Saints

Today the Church celebrates the oldest feast dedicated to Our Lady - Theotokos, Mother of God. This title was given to Mary at the Council of Ephesus in 431AD The Second Vatican Council stated: "Clearly from earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honoured under the title of Mother of God." At an early stage, the Church in Rome celebrated on January 1st, a feast that it called the anniversary (Natal... Read More

Pope. Sylvester became Pope in 314 and served for 21 years until his death in 335, during the reign of the Emperor Constantine. According to one legend, Constantine persecuted Pope Sylvester to begin with. But then the emperor contracted leprosy. He was going to have a pagan ritual of some kind, but one night he had a dream in which St Peter and St Paul told him to go to the Pope for help. Const... Read More

Bishop and monastic founder. St Basil the Great was born at Caesarea of Cappadocia in 330. He was one of ten children of St Basil the Elder and St Emmelia. Several of his brothers and sisters are also honoured among the saints. He attended school in Caesarea, as well as Constantinople and Athens, where he met St Gregory Nazianzen in 352. A little later, he opened a school of oratory in Caesarea a... Read More