Pope St. Sylvester I

Pope St. Sylvester I (reigned 314–335) was a Roman who guided the Church through one of the great turning points in her history: his long pontificate followed close upon the Edict of Milan of 313, by which the emperor Constantine granted peace and toleration to Christians after the age of persecutions. Under Sylvester the Church emerged into public life, and Rome saw the rise of the first great basilicas — the Lateran, given by Constantine as the cathedral of Rome, and the original St. Peter's over the Apostle's tomb.

His reign also encompassed the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325, which condemned Arianism and defined the divinity of Christ; the aged pope did not attend in person but was represented by legates. Later ages surrounded him with many legends — such as his supposed baptism of Constantine and the fictitious "Donation of Constantine" — which historians recognize as unhistorical, but his place as the pope of the Church's dawning freedom is secure. He died in 335, one of the first non-martyr saints to be publicly honored, and his feast falls on 31 December.