Житие святого отца нашего Сильвестра, папы Римского

Saint Sylvester was born in Rome. He was raised in the holy faith and studied with the presbyter Quirin, both in science and good morality. Having reached adulthood, he became a great lover of strangers and, out of love for God and his neighbors, he brought strangers into his home and, having washed their feet, treated them, giving them complete peace. When the holy man and confessor of Christ, 82 Bishop Timothy, came to Rome from Antioch to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of Christ here, Sylvester received him into his home and, seeing his holy life and listening to his teaching, became even more successful in virtues and faith. Having stayed in Sylvester's house for a year and several months, Timothy converted many Romans from idolatry to the true God, for which he was taken to prison by the city prefect 83 Tarquinius. After a long stay in chains and prison, he was beaten, but even after that he refused to sacrifice to idols, for which he was beheaded with a sword and suffered a martyr’s death. Blessed Sylvester, taking his holy relics at night, buried them with appropriate funeral chants in his house. Subsequently, one pious woman named Theonisia, at her own expense, built a church in honor of Saint Timothy, with the blessing of the Roman Bishop Melchiades, 84 who transferred the relics of the holy martyr to this church. The city prefect Tarquinius, calling upon Sylvester, demanded from him the property left after Timothy, and forced him to sacrifice to idols, threatening him with terrible torment for disobedience. Sylvester, foreseeing the unexpectedly quick death of the prefect, told him in the words of the Gospel: - “This night your soul will be taken from you” (Luke 12:20), but what you threaten to do to me will not come true. Angry at these words, the prefect ordered the saint to be imprisoned in iron shackles and thrown into prison; I sat down to dinner myself. During lunch, a fish bone lodged in his throat, which could not be removed by any means, even with the help of doctors; Having suffered from lunch until midnight, Tarquin died, according to the saint’s prediction, and the next morning his relatives carried his body, crying, to the burial place. The believers joyfully brought Sylvester out of prison, and from that time on he became revered not only by believers, but also by non-believers, for many of the servants from the prefect’s court, seeing how Sylvester’s prediction was fulfilled, were afraid and fell at his feet, fearing that some misfortune would happen to them, as with their master; others, convinced by that miracle, directly turned to Christ. Soon after, Saint Sylvester was accepted into the clergy of the Roman Church and received the rank of presbyter from Pope Marcellinus 85. After the death of Pope Melchiades, he was unanimously elected pope 86 and ascended to the episcopal throne. He was placed in front of everyone, like a brightly burning candle on a candlestick, and shepherded the flock of Christ, like a new apostle, directing them to the pasture of salvation with his words and deeds. Noticing that some members of the clergy had forgotten about the duties of their ministry and were busy with secular everyday affairs, he again forced them to return to the service of the Church and at the same time issued a decree that none of the initiates should engage in commercial affairs. He also established new names for the days of the week for Roman Christians. The Romans at that time called the first day, which we call a week, the day of the sun, and the remaining days were called by them the days of the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Zeus, Venus, Saturn 87. Disdaining the unholy names of pagan gods, Sylvester commanded to call the first day the Day of the Lord 88 because on this day the glorious Resurrection of Our Lord from the dead took place, while the other days are the same as Roman Christians now call them 89 . He also made a decree that Christians should fast only on one Saturday, on which Christ died and descended into hell in order to destroy it and remove our forefather Adam from there along with other forefathers; on other Saturdays he forbade fasting 90. At that time in Rome, in a deep cave, under the Tarpeian rock 91, a huge snake nested, to which the pagans offered sacrifices every month, as to a god; when this snake came out of the cave, it poisoned the air with its poisonous breath, and many of the living near that place died, most often children. Saint Sylvester, wanting to deliver people from the destructive serpent and turn them from atheism 92 to the true God, called the Christians living in the city and commanded them to fast and pray for three days, and he himself fasted and prayed the most. One night, the Holy Apostle Peter appeared to him in a vision and commanded him to take with him several priests and deacons and go without fear to the cave where the serpent lived. At the entrance to the cave, Sylvester had to perform a Divine service, then enter the cave and, calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, imprison the snake there so that it would never leave there again. The saint, at the command of the Apostle, went to the cave and, after performing the Divine service, entered there and, finding some doors in it, closed them saying: – May these doors not open until the day of the Second Coming of Christ! Thus, having imprisoned a serpent in a cave, he deprived him of exit forever. The pagans thought that Sylvester and his clergy would be devoured by the serpent. But when they saw him come out without any harm to him, they were surprised; Seeing that the serpent had never come out since then, many came to know the power of the true God and joined the believers. At that time, the kingdom of Rome was ruled by Constantine the Great, who had not yet accepted holy baptism, although he believed with all his heart in Christ. He issued a decree that no one should dare to blaspheme Christ and persecute Christians, ordered the locking of idolatrous temples and an end to pagan sacrifices, and released Christians in exile and released those imprisoned. At the same time, the king was attentive to the petitioners and fulfilled every fair request; From his estate he gave generous alms to the poor. In Rome and outside of it, throughout the empire, Constantine ordered the erection of Christian churches. The Church of Christ grew day by day and multiplied in the number of its children, while idolatry diminished. This brought joy to the believers, of whom there were already so many in Rome that they wanted to expel from the city all those who did not want to become Christians. The King, however, forbade this to the people, saying: – Our God does not want anyone to turn to Him, being forced to do so; and whoever, according to his disposition and with good intention, approaches Him, He is pleased with him and graciously accepts him. So, whoever wants, let him believe with complete freedom, and let one not persecute another. From this royal word, the people rejoiced even more, seeing that the king was inviting everyone to live according to their faith, as they wish. Believers rejoiced not only in Rome, but throughout the empire, for everywhere the faithful, tormented for Christ, were released from bonds and prisons, confessors of Christ returned from captivity, Christians who had been hiding in the deserts out of fear of the tormentors returned home without fear, and persecution ceased everywhere. But the primordial enemy of Christianity - the devil, unable to bear such a spectacle of church peace and the spreading light of piety, inspired the Jews with the idea of ​​​​turning to the praiseworthy Helen, the mother of the king, who then lived in her homeland, Bithynia 93. “The king, your son, did well,” they said to Helen, “that he abandoned wickedness and overthrew the idolatrous churches; but it is not good that he believed in Jesus and honors him as the Son of God and the true God, while He was a Jew and a magician who seduced people with various ghosts that He caused with His magical power; After suffering, Pilate hanged him on the cross as a criminal. So, you, queen, must lead the king out of such a delusion, so that God does not become angry with him and so that no misfortune happens to him. Having heard this, Elena notified her son, Konstantin, about this in writing. Having read the letter, he also answered his mother through a letter, so that the Jews who told her this would come with her to Rome and so that here they would enter into a contest about faith with the Christian bishops; Whichever side wins, that means faith is more correct. When the queen announced this command of the king to the Jews, a multitude of learned Jews immediately gathered, who had studied their law, knew the teachings of the prophets, and Greek philosophy, and were ready to compete, and all of them went to Rome with Queen Helena. Among them was one wise rabbi 94 named Zamri, who not only perfectly studied Hellenic philosophy and Jewish books, but at the same time was also a great magician. The Jews pinned all their hope on him, thinking that if he did not defeat the Christians in a verbal dispute, he would amaze them with his magical signs. When the day of the dispute between Jews and Christians arrived, the king sat on the throne, surrounded by his entire council, 95 and Saint Sylvester appeared before him with a small retinue accompanying him, among whom were several bishops who had arrived in Rome at that time. Then the Jews entered, numbering one hundred and twenty people, and immediately a conversation began, which Queen Elena listened to, sitting behind the curtain, and the king and the synclit discussed what was said on both sides. At first, the Jews demanded that the twelve wisest Christians come to debate with them on the Christian side, but Saint Sylvester opposed them, saying: – We place our hope not in many people, but in God, who strengthens everyone, calling upon Whose help we say: Awake, O God, judge Your cause! 96 “These are words from our scripture,” the Jews objected, “for our prophet wrote them; you should speak in the words of your books, not ours! Sylvester responded to this: - True, at first you were told the scriptures of the Old Testament and the sermons of the prophets, but at the same time they are also ours, because they say a lot about Christ our Lord. So, our dispute must be based on your books, for while your books have become ours, ours are alien to you and you would rather believe your books than ours. Therefore, based on your books, we will show you the truth that you oppose; such a victory will be more glorious and obvious when we, taking weapons from the hands of the enemy, defeat him with these weapons! “These words of the bishop,” the king noted, “are fair, and he cannot be contradicted in this; for if from your books, Jews and Christians bring you evidence of their Christ God, then, of course, they will have the upper hand and you will be amazed by your own books. The entire synclite expressed praise for this royal decision. Then the Jews began to tell the Christians the following: – Our Almighty God says in the book of Deuteronomy: You see now, you see that it is I, I, and there is no God besides Me (Deut. 32:39). How do you call Jesus God, Who was a simple man and Whom our fathers crucified? How do you introduce three gods: the Father, in whom we believe, and Jesus, calling him the Son of God, and the third God you call the Spirit? By believing this, are you not going against the Creator of all things, God, who teaches that there are no other gods besides Him? To this the inspired Sylvester replied: – If you, without any prejudice or irritation, delve into the Scriptures with your mind, then make sure that we do not introduce anything new when we confess the Son of God and the Holy Spirit, for these are not our words, but the Revelation of God, contained in the books of the prophets of God. First of all, the prophet and king David, foretelling the rebellion of your fathers against our Savior, said: Why do the nations rebel, and the nations plot in vain? Do they take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed? ( Ps. 2:1-2 ) So here, calling him Christ and Lord, he indicates not one person, but two. And that Christ is the Son of God, the same prophet proclaims this in these words: “The Lord said to Me: You are My Son; Today (today) I have given birth to You” (Ps. 2:7). Another is the one who gave birth and another is the one who is born! – By saying that God gave birth, you make the impassive person passionate. How can the Son, born at a certain time and having a temporary existence, be God? For the word “today” indicates a certain time and does not allow us to recognize the Son as the eternal God. – We do not say that in relation to God there was a passionate birth; we confess that the Divinity is impassive and that the birth of the Son was like the birth of a word from a thought. We do not introduce the doctrine of the temporary birth of the Son from the Father, but we believe in His eternal birth, not subject to the condition of time, for we know that the Creator of time is the Son together with the Father and the Spirit, and the Creator of time Himself is not under time. The expression: “I have now given birth to You” does not mean a higher and pre-eternal Divine birth, but a lower one, which took place at a certain time and took place in the flesh accepted for the sake of our salvation 97 . The Prophet knew that Christ is the eternal God, which is why he says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever” (Ps. 44:7). Anticipating the incarnation that would take place in the future, he said: “You are My Son! Today I have given birth to You." So, with these words: “You are My Son,” he points not to His temporary, but to His pre-eternal birth; and by the words: “Today I have begotten Thee” denotes His birth, which took place at a certain time. Having said: “Today I have given birth to You,” the prophet showed that the Father attributes that birth of the Son, which was to take place at a certain specific time, to Himself, because it should be according to His will. But even the expression: “Today I have given birth to You” indicates the eternity of God’s birth, in which there is no action of the past and future, but always only one present. The same David testifies about the Holy Spirit with these words: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were created, and by the spirit of His mouth all their host” (Ps. 32:6). So, here he mentions Three Persons: God the Father and the Son, Whom he calls the Word for the sake of his highest and impassive birth, and the Holy Spirit. And in another place he says: “Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 50:13). And again: “Where can I go from Your Spirit” (Ps. 139:7)? With these words, the prophet clearly shows that there is a Holy Spirit who fills everything with Himself. And he also says: “If you send Your spirit, they will be created” (Ps. 103:30). Didn't David say all this? But Moses, the Seer of God, in the book of Genesis cites the following words of God: “Let us make man in Our image and after Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). To whom then did God speak, if there was no other Person with Him? No one will say that God said this to the Heavenly Powers, for those very words: “in Our image” do not give any opportunity to think so; God and the Angels do not have the same image and likeness, just as their being and power are not the same as God, but there is another being of God and another of the Angels. So, we must assume that there was Someone Else in the conversation with whom God said those words: “in our image.” This Other had to be one who would have the same essence with the speaking God, completely identical with God in image and likeness. Who could it be if not the Son, Who is consubstantial with the Father, equal with Him in glory and power, being the unchangeable image of God? What new things do we introduce when we believe and affirm that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit exist? And if this seems incredible and unfounded to the pagans, then this is not surprising, for they do not know the Holy Scriptures. But why don’t you believe this, who study the words of the holy prophets, not one of whom prophesied about us? After this, Saint Sylvester wanted to speak in more detail about the Most Holy Trinity, but the king, interrupting his speech, said to the Jews: – Are the words that the bishop offered us from Scripture read like this, Jews, in your books? - So, in that dispute about the Holy Trinity, it seems to me that you are defeated. “No, good king,” the Jews objected, “Sylvester will never defeat us if we express what we have against him; and we could say a lot, but we see that it is in vain for us to argue with such zeal about the Trinity. We did not come to talk about whether there is one God or three, but about the fact that the Nazarene is not God. For even if we agree that there are three Gods, it still does not follow that we must believe that Jesus is God. He was not God, but a man, born of people and lived with sinful people, ate and drank with tax collectors and, as it is written about him in the Gospel, he was tempted by the devil, then betrayed by a disciple, taken, ridiculed, beaten, given bile and milk to drink, deprived of clothes divided among the soldiers by lot, nailed to the cross, died and buried. How can someone like that be called God? This, king, is what we are now talking about against Christians, that they are introducing this new God. So, if they can say anything about Him and if they have any evidence, then let them tell us! After this Saint Sylvester began to speak: – We Jews do not recognize three Gods, as you think, but we confess one God, Whom we honor and Whom we worship, as existing in Three Persons or Hypostases. You should judge the validity of those words that I cited from your books in response to the first question you proposed, and enter into a debate about them, but since you now refuse to talk about this, let’s talk about our Lord Jesus Christ, which is what you yourself want. Let's start with the following. God, who brought everything into existence, when He created man and saw him inclined towards all evil, did not despise the perishing work of His hands, but deigned that His Son, being inseparably with Him (for God is everywhere), came down to us on earth. So, He came down and, being born of a virgin, became under the law, “to redeem those under the law” (Gal. 4:4-5). And the fact that He was to be born of a Virgin was predicted by the Divine Prophet Isaiah in these words: “Behold, a Virgin will be with child and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). This name, as you know, indicates the coming of God to people and translated into Greek means: God is with us. So, the prophet predicted long ago that God would be born of a Virgin. – In our Jewish text, the book of the prophet Isaiah does not contain the expression “virgin”, but mentions a “youth” - a young woman; you distorted the scripture by writing in your books the word “maiden” instead of “youth.” Holy Bishop Sylvester answered: – If in your books it is written not “maiden”, but “youth”, then isn’t it all the same thing as “youth” and “maiden”? When the prophet Isaiah on behalf of God said to Ahaz: ask yourself a sign from the Lord your God in depth or in height 98, then Ahaz said: I will not ask and I will not tempt the Lord 99. Then the prophet said: “For this reason the Lord Himself will give you a sign.” Which one? “Behold the virgin shall conceive in her womb.” If you say that the prophet spoke not about a virgin, but about a young woman, and that the young woman is not a virgin, 100 then the sign promised by the prophet cannot be called a sign, for if a married young woman gives birth, then there is no miracle here, but a common thing. To give birth without entering into communication with your husband is truly a miracle; This is an extraordinary matter, exceeding the “nature of the statutes.” So, that Young Lady about whom you have written was a Virgin, because the Lord promised to give a sign through Her, and precisely such a sign that She, without knowing a husband, would supernaturally give birth to a Son. And we did not distort Scripture by writing the Virgin instead of the young woman, but rather accurately expressed his thought, so that one could more clearly see in this a wonderful Divine sign, surpassing human nature. Which of the people was born without male seed, except Adam, created from the earth, and Eve, created from his rib? And where did a woman give birth without entering into communication with her husband? So, there would not have been any sign that God promised to give - namely, if that young woman had conceived in the womb not supernaturally, but by nature united with her husband - but it would have been a normal thing for human nature. And since the pure Virgin conceived without a husband from the Holy Spirit, this should be considered a new and glorious sign of God, and God is now with us, according to the promise, born beyond nature from a pure Virgin.” “But since the one born of Mary is called not Emmanuel, but Jesus,” the Jews objected, “does that mean he is not the one whom God promised through the prophet, but another?” Saint Sylvester answered: – In the Holy Scriptures, sometimes instead of a name, the activity of one or another person is indicated, as for example: “call his name: Mager-shelal-hash-baz” (Is. 8:3). If, in fact, there never was one who was called by such a name, then nevertheless, since Christ had to defeat his enemies and take prey from them, instead of His name the prophet indicated those His deeds that He had to do. In what sense does the same prophet speak about Jerusalem: then they will say about you: the city of righteousness! (Isa. 1:26) Although no one has ever called that city the city of righteousness, and everyone calls it by its usual name - Jerusalem, but since at that time Jerusalem was corrected before God, therefore, from the event that took place in it, it was given the name in prophecy - the city of righteousness 101. And there may also be places in Scripture where some event is indicated instead of a name. And that God had to be with people, listen to Baruch prophesying about this: “This is our God, and no one else can compare with Him. He found all the ways of wisdom and gave it to His servant Jacob and His beloved Israel. After that He appeared on earth and spoke among people” 102. And Zechariah predicted that He was to be tempted by the devil: “And he showed me Jesus the great priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said to Satan: The Lord rebuke you, Satan; the Lord rebuke you, devil.” 103 Its capture was predicted in the book of Solomon: “Those who thought wrongly spoke to themselves. Let us make punishment for the righteous, for he is a burden to us and opposes our works” (Wis. 2:1, 12). And the fact that He was about to be betrayed by His disciple was predicted by the psalmist: “Who ate my bread lifted up his heel against me” (Ps. 40:10). And about false witnesses he said: “For false witnesses have risen up against me” (Ps. 27:12). About his crucifixion he said: “They pierced my hands and my feet. It would be possible to count all my bones" 104. The same prophet also predicted about the division of Christ’s garments: “They divide my garments among themselves and cast lots for my clothing” (Ps. 21:19). And about drinking this with bile, he said: “And they gave me bile for food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” 105. And further he foreshadowed his burial: “You laid me in the pit of the grave” (Ps. 87:7). And Jacob, your forefather, seeing this in his spirit, said: “He bowed down, lay down like a lion and like a lioness” 106. Citing these and many other testimonies of the holy prophets about Christ the Lord, Saint Sylvester defeated the Jews, for, since the Holy Spirit Himself spoke through his mouth, he clearly proved that Christ is the true God, born of the Virgin. – What need did God have to be born in human flesh? Couldn't He have saved the human race otherwise? “Nothing is impossible for God, but the devil had to be defeated by the one who was previously defeated by him.” He defeated man - a man born not by the usual order of nature, not from a man's seed, but created from the earth and, moreover, from the earth pure and immaculate, like a virgin - for she was not yet cursed by God and had not yet been desecrated either by the blood of a murdered brother or by the killing of animals, so that she had not yet been infected with smoldering bodies, not desecrated by any unclean and indecent deeds. From such soil, flesh was created for our ancestor, which was revived by the Divine breath. But if the all-evil devil defeated such a person, then it was necessary that he himself be defeated by the same person. And such is our Lord Jesus Christ, born not according to custom and the law of nature, but from a pure and holy virgin’s womb, just as Adam came from an earth uncontaminated by sin. And just as Adam was revived by the breath of the Divine, so this One was incarnated under the action of the Holy Spirit, who descended on the Most Holy Virgin, and became perfect God and perfect man - in everything except sin, having two natures - Divine and human, but in one person; and therefore human nature suffered for us, while the Divinity remained impassive. At the same time, the saint gave the following example: – When a tree, illuminated by the rays of the sun, is cut with an axe, then the sun’s ray is not cut with the cut tree. So the humanity of Christ, united with the Divinity, even if it underwent suffering, then this suffering did not affect the Divinity. The king and the entire synclite approved these proofs presented by Saint Sylvester and recognized him as the winner in the dispute, because the Jews could no longer say anything against Sylvester. Then the sorcerer Zamri said to the king: “Although Sylvester overcomes us with his words, being eloquent and skillful in conversation, yet because of this we will not deviate from our fatherly law and will not follow the man whom our fathers, by common agreement, put to death. And that there is only one God whom we worship, and there is no other, then I am ready to prove this not in word, as Sylvester does, but in deed itself; Just order, king, to bring here a large and fierce bull, and immediately your kingdom and all those present will be convinced that there is no God but our God. One of those present said: “There is such a bull in my herd, not far from the city gates.” No one can put a yoke on it, no one can even stroke it with their hand or touch it. The king immediately ordered that bull to be brought. Meanwhile, continuing the conversation, Saint Sylvester asked Zamri: – Why do you need a bull and when they bring it, what will you do with it? “I want to prove the power of our God, because if I whisper in a bull’s ear, he will immediately die.” For a mortal being cannot endure the name of God, and the one who hears this name cannot remain alive. And our fathers, when the bulls were brought for sacrifice, spoke that name into the ears of the bulls, and they immediately fell with a loud roar and expired, being thus ready for the sacrifice. 107 “But if this name, according to you, kills everyone who hears it, how did you recognize it?” – You cannot know this secret, because you are our enemy. When Zamri gave this answer, the king said to him: “If you do not want to reveal this secret to the bishop, then reveal it to us, for truly this matter is dubious, unless you assume that that name can be recognized by reading how it is written somewhere.” “Neither leather, nor a charter, nor a tree, nor a stone, nor anything else can contain the mark of this name, for immediately the writer himself and what is written on perish. “Tell me,” the king remarked, “how did you recognize him?” For it is impossible to recognize it if it is not conveyed in words, if it is not named in writing? “I, king,” answered Zamri, “fasted for seven days, then I poured clean running water into a new silver laver and began to pray; Then, with an invisible finger, words were written on the water that made the name of God known to me. The wise Sylvester said: - If you really learned that name in the way you say, then still, when you say it in someone’s ear, don’t you hear that name yourself in the same way as the one to whom you say it hears it? How do you yourself not die when you hear it? “I already said that you should not know this secret, since you are our enemy.” And what is the need for words when it is best to prove in practice what you say? Choose one of two: either you, calling on the name of your Nazarene, kill the bull, so that we too can believe in that Nazarene, or I will speak the name of our God in the bull’s ear and kill the bull, so that you will then have to believe in our God. All those present, having heard this, approved of Zamri's decision; The Christians began to hesitate, although the holy bishop calmed them down. “You should first fulfill your promise, for you promised to kill the bull with one word.” “If you order me to do this, king, then look at the power of my God!” Having said this, he approached the bull, which strong men could hardly lead, hooking strong ropes on its horns. Approaching the bull, Zamri whispered something in his ear and the bull immediately, emitting a strong roar, shook and fell dead 108. All who saw this were greatly amazed, and the Jews cried out in a loud voice, clapping their hands: Then Sylvester asked the king to order everyone to be silent, and when silence reigned, the bishop said to the Jews: – Is it not written in your books that Almighty God said: “I kill and I give life, I smite and I heal” (Deut. 32:39)? - If Zamri killed the bull in the name of God, then let him resurrect it in the same name. For God is a God who does good and not evil, and, in His essence, it is characteristic of Him to do good, but to do evil is contrary to His essence; His will, always good, always wants to do good. It sometimes happens that He will punish someone with some kind of evil for the benefit of others, but this happens not because He wanted this, but because He is prompted to this by our atrocities. So, if Zamri easily did what God does not favor by His very Being, then all the more easily can he do what is natural to God. Let him revive the bull in the same name of God with which he killed it, and I will convert to his faith. - Tsar! - Zamri objected, - Sylvester again wants to have a verbal argument, but what is the need for words when an obvious deed has been accomplished? Turning then to Sylvester, he continued: “If you, bishop, have some kind of power, then do a miracle in the name of your Jesus!” “If you want,” answered Saint Sylvester, “I will show you the power of my Christ in that through invoking His holy name I will resurrect the bull that you killed.” “You are in vain, Sylvester, to boast,” Zamri objected, “it cannot be that the bull came to life!” Then the king said to Zamri: “So, if the bishop does do what you say is impossible, will you believe in his God?” “I swear to you, king, that if I see the bull alive, I will confess that Christ is God and accept Sylvester’s faith.” All the Jews said the same thing. Then the bishop, kneeling down, prayed earnestly and with tears to God, and then, standing up and raising his hands to heaven, he said in the hearing of everyone: - Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and God, You, Who can kill and revive, strike and heal, deign, through the calling of Your most holy and life-giving name, to revive that bull, which Zimri killed through the calling of demons, for the time has come for Your miracles to be accomplished for the salvation of many; Hear me, Thy servant, at this hour, so that Thy most holy name may be glorified! After the prayer, he approached the bull and said loudly: – If the Jesus Christ I preach, born of the Virgin Mary, is the true God, then rise and stand on your feet and, leaving your former ferocity, be meek! As soon as the saint said this, the bull immediately came to life, stood up and stood quietly and calmly. The saint ordered the ropes to be removed from his horns and said: – Go back to where you came from and do no harm to anyone, but be quiet; Thus Jesus Christ our God commands you! And the bull left quietly, although before he had been extremely ferocious. Seeing this, everyone exclaimed as if with one voice: – Great is the God whom Sylvester preaches! The Jews, together with Zamri, ran up to the saint and hugged his honest legs, asking him to pray to God for them and accept them into the Christian faith. Likewise, blessed Helena, having lifted the curtain behind which she had been sitting, listening to the debate and looking at what had happened, came out from there and fell at the feet of the saint, confessing Christ as the true God. All the Jews who were here, led by Zamri, and countless people turned to the true God and joined the Church of Christ. After this triumph of the holy Christian faith, Saint Sylvester spent the rest of his days in constant labor and concern for the Church of Christ, after which, having kindly managed the verbal flock entrusted to him and having reached a ripe old age 109, he departed to the Lord. He remained on the episcopal throne for twenty-one years and eleven months. Now, in endless life, he, together with the Angels, glorifies the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one God in the Trinity, to him and from us be glory forever, amen. In the priesthood, the priest appeared to you, the king and God-bearer, having become a fasting interlocutor: from there, now rejoicing in the face of the Angel, Father, rejoicing in the heavenly ones, Sylvester, the glorious shepherd, save with love the perfection of your memory. In the ancient Church, confessors were those Christians who, during persecution, openly declared themselves Christians and endured torture, but remained alive. Such persons enjoyed special respect in Christian society, as they were given the right to reunite with the Church of the Fallen. Prefect - mayor. St. Melchiades – Pope from 311–314. St. Marcellinus – Pope from 296–304. In ancient times, the people participated in the election of a bishop. All these were gods who were revered by the Romans, and who were considered the patrons of this or that day. This is the name of Sunday already in the Apocalypse of John the Theologian In the Roman Church, for a long time, the days of the week have been called feria, i.e., liturgical days, which, according to word production from Latin, indicates the duty of a Christian to serve God daily. Monday is the first feria, Tuesday is the second feria, etc. Saturday retained its Jewish name among Roman Christians, and Sunday is called by its ancient name - the Lord's Day (Dominica). The same thing about Saturday is said in the rules of St. Apostles (64th rule). Balsamon, in his interpretation of this rule, notes that we do not fast on Saturday, so as not to appear to be Judaizing, but if fasting is prohibited on Saturday, this only means that on Saturday one should not maintain complete abstinence from food until the evening, as is required on Holy Saturday, but does not indicate that on all Saturdays, except for Holy Saturday, one must eat fast food. According to the Church Charter, on Saturday, right after the liturgy, you can eat wine, oil and the food that is prescribed according to church rules, i.e., in the meat-eater - lenten, in fasting - lenten. The Tarpeian Rock is the southern, steep rock of the Capitoline Hill. It was called Tarpeian because with it the Sabines threw down Tarpeia, the daughter of the commandant of the Capitol, when they took this fortress. Its height is 150 feet above sea level. The pagans had many deities, but they did not know the true God, why St. ap. Paul calls them ungodly (Eph. 2:12). Northwestern province of Asia Minor. Rabbi is an honorary title in Palestine given to outstanding teachers and interpreters of Old Testament law. Synclite - military and civil government of the most important royal advisers and dignitaries. A slightly modified expression (Ps. 34:23). Almost all the Holy Fathers attribute this expression to the temporary birth of the Son of God in human flesh. In depth, i.e. on the ground or from underground; in height, i.e. from the sky. Ahaz did not believe the prophet, but did not dare to tell him directly about this and therefore hypocritically cited in his justification the words of the Law of Moses, which forbade the Jews to tempt the Lord by demanding miracles (Ex. 17). A young woman, that is, a young woman in general - maybe married, maybe still a maiden, the Jews interpreted. This interpretation is incorrect. The word used here in the Hebrew Bible (alma) can mean, according to word production, only a very young girl, still growing up. Moreover, throughout the Old Testament this word is never used in application to a married woman. That is, because the Savior of the world was born there, Whom St. ap. Paul calls him the king of righteousness (Heb. 7:2). (Bar. 3:36–38), that is, he always acts with the highest wisdom and knows the best paths leading to the goal. (Zechariah 3:1–2). The Jewish High Priest Jesus, whom the devil slandered before the Lord, is recognized by many Church Fathers as a prototype of Jesus Christ, who also suffered various attacks from the devil and his servants. (Ps. 21:17–18), i.e. in the body of Christ, when it hung on the cross, the bones protruded so much that they could be counted. (Ps. 68:22). Bile – bitterness; otset – vinegar. These substances, according to the interpretation of Blessed Theodoret, were added to the drink to make it bitter and unpleasant. (Gen. 49:9). James here actually spoke about his son Judas, but everything said about Judas, according to the explanation of the Fathers of the Church, should also apply in the best sense to the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom Judas was a prototype. This was a false invention of Zamri. Bulls, as stated in the Law (Lev. 1ff.), were slaughtered by the priests. Saint Sylvester attributes this matter to the help of demons, who, according to the teachings of the ancient fathers and teachers of the Church, in those days used all means to create obstacles to the strengthening of the Christian religion. Saint Sylvester, Pope, died in 335. His relics were buried on the Salori road, in the catacombs of St. Priscilla, one mile from Rome. You might be interested in: