Скачать или смотреть St. Pope Sylvester I, pray for us! 🙏🏻 (recreation of meeting with Emporer Constantine the Great).

St. Sylvester I & Constantine -Meet regarding the Council of Nicaea:

St. Sylvester I reigned during one of the most pivotal moments in Church history—the transition from persecution to imperial recognition under Constantine the Great. Though advanced in age and unable to travel, Pope Sylvester I played a decisive role in the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of the Catholic Church.

Convened in A.D. 325 by Emperor Constantine to confront the Arian heresy—which denied the full divinity of Christ—the Council gathered over 300 bishops from across Christendom. While Pope Sylvester I did not attend personally, he sent papal legates who presided in his name, underscoring Rome’s primacy and apostolic authority.

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Council solemnly proclaimed that Christ is “consubstantial with the Father”, true God from true God. This definitive teaching was enshrined in the Nicene Creed, which the Church still professes today. After the Council, Pope Sylvester I formally ratified its decrees, giving them binding authority throughout the universal Church.

St. Sylvester’s papacy marks the moment when the Church emerged from the catacombs into public witness—yet without compromising doctrine to imperial power. Constantine protected the Church, but Sylvester safeguarded the Faith.



St. Pope SYLVESTER I was born in Rome toward the close of the third century. He was a young priest when the persecution of the Christians broke out under the tyrant Diocletian. Idols were erected at the corners of the streets, in the market-places, and over the public fountains, so that it was scarcely possible for a Christian to go abroad without being put to the test of offering sacrifice, with the alternative of apostasy or death. During this fiery trial, Sylvester strengthened the confessors and martyrs, God preserving his life from many dangers, in 312 a new era set in. Constantine, having triumphed under the “standard of the Cross,” declared himself the protector of the Christians, and built them splendid churches. At this juncture, Sylvester was elected to the chair of Peter, and was thus the first of the Roman Pontiffs to rule the flock of Christ in security and peace. He profited by these blessings to renew the discipline of the Church, and in two great Councils confirmed her sacred truths. In the Council of Arles he condemned the schism of the Donatists; and in that of Nicæa, the first General Council of the Church, he dealt Arianism its death-blow by declaring that Jesus Christ is the true and very God. St. Pope Sylvester I died a.d. 335.

Shea, J. G. (1887). excerpt from the Pictorial Lives of the Saints (pp. 511–512). Benziger Brothers.

St. Sylvester I stands as the quiet yet steadfast guardian of orthodoxy—proof that while emperors may convene councils, it is the Church, guided by Christ, that defines the truth. 🙏🏻✝️

Reflection.—Never forget to thank God daily for having made you a member of His undying Church, and grow daily in your attachment, devotion, and loyalty to the Vicar of Christ.

Shea, J. G. (1887). Excerpt from The Pictorial Lives of the Saints (p. 512). Benziger Brothers.