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Pope Sylvester I
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Sylvester I and the Emperor Constantine
Papacy began January 31, 314
Papacy ended December 31, 335
Predecessor Pope Miltiades
Successor Pope Mark
Birth name Sylvester
Born ???
Sant'Angelo a Scala, Avellino [1]
Died December 31, 335???
Other popes named Sylvester
Sylvester I
Pope Sylvester I portrayed slaying a dragon and resurrecting its victims
Pope
Died 336
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Churches
Feast December 31 (Roman Catholic Church)
January 2 (Eastern Orthodox Churches)
Patronage Feroleto Antico; Sylvestrine Benedictines
Pope Sylvester I was pope from January 31, 314 to December 31, 335, succeeding Pope Miltiades.
He filled the See of Rome at a very important era in the history of the Christian Church, but very little is known of him.[3] He was the first bishop of Rome to call himself "Pope", meaning "father". He was called Pope only after his coronation on 21 October 314 by Emperor Constantine I. A week before, on 14 October 314, Emperor Constantine I (who had legalized Christianity in another edict in 312, and the two decrees two years apart are often confused) had ordered the consolidation of all churches (which until then were independent organizations that, unlike even the friendly rival denominations of today, could even issue their own scriptures) under a single national church of the Roman Empire. He crowned Sylvester both King of Christians (a title that died with him in 336) and Pontifex Maximus (Latin for "Greatest Priest," a title of Greco-Roman Pagan origin held by Emperors from Augustus to Constantine I), which is still the formal title of the Bishop of Rome, for which Pope (derived from Pappas, the Latin slang for Pater/"Father," basically equivalent to "Dad" in English) is technically treated as an abbreviation. The decree signed by Constantine I on 14 October 314 had marked the creation of the Roman Catholic Church per se and therefore the transition out of Early Christianity. The accounts of the papacy of Pope Sylvester I preserved in the Liber Pontificalis (7th or 8th century) are little else than a record of the gifts said to have been conferred on the Roman Church by Emperor Constantine I,[4] but it does say that he was the son of a Roman named Rufinus.[5]
During his pontificate were built the great churches founded at Rome by Constantine, e.g. the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, St. Peter's Basilica, and several cemeterial churches over the graves of martyrs.[5][6]
Saint Sylvester did not himself attend the First Council of Nicaea in 325, but he was represented by two legates, Vitus and Vincentius.
At an early stage copious legend supplemented his scanty history, bringing him into close relationship with the first Christian emperor. These legends were introduced especially into the "Vita beati Sylvestri", which appeared in the East and has been preserved in Greek and Syriac; and in Latin in the "Constitutum Sylvestri" ? an apocryphal account of an alleged Roman council which belongs to the Symmachian forgeries and appeared between 501 and 508. They also appear in the "Donation of Constantine".[5]
He has been stated by certain Church authorities[clarification needed] to have baptized Constantine, but this is most likely a myth.
Legacy
Sylvester's legendary relationship to Constantine was important in the Middle Ages. Pope Sylvester II, himself a close associate of Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, chose the name Sylvester in imitation of Sylvester I.
In the West, the liturgical feast of Saint Sylvester is on 31 December, the day of his burial in the Catacomb of Priscilla.[5] This is the last day in the year and, accordingly, in German-speaking countries and in some others close to them, New Year's Eve is known as Silvester. In other countries too, the day is usually referred to as Saint Sylvester's Day or the Feast of Saint Sylvester.
Fictional
The "Donation of Constantine" is a document fabricated in the second half of the eighth century, purporting to be a record by the emperor himself of his conversion, the profession of his new faith, and the privileges he conferred on Pope Sylvester I, his clergy, and their successors. According to it, Pope Sylvester was even offered the imperial crown, which, however, he refused.
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Notes
For original text see Wikipedia, St. Sylvester. |
