Pope Saint Sylvester - "Messenger of Peace"
The Nativity by Josefa de Obidos (1630-1684); circa 1669; National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon, Portugal;
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Representing Jesus in His Triumph
From The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B
Although the place of honor in the service of the King belongs to the Martyrs, the Confessors also fought manfully for the glory of His name and the spreading of His Kingdom. They are crowned with the crown of justice, and Jesus, who gave it to them, has made it part of His own glory that they should be near His throne.
The Church would, therefore, grace this glorious Christmas Octave with the name of one of her children, who should represent at Bethlehem the whole class of her unmartyred Saints.
She chose St. Sylvester, a Confessor who governed the Church of Rome, and therefore the universal Church; a Pontiff whose reign was long and peaceful; a Servant of Jesus Christ adorned with every virtue, who was sent to edify and guide the world immediately after those fearful combats that had lasted 300 years, during which millions of Christians had gained victory by martyrdom under the leadership of 30 Popes - predecessors of Sylvester - and they, too, all Martyrs.
So it is that Sylvester is a messenger of the peace which Christ came to give to the world, of which the Angels sang on Christmas Night.
He is the friend of Constantine; he confirms the Council of Nicaea; he organizes the discipline of the Church for the new era in which she is now entering; the era of peace.
His predecessors in the See of Peter imagined Jesus in His sufferings; Sylvester represented Jesus in His triumph.
Sylvesters feast during this Octave reminds us that the Divine Child who lies wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and is the object of Herods persecution, is, notwithstanding all these humiliations, the Prince of Peace, the Father of the world to come.
Let Your mighty calmness reign in me.
Rule me, O King of Gentleness, King of Peace."
"O blessed Jesus, give me stillness of soul in You.
Let Your mighty calmness reign in me.
Rule me, O King of Gentleness, King of Peace."
Let Your mighty calmness reign in me.
Rule me, O King of Gentleness, King of Peace."
Saint John of the Cross
December 31 - Feast of Pope Saint Sylvester (285-335) - "Messenger of Peace"
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