This feast of St. Sylvester, Abbot, falls in the Time after Pentecost, the long season when the Church focuses on the growth and life of the baptized following Easter and Pentecost.
The celebration is given the rank “Double.” In plain terms, that means it is a proper liturgical feast of notable importance: families and parish communities observe the day with special readings, prayers, and often a sung or more solemn Mass, but it is not on the same level as the highest solemnities like Easter or Christmas.
There is no octave or vigil noted for this celebration in the provided context. This feast matters because it honors a model of monastic dedication and prayerfulness; remembering such witnesses helps families cultivate habits of prayer, hospitality, and service in daily life.
Introit (Daily Prayer)
Ps 36:30-31 The mouth of the just man tells of wisdom, and his tongue utters what is right. The law of his God is in his heart. (Alléluia, alléluia.) Ps 36:1 Be not vexed over evildoers, nor jealous of those who do wrong. Glory Be to the Father…
Commemoration St. Peter of Alexandria Refreshed by partaking of the sacred gift, we beseech You, O Lord our God, that we may enjoy the benefits of the rite we perform through the intercession of blessed Peter, Your Martyr and Bishop. Through our Lord…
Weekly Prayer
Weekly prayer content will appear here once it is scheduled.
Weekly Formation
Faith and Charity
Sins Against the Theological Virtues
Resisting or attacking the known truth
Resisting known truth means opposing a truth recognized as coming from God because accepting it would require conversion or surrender. The sin lies not in honest difficulty or inquiry, but in a willful refusal of light already understood.
Envy at another’s spiritual good
Envy of another’s spiritual good is sadness or resentment at the grace, virtue, holiness, or service of God found in someone else. It is especially contrary to charity because it grieves over the very good by which God is honored and souls are helped.
The Theological Virtues
Faith
Faith is the infused virtue by which the mind firmly assents to the truths God has revealed because He can neither deceive nor be deceived. It rests on God’s authority and gives the foundation by which the believer knows Him and orders life toward Him.
Charity
Charity is the infused virtue by which God is loved above all things for His own sake and one’s neighbor is loved for God. It gives supernatural life to the other virtues by directing the whole person toward friendship with God and eternal union with Him.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebration
Sylvester
St. Sylvester, Abbot
Founder of the Sylvestrines
Born
1177-00-00 · Osimo
Died
1267-11-26 · Fabriano
Silvestro Guzzolini was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Silvestrini. He served as a canon in Osimo but respectful rebukes of his bishop's inappropriate conduct led him to leave for a hermitage before the bishop could strip him of his position. He remained in his hermitage with a determination to found a religious congregation and based it upon the Order of Saint Benedict after having a dream of Benedict of Nursia. His order received papal approval from Pope Innocent IV which allowed his order to expand across Italian cities to a significant degree.
In 783, Queen Adosinda was held in a monastery to prevent her nephew from reclaiming the throne from Mauregatus. This event reflects the intertwining of political power and the Church's influence in early medieval Spain, highlighting the role of monasteries as centers of both spiritual and political authority.
The protection of faith and leadership often requires sacrifices and difficult decisions.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
In the teachings of Jesus on prayer, we find a profound invitation to deepen our relationship with God through faith, hope, and charity. Jesus emphasizes the importance of a converted heart, urging us to reconcile with others and pray sincerely, embodying humility and perseverance in our requests to the Father. By praying in Jesus' name and inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives, we engage in a transformative communion that strengthens our faith and aligns our desires with God's will. For Catholic families, this means fostering an environment of prayer that is heartfelt and persistent, encouraging each member to seek God earnestly, uphold one another in faith, and cultivate a spirit of love and forgiveness.
¶ 2608
From the Sermon on the Mount onwards, Jesus insists on conversion of heart: reconciliation with one's brother before presenting an offering on the altar, love of enemies, and prayer for persecutors, prayer to the Father in secret, not heaping up empty phrases, prayerful forgiveness from the depths of the heart, purity of heart, and seeking the Kingdom before all else. This filial conversion is entirely directed to the Father.
¶ 2609
Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to "seek" and to "knock," since he himself is the door and the way.
Pope Peter I of Alexandria was the 17th Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria from 302 to 311. He is revered as a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Catholic Church.
Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial boldness: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will." Such is the power of prayer and of faith that does not doubt: "all things are possible to him who believes." Jesus is as saddened by the "lack of faith" of his own neighbors and the "little faith" of his own disciples as he is struck with admiration at the great faith of the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman.
¶ 2611
The prayer of faith consists not only in saying "Lord, Lord," but in disposing the heart to do the will of the Father. Jesus calls his disciples to bring into their prayer this concern for cooperating with the divine plan.
¶ 2612
In Jesus "the Kingdom of God is at hand." He calls his hearers to conversion and faith, but also to watchfulness. In prayer the disciple keeps watch, attentive to Him Who Is and Him Who Comes, in memory of his first coming in the lowliness of the flesh, and in the hope of his second coming in glory. In communion with their Master, the disciples' prayer is a battle; only by keeping watch in prayer can one avoid falling into temptation.
¶ 2613
Three principal parables on prayer are transmitted to us by St. Luke: - the first, "the importunate friend," invites us to urgent prayer: "Knock, and it will be opened to you." To the one who prays like this, the heavenly Father will "give whatever he needs," and above all the Holy Spirit who contains all gifts. - the second, "the importunate widow," is centered on one of the qualities of prayer: it is necessary to pray always without ceasing and with the patience of faith. "and yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" - the third parable, "the Pharisee and the tax collector," concerns the humility of the heart that prays. "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" the Church continues to make this prayer its own: Kyrie eleison!
¶ 2614
When Jesus openly entrusts to his disciples the mystery of prayer to the Father, he reveals to them what their prayer and ours must be, once he has returned to the Father in his glorified humanity. What is new is to "ask in his name." Faith in the Son introduces the disciples into the knowledge of the Father, because Jesus is "the way, and the truth, and the life." Faith bears its fruit in love: it means keeping the word and the commandments of Jesus, it means abiding with him in the Father who, in him, so loves us that he abides with us. In this new covenant the certitude that our petitions will be heard is founded on the prayer of Jesus.
Baltimore track
Baltimore Catechism No. 3
Lesson 33 — From the Fourth to the Seventh Commandment
Q. 1265.Have parents and superiors any duties toward those who are under their charge?
A.It is the duty of parents and superiors to take good care of all under their charge and give them proper direction and example.
Q. 1266.If parents or superiors neglect their duty or abuse their authority in any particular, should we follow their direction and example in that particular?
A.If parents or superiors neglect their duty or abuse their authority in any particular we should not follow their direction or example in that particular, but follow the dictates of our conscience in the performance of our duty.
Q. 1267.What is the duty of employers to their servants or workmen?
A.The duty of employers to their servants or workmen is to see that they are kindly and fairly treated and provided for, according to their agreement, and that they are justly paid their wages at the proper time.
Q. 1268.What is forbidden by the fourth Commandment?
A.The fourth Commandment forbids all disobedience, contempt, and stubbornness towards our parents or lawful superiors.