ST. PETER governed the Church of Alexandria during the persecution of Diocletian. The sentence of excommunication that he was the first to pronounce against the schismatics, Melitius and Arius, and which, despite the united efforts of powerful partisans, he strenuously upheld, proves that he possessed as much sagacity as zeal and firmness. But his most constant care was employed in guarding his flocks from the dangers arising out of persecution. He never ceased repeating to them that, in order not to fear death, it was needful to begin by dying to self, renouncing our will, and detaching ourselves from all things. St. Peter gave an example of such detachment by undergoing martyrdom in the year 311.
Reflection. —”How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” says Our Saviour; because they are bound to earth by the strong ties of their riches. you!
Lives Of The Saints By Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. Edition www.globalgrey.co.uk
St. Sylvester
Abbot
The feast of this holy Abbot of Monte Fano near Fabriano was introduced into the Calendar by Leo XIII, who in doing so paid him the honor rendered by the Church to the founders of Religious Orders. In the Thirteenth Century, when many Benedictine monasteries in Italy had lost much of their former holiness and learning, St. Sylvester succeeded in infusing new vitality into the ancient Order, by founding a monastic family which by the blessing of God transformed several Religious houses, and was distinguished by the sanctity of its members. His Order is called the Silvestrines; it numbered twenty-five houses in Italy when its founder died in 1267 at the age of ninety.