[Rank]
S. Silvesteri Abbatis Confessoris;;Duplex;;3;;vide C5

[Rule]
vide C5;
9 lectiones

[Oratio]
O God of Mercies, Who wast pleased to call the blessed Abbat Silvester into the~
desert as he bethought him of this world's vanity at the mouth of an open grave,~
and to honour him by a life shining with worthy acts, we humbly beseech Thee~
that we, after his ensample, may lightly esteem things earthly, and may at~
length attain unto everlasting joy in Thy presence.
$Per Dominum

[Commemoratio]
!Commemoration for Peter of Alexandria Martyr
@Commune/C2:Oratio proper
$Oremus
Mercifully consider our weakness, O Almighty God, and whereas by the burden of~
our sins we are sore let Peter your Martyr be mercifully pleased to deliver us~
from all things which may hurt our bodies, and from all evil thoughts which may~
defile our souls
$Per Dominum.

[Lectio4]
This Silvester was born of a noble family at Ossimo, in Picenum, and in his~
childhood was a wonderful example both in regard to letters and good living.~
When he grew older his father sent him to Bologna to study the law, but God~
warned him to give himself to divinity, and he thereby incurred the wrath of his~
father, which he bore with complacency for ten full years. On account of his~
eminent graces he was elected an honorary canon of the Cathedral of Ossimo, in~
the which dignity he ministered to the people by his prayers, his example, and~
his sermons.

[Lectio5]
At the funeral of a certain nobleman he perceived in an open grave the~
disfigured corpse of a kinsman of his own who had been very comely in his~
lifetime, and he said to himself, I am what he was, and what he is I shall be.~
Straightway after the funeral he read the words of the Lord, If any man will~
come after Me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me (Matth.~
xvi. 24.) Thereupon he withdrew into the desert to seek after greater perfection,~
and then gave himself up to watching, praying, and fasting, very often taking no~
food but uncooked herbs. In order, however, to cut himself off the more from men,~
he moved from one place to another, and at length came to Mount Fano, which is~
hard by Fabriano, but was itself then absolutely uninhabited. Then he built a~
church in honour of the holy Father Benedict, and founded the congregation of~
Silvestrians, with a rule and dress which were revealed to him in a vision by~
the holy Patriarch himself.

[Lectio6]
Satan envied him, strove to trouble his monks by divers terrors, and made an~
hostile attack by night upon the gates of his monastery, but the man of God so~
overcame the assault of the enemy that his monks were the more confirmed in~
their Institute and recognised the holiness of their father. He shone with the~
spirit of prophecy and other gifts. These things he always preserved by the~
deepest lowliness, whereby he so stirred up against him the ill-will of the~
devil that that evil spirit cast him headlong down the stairs of his oratory,~
and went near to slay him, but he was restored to soundness by the helpful gift~
of the Virgin. This help he remembered with an unceasing and singular love~
toward her until the last breath of his life, the which breath he resigned to~
God, famous for holiness and miracles, aged almost ninety years, upon the 26th~
day of November, in the year of salvation 1267. The Supreme Pontiff Leo XIII.~
extended his Office and Mass to the whole Church.

[Lectio7]
@Commune/C1:Lectio7

[Lectio8]
@Commune/C1:Lectio8

[Lectio9]
@Commune/C1:Lectio9

[Lectio93]
!Commemoration S. Peter of Alexandria
This Peter succeeded that eminent Saint, Theonas, as Pope of Alexandria, (in the~
year of our Lord 300,) and the glory of his holiness and teaching hath~
enlightened not Egypt only, but the whole Church of God. The wondrous patience~
wherewith he bore the roughness of the times in the persecution under Maximian~
Galerius caused many greatly to increase in Christian graces. He was the first~
who cut off Arius, then a Deacon of Alexandria, from the Communion of the~
faithful, on account of his leaning to the Meletian schism. He was condemned to~
death by Maximian, and was in prison when there came to him the two Priests~
Achilles and Alexander to plead for Arius, but Peter told them that Jesus had~
appeared to him in the night clad in a rent garment, and when he asked what was~
thereby signified, had said unto him Arius hath torn My vesture, which is the~
Church. Also, he foretold to them that they should be Popes of Alexandria after~
him, and strictly commanded them never to receive Arius into Communion, because~
he knew him to be dead in the sight of God. That this was a true prophecy the~
event did shortly prove. At length, in the twelfth year of his Popedom, upon the~
26th day of November, (in the year of salvation 311,) his head was cut off, and~
he went hence to receive the crown of his testimony.
&teDeum

[Lectio94]
Born of a noble family at Osimo in Picenum, Sylvester was remarkable even as a~
boy for his scholarship and his good character. Having duly studied the sacred~
sciences and been made a canon, he benefited the people by his example and his~
preaching. When, at the funeral of a certain dead nobleman, he saw the decaying~
corpse. of the handsome man who had been his neighbor, he said, "I am what this~
man was; what he is, I shall be"; and soon, from a desire for greater perfection,~
he withdrew into solitude and there devoted himself to vigils, prayers and~
fasting. That he might hide more completely from men's eyes, he changed his~
location several times. Finally he went to Monte Fano; a place deserted at that~
time, where he built a church in honor of St. Benedict and laid the foundation~
of the Congregation of the Sylvestrines. There his monks saw in him a wonderful~
model of holiness; he was famous for the spirit of prophecy, for power over~
demons and .for other gifts, which in his deep humility he always kept hidden.~
He fell asleep in the Lord in the year of salvation 1267.
&teDeum
