Founder of the Sylvestrines, b. of the noble family of the Gozzolini
at Osimo, 1177; d. 26 Nov., 1267. He was sent to study jurisprudence at
Bologna and Padua, but, feeling within himself a call to the
ecclesiastical state, abandoned the study of law for that of theology
and Holy Scripture, giving long hours daily to prayer. On his return
home we are told that his father, angered at his change of purpose,
refused to speak to him for ten years. Sylvester now accepted a canonry
at Osimo and devoted himself to pastoral work with such zeal as to
arouse the hostility of his bishop, whom he had respectfully rebuked for
the scandals caused by the prelate's irregular life. The saint was
threatened with the loss of his canonry, but decided to leave the world
on seeing the decaying corpse of one who had formerly been noted for
great beauty. In 1227 he retired to a desert place about thirty miles
from Osimo and lived there in the utmost poverty until he was recognized
by the owner of the land, a certain nobleman named Conrad, who offered
him a better site for his hermitage. From this spot he was driven by
damp and next established himself at Grotta Fucile, where he eventually
built a monastery of his order. In this place his penances were most
severe, for he lived on raw herbs and water and slept on the bare
ground. Disciples flocked to him seeking his direction, and it became
necessary to choose a rule. According to the legend the various founders
appeared to him in a vision, each begging him to adopt his rule. St.
Sylvester chose for his followers that of St. Benedict and built his
first monastery on Monte Fano, where, like another St. Benedict, he had
first to destroy the remains of a pagan temple. In 1247 he obtained from
Innocent IV, at Lyons, a bull confirming his order, and before his
death founded a number of monasteries. An account of his miracles and of
the growth of his cultus will be found in Bolzonetti. His body was
disinterred and placed in a shrine (1275-85) and is still honoured in
the church of Monte Fano. Clement IV first recognized the title of
blessed popularly bestowed on Sylvester, who was inscribed as a saint in
the Roman Martyrology by order of Clement VIII (1598). His office and
Mass were extended to the Universal Church by Leo XIII. His feast is
kept on 26 November.
BOLZONETTI, Il Monte Fano e un Grande Anacoreta (Rome, 1906); FABRINUS, De Vita. . .b. Sylvestri (Venice, 1599).
Raymund Webster (Catholic Encyclopedia)
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