St. Sylvester, A - November 26th

"O Most merciful God, Who didst vouchsafe to call the holy Abbot Sylvester from pondering the vanity of worldly things before an open grave, into the wilderness to make his life illustrious by his merits: we humbly beseech Thee, that like him we may despise earthly things, and enjoy fellowship with Thee for evermore. Through our Lord." - Roman Catholic Daily Missal, 1962

Born of a noble family at Osimo in Picenum, St. Sylvester was remarkable even as a boy for his scholarship and his good character. Having duly studied the sacred sciences and been made a canon, he benefited the people by his example and his preaching. When, at the funeral of a certain dead nobleman, he saw the decaying corpse of the handsome man who had been his neighbor, he said, “I am what this man was; what he is, I shall be”; and soon, from a desire for greater perfection, he withdrew into solitude and there devoted himself to vigils, prayers and fasting. That he might hide more completely from men’s eyes, he changed his location several times. Finally he went to Monte Fano; a place deserted at that time, where he built a church in honor of St. Benedict and laid the foundation of the Congregation of the Sylvestrines. There his monks saw in him a wonderful model of holiness; he was famous for the spirit of prophecy, for power over demons and for other gifts, which in his deep humility he always kept hidden. He fell asleep in the Lord in the year of salvation 1267. - Father Carota, Traditional Catholic Priest, 2015

In Christ Crucified and the Most Victorious Heart of Jesus.