From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

December 31st - Pope St. Sylvester

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. Sylvester's feast during this Octave reminds us that the
Divine Child who lies wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and is the object
of Herod's persecution, is, notwithstanding all these humiliations,
the Prince of Peace, the Father of the world to come.

From The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B.


Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corr=C3=AAa de Oliveira: (died 1995)

In this beautiful commentary by D. Gu=C3=A9ranger. The example of St.
Sylvester is quite opportune for the sad days in which we live. He was
the Pope who lived in the time of Constantine and, therefore, presided
over the transformation through which the Church passed. She was in
the darkness of night and came to live in the full light of the sun;
she was persecuted as a slave and became the Queen; she left the
catacombs and began to dwell in the palaces. Under St. Sylvester's
inspiration and command, the great work began of building the Church
as an institution, as a sovereign religious society, the work which
some call the =E2=80=9Cconstantinization=E2=80=9D of the Church.

The progressivists created the term =E2=80=9CConstantinian Church,=E2=80=9D=
and from
the adjective =E2=80=9Cconstantinian=E2=80=9D other words came, such as =E2=80=9Cconstantinization,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9Cde-constantinization,=E2=80=
=9D and even the verb =E2=80=9Cto
constantinize.=E2=80=9D What do the progressivists mean by these neologisms=
?

=C2 =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 First, Emperor Constantine made a decree giv=
ing liberty to the
Catholic Church; then he issued another decree forbidding the false
cults to carry on openly.

=C2 =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 Second, wanting to repair for the unjust per=
secution the
Church had undergone, Constantine gave his mother-in-law's palace t=
o
the Church. This was the palace of the Laterani, and it became the
first basilica of the Pope. It is the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

=C2 =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 Third, he began to bestow special honors on =
the Bishops and
treat them as official representatives of the Church.

=C2 =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 Fourth, the acts of Catholic worship became =
more solemn
because Constantine's presence at such ceremonies lent them the
prestige of the Empire.

=C2 =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 Fifth, he considered the Church to be united=
to the State.

=C2 =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 And, sixth, when he changed the capital of t=
he Roman Empire to
Byzantium, soon called Constantinople, the Pope remained in Rome, and
became the virtual sovereign of the city. The Pope still did not have
official temporal power, but practically speaking he became the
temporal lord of the city. These privileges with which Constantine
honored the Catholic Church, and the natural development she
experienced thenceforth, signify what the progressivists mean when
they say the =E2=80=9CConstantinian Church.=E2=80=9D

Therefore, the process of =E2=80=9Cconstantinization=E2=80=9D of the Church=
is two-fold:

In the political sphere, it pronounced the Catholic Church as the only
true Church. As such, the Church deserves to be protected, supported,
and respected by the State. Therefore, the Church is an entity more
noble than the State and, at depth, given the fact that she is divine,
more important than the State. From this principle came the medieval
metaphor that the Church is like the sun, and the State like the moon
that turns around the sun and depends on it.

In the religious sphere, it manifested that the most splendid and
magnificent earthly things and most beautiful works of art were made
first and foremost for the worship of God. So, man should make and
reserve the most magnificent incenses, the purest gold and silver, the
most splendid fabrics and clothing for the service of God.

This is the concept behind the =E2=80=9CConstantinian Church.=E2=80=9D Thus=
, the term
circulated by the progressivists is in a certain sense objective, and
we can understand it as standing for the temporal character of the
Church, with her correlated richness and solemnity in worship, her
sacral buildings, the pomp of her dignitaries, etc. So, on one hand,
we have the progressivists attacking the =E2=80=9CConstantinian Church,=E2= =80=9D and
on the other, we have us defending it.

When St. Mary Magdalene used a splendid perfume to wash the feet of
Our Lord and dry them with her hair, the first seed of the splendor of
the future worship of Jesus Christ was sown. When Judas revolted
against such an act, saying that the perfume was too expensive and
should be sold and the money given to the poor, he also was planting a
seed, the seed of the progressivist position, which hates the solemn
and rich worship. Notwithstanding, Our Lord argued against Judas by
saying that we will always have the poor with us, and He defended the
position of Mary Magdalene....

See More at:
http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j054sdSylvester12-31.htm

i
Saint Quote:
=E2=80=9CI have often repented of having spoken.
I have never repented of silence.=E2=80=9D
i have often repented
=C2 - Bl Henry Suso

Bible Quote:
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that feareth the Lord,
=C2 she shall be praised. [Proverbs 31:30] DRB


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Prayer Against Envy

O my God, Thou so lovest the world that Thou gaveth Thy only begotten
Son so that all who believe in Thee might not perish, but may have
eternal life. Thou maketh the sun rise upon the good and the bad, and
Thou raineth upon the just and the unjust. Yet I am filled with
jealousy while others prosper. I want everything to come to me, and I
am saddened by my neighbor's least good fortune! O what inhuman
malice! O infernal poison! Forgive, o most loving Father what up to
this point has been my sin. Gentle is Thy mercy. From the depths of
that mercy, grant that henceforth I may be robed in kindness as a
chosen one of God. May I also, above all, strive to have charity,
which is the bond of perfection. (Col. 3:14)

Ant. Remember not, Lord, my offenses, nor the offenses of my fathers,
nor takest Thou vengeance upon them.

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