olympus for a more   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)