Gospel in Art: Optional commemoration of Saint Silvester I, Pope

Emperor Constantine giving Rome to Pope Silvester I, 1375, Fresco, Chapel of St Sylvester, Basilica of Four Crowned Saints, Rome © Alamy

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 31 December 2025
John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him, and cried out, 'This was he of whom I said, "He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me." '

For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only begotten God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Reflection on the Fresco

And so we come to the last day of 2025. Today the Church celebrates the optional commemoration of Pope Saint Silvester I. He stood at one of the great turning points of Christian history. Silvester became Bishop of Rome in 314, only a year after the Edict of Milan, when Christian persecutions stopped and Christian faith could be celebrated publicly under Emperor Constantine. Although Silvester himself remained largely behind the scenes (such as delegating representatives rather than personally attending the Council of Nicaea in 325), his pontificate coincided with the moment when the Church moved from the catacombs into the light. During his time as pope, Rome saw the construction of some of its earliest great Christian basilicas, including St John Lateran and the first St Peter's, laying architectural and spiritual foundations that still shape Christianity today.

Saint Silvester became associated with New Year's Eve not because of fireworks or calendars, but simply because he died on 31 December 335. As the civil year closes, the Church places before us a pope whose life marked an ending and a beginning: the end of persecution and the dawn of a new Christian era. New Year's Eve always marks the same thing: the end of a year and the beginning of another. Over time, "Silvesterabend", Silvester's evening, became the traditional name for New Year's Eve in many parts of Europe, especially in German-speaking countries.

Our fresco was painted circa 1275 in the Chapel of St Silvester in the Basilica of the Four Crowned Saints in Rome ( Santi Quattro Coronati). In this mural painting, the Emperor Constantine is shown solemnly offering the city of Rome to Pope Silvester, a powerful visual expression of the moment when imperial power bends before the authority of the Church. Though symbolic rather than strictly historical, the image captures how under Silvester's pontificate, Christianity emerged from persecution into public life, and the city once defined by empire began to be re-imagined as a Christian capital. Painted in the language of medieval fresco, the scene proclaims not political conquest but spiritual transformation: a world being handed over, not to domination, but to faith.

As we stand at the threshold of a new year, may we learn again to entrust our cities, our lives, and our days to God. Wishing you a blessed and grace-filled New Year to you all.

Fr Patrick

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/john-1-1-18-2025-2/