St Silvester

31^st December is the saint’s day for one of the earliest Christians to die a natural death and yet be accorded the status of saint. The man in question, Silvester, was doubly fortunate because he became pope in the year 314, shortly after Emperor Constantine had declared that Christians were no longer to be persecuted within the Roman Empire. Many of Pope Silvester’s predecessors had been martyred but he knew that he was safe.

The legend of St Silvester concerns Constantine’s baptism. The story runs that Constantine contracted leprosy and his doctor stated that the best cure was to bathe in the blood of children. Fortunately for the health of the local youngsters, the emperor also had a vision in which Saints Peter and Paul told him that a better plan was to get himself baptized by Silvester. This he did and his leprosy was healed, Silvester’s reward being the extremely generous gift of the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.

It’s a good story but unfortunately it doesn’t fit the facts, because Constantine was not baptized until he was dying, which was after Silvester’s own death in 335.

Leaving impossible legends aside, Silvester’s contribution to the early Church was still considerable. Although he did not attend the Council of Nicaea in 325 which established the future direction of the Church and its relationship to the secular authority of Rome, he did send delegates and he approved the decisions that were made.

He also founded a number of important places of worship in Rome, most notably St John Lateran (the official cathedral of the city of Rome) and the original St Peter’s Basilica.

St Silvester’s bishop’s chair and mitre have survived and are preserved in the church of San Martino ai Monti in Rome.

© John Welford