Sainte Sylvie
Mère de Saint Grégoire le
Grand (+ v. 590)
Sylvette ou Sylvaine.
Grande dame romaine qui consacra sa vie à son fils, le pape Grégoire le Grand, si attentive qu'elle se préoccupait même jusqu'aux détails des menus de ses repas en achetant à son intention les meilleurs fruits et légumes frais sur les marchés romains, afin qu'il soit en bonne santé.
Elle figure au martyrologe romain au 3 Novembre:
Mère du pape saint Grégoire le Grand. Celui-ci rapporte lui-même, dans ses
écrits, qu’elle atteignit le sommet de la prière et de la pénitence et qu’elle
fut un exemple excellent pour les autres. Elle mourut vers 590.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/8/Sainte-Sylvie.html
Sainte Sylvie, au service
de son fils et du sacerdoce
Anne Bernet - publié
le 02/11/23
Sainte Sylvie, fêtée le 3
novembre par l'Eglise, a été inscrite au calendrier dans le courant du XVIIe
siècle, près de 1.200 ans après sa mort et d’abord par vénération envers son
fils, saint Grégoire le Grand. Il est vrai que nous sommes assez mal renseignés
sur elle mais le peu que nous en savons suffit à lui mériter la gloire des
autels.
Lorsque, sans doute en
538, Silvia (Sylvie) épouse à Rome son cousin éloigné, le sénateur Gordianus,
elle doit avoir dix-huit ou vingt ans. Tous deux appartiennent à une très
ancienne lignée patricienne, celle des Acilii Glabriones, derniers descendants
de l’aristocratie républicaine. Converti dès les années 70 de notre ère, leur
aïeul le consul Marcus Acilius Glabrio est mort pour le Christ, accusé du
« crime d’athéisme », autrement dit d’avoir renié les dieux païens,
en 83 ; depuis, la famille est un appui sans faille de l’Église. C’est
d’ailleurs la raison pour laquelle elle n’a pas émigré à Constantinople, comme
l’a fait presque tout le patriciat, au IVe siècle, préférant aux grandes
carrières politiques et militaires de la cour impériale le service plus discret
de Dieu et de la papauté, maintenant que Rome ne tient plus la première place
sur la scène du monde.
Lorsqu’elle épouse
Gordianus, Silvia sait que ce mariage, comme cela se pratique dans les familles
très pieuses, n’aura qu’un temps : quand elle aura assuré l’avenir de la
famille, en donnant deux fils à son époux, le couple se séparera pour
« vivre dans le saint propos », c’est-à-dire qu’ils entreront tous
deux dans les ordres. Ce choix, qui nous parait étonnant, est alors courant, de
sorte qu’il existe de véritables lignées sacerdotales, où l’on est prêtre,
évêque, et même Pape, – Gordianus est l’arrière-arrière- petit-fils de Félix
III – de père en fils, le sacerdoce étant accordé uniquement à des hommes
séparés de leur femme.
Le jeune couple
s’installe dans la vaste maison familiale entre obligations mondaines, prière
et charité.
Silvia sait aussi
qu’elle prend un pari sur l’avenir car les temps sont mauvais en ce VIesiècle,
au point que certains, pensant la fin du monde imminente, refusent de se marier
et d’avoir des enfants. Ce n’est pas le cas du jeune couple, qui s’installe dans
la vaste maison familiale sur le Caelius et mène la vie qui est celle de leur
milieu, entre obligations mondaines, prière et charité.
Deux fils vont
naître, Grégoire en 540, et un autre dont nous ignorons le
nom. Après quoi, Gordien et Silvia renoncent à la vie conjugale, même s’ils
continuent de vivre dans la même propriété, assez vaste pour qu’ils ne risquent
plus de tentations, la jeune femme se retirant dans ce que l’on appellera
« l’oratoire de Sainte Sylvie » puis Santa Silvia al Celio.
Amour maternel, amour
divin
Pour évoquer l’amour
maternel, Grégoire racontera un jour cette anecdote, dont il est
certainement le héros. Petit garçon, alors qu’il fait l’acrobate au bord d’une
fenêtre d’un étage élevé, sa mère le rattrape à l’instant où il va tomber,
commence, sous l’effet de la peur, par lui assener une paire de claques puis,
pleurant de soulagement, le serre désespérément contre elle en le couvrant de
baisers. Ce souvenir lui servira à illustrer ce que peut être l’amour divin
qui, comme celui d’une mère, n’est pas altéré par le châtiment nécessaire.
Confidente de son fils,
elle sait que celui-ci, après une peine de cœur juvénile, ne veut pas se marier
et songe à la prêtrise.
Très attachée à cet aîné
de santé fragile qui souffrira tôt de sérieux problèmes d’estomac, dont il
finira par mourir, Silvia veille sur son alimentation, en bannissant les fruits
et légumes achetés au marché, engraissés au fumier et potentiellement toxiques,
pour le nourrir uniquement des produits du jardin familial qu’elle fait pousser
avec amour.
Patronne de toutes les
mères de prêtres
Confidente de son fils,
elle sait que celui-ci, après une peine de cœur juvénile, ne veut pas se marier
et songe à la prêtrise, choix que Gordianus refuse, poussant Grégoire vers la
carrière politique où d’ailleurs, il s’illustrera, devenant le dernier grand
préfet de la Ville et un administrateur hors paire, formation qui lui sera
utile quand il sera pape et fera face aux pires difficultés.
Sans doute est-ce elle qui convainc son mari de laisser le garçon suivre sa
voie. Il faudra attendre 575, et la mort de son père, pour que Grégoire puisse
résilier ses fonctions et fonder un monastère dans la propriété familiale.
Silvia y mourra, peut-être en 592.
Dans ce cas, elle aura eu
la joie d’assister au sacre pontifical de son fils, devenu pape le 3 septembre
590 mais ce n’est pas certain. Ce qui l’est, c’est l’amour filial du souverain
pontife qui fera peindre dans l’église de son monastère Saint André du Caelius
les portraits de ses parents, nous léguant ainsi l’image de cette mère forte,
pieuse, chaste et abandonnée à la Providence qui sut l’aider dans sa vocation
sacerdotale. À ce titre, sainte Sylvie est la patronne de toutes les mères de
prêtres ; elle l’est aussi de ceux qui se dévouent pour aider les prêtres et
prient pour les vocations.
[EN IMAGES] Découvrez
aussi ces saint(e)s de père (mère) en fil(le)s
Démarrer le diaporama
Lire aussi :Une famille, sept saints, qui dit mieux ?
Lire aussi :En images : ces saints qui étaient frères et sœurs
Chrétienne de Rome au VIe siècle, Sylvie eut l'honneur d'être la mère du Pape saint Grégoire le Grand ! Devenu Pape, Grégoire fit peindre le portrait de sa mère Sylvie et de son père Gordianus, dans leur maison familiale transformée par lui en monastère. Le Pape Grégoire n'avait pas une très bonne santé et se surmenait à la tâche ! Sa mère veillait donc sur lui avec beaucoup d'attentions. Cuisinière "biologique" avant l'heure, Sylvie se méfiait des légumes vendus au marché de Rome. C'est pourquoi elle faisait porter régulièrement à son fils le Pape, des produits de son propre jardin situé sur la colline de ,l'Aventin comme l'atteste encore de nos jours une inscription près de l'église Saint-André de Rome. Sainte Sylvie termina sa vie à Rome vers 592.
La fête de sainte Sylvie, mère attentive du Pape Grégoire le Grand, est l'occasion de souhaiter de tout coeur bonne fête à toutes les Mères de prêtres et à toutes ces femmes de grand dévouement dont la mission aujourd'hui est si importante dans la vie ecclésiale et paroissiale : les Aides au prêtre, laïques et religieuses. Elles ne sont pas que d'excellents "cordons bleus", comme Sylvie de Rome. Bien des curés et des recteurs de paroisses pourraient attester, comme l'un d'entre eux : "C'est plus et mieux qu'un vicaire !".
Rédacteur: Frère
Bernard Pineau, OP
SOURCE : https://www.lejourduseigneur.com/saint/sainte-sylvie
.jpg)
Saint
Sylvia
Dipinto
murale di Santa Silvia presente nel Santuario Maria SS della Vena in Vena Fraz.
di Piedimonte Etneo (CT) edificato nel 597 proprio sul terreno della Santa
madre di S. Gregorio Magno
Also
known as
Silvia of Palermo
Sylvia
Profile
Sister of Saint Tarsilla. Married to
Gordianus, a Roman regionarius. Mother of
two sons, one of which was Pope Saint Gregory
the Great. After the death of
her husband, Silvia devoted herself to religious
life, living in a cell like
an early anchoress.
Noted for her great personal piety.
Born
c.515 in
either Rome or Sicily (records
vary)
c.592 in Rome, Italy of
natural causes
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
strony
w jezyku polskim
MLA
Citation
“Saint Silvia of
Rome“. CatholicSaints.Info. 18 September 2023. Web. 3 November 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-silvia-of-rome/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-silvia-of-rome/
(Saint) Widow (November 3)
(6th
century) The mother of Pope Saint Gregory
the Great, a matron ever held in high honour by the Romans as a Saint and
type of a Christian widow.
Her holy son caused a picture of Saint Sylvia
to be painted for his monastery on
the Caelian Hill, and her appearance and usual dress have therefrom been
minutely described by John the deacon,
the biographer of Saint Gregory.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Sylvia”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
4 November 2016. Web. 3 November 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-sylvia/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-sylvia/
St. Silvia
(Also spelled "Sylvia").
Mother of Pope St. Gregory the Great,
born about 515 (525?); died about 592.
There is unfortunately no
life of Silvia and a few scanty notices are all that is extant concerning her.
Her native place is sometimes given as Sicily, sometimes
as Rome.
Apparently she was of as distinguished family as her
husband, the Roman regionarius,
Gordianus. She had, besides Gregory, a second son.
Silvia was noted for her
great piety, and she gave her sons an excellent education. After the
death of her husband she devoted herself entirely to religion in the
"new cell by the gate of blessed Paul"
(cella nova juxta portam beati Pauli). Gregory the Great had
a mosaic portrait
of his parents executed
at the monastery of
St. Andrew; it is minutely described by Johannes Diaconus (P.L.,
LXXV, 229-30). Silvia was portrayed sitting with the face, in which the
wrinkles of age could not extinguish the beauty, in full view; the eyes were
large and blue, and the expression was gracious and animated.
The veneration of St.
Silvia is of early date. In the ninth century an oratory was erected
over her former dwelling, near the Basilica of San
Saba. Pope Clement
VIII (1592-1605) inserted her name under 3
November in the Roman Martyrology. She is
invoked by pregnant women for
a safe delivery.
Löffler,
Klemens. "St. Silvia." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
13. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13794a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. Dedicated to
Mrs. Matilda Hertford.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13794a.htm
St. Sylvia
Feastday: November 5
Patron: of
Pregnant Women
St. Sylvia, Mother of St.
Gregory the Great (Feast - November 5) The Church venerates the sanctity of
Sylvia and Gordian, the parents of
St. Gregory the Great, as well as his two aunts, Tarsilla and Emiliana. St. Sylvia was
a native of the region of Sicily while
St. Gordian, her husband, came from the vicinity of Rome. They had two sons:
Gregory and another whose name has not survived the ages. Gordian died
about 573 and Gregory converted his paternal home into a monastery. Sylvia
therefore retired to a solitary and quasi-monastic life in
a little abode near the Church of St. Sava on
the Aventine. It became her custom frequently to send fresh vegetables to her
son on a silver platter. One day, when Gregory found himself with nothing to
give a poor beggar, he presented him with the platter. St. Sylvia is
thought to have gone on to her heavenly reward between 592 and 594. After her
death, the holy Pontiff had a picture of both his parents depicted
in the Church of St. Andrew. In the sixteenth century, Pope Clement VIII
had St.
Sylvia inscribed in the Roman Martyrology.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=741
Roma
- Oratori del Celio (S. Andrea; S. Silvia; S. Barbara)
Sylvia of Rome, Widow
(RM)
(also known as Silvia)
Died c. 572. Like all
expectant mothers heavy with child--Sylvia was expecting the great event,
greater than a hurricane or a revolution, the supreme phenomenon, the most
extraordinary, historical, magical, wonderful, fundamental event--great by the
miracle of man and great by the grace of God. For what do we know about Saint
Sylvia? That she was the mother of Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the
Church.
Aren't we to a great
extent what our ancestors have made us, a reincarnation (so to speak) of their
flesh, a reflection of their thought? How often have I felt the throb of some
distant echo, some call from ancient times, or sensed deep in the marrow of my
bones the naked footstep of some Celtic ancestor or the raucous cry of a Mongol
horseman, or glimpsed the furtive shadow of some pagan or primatial ancestor,
as if my whole life were made up of fragments of lives that were lived
thousands of years ago.
A man is what he brings
into the world. Racine? The author of Andromaque. Silvia? The mother of Saint
Gregory.
What sudden emotion to
feel everything germinating, everything connecting with the vast and mysterious
workings of the universe! Yesterday still only a girl, but from now on a
leading character on the stage of life. Yesterday young and charming love, sweet
nothings, carefree days, and then suddenly "crossing the line" and
entering another world--something unknown, like a bird from strange islands,
like the flutter of a palm tree in the desert, a whole new feeling of life, a
mysterious dance, a new wine . . . a quickening in the womb, a son in the
flesh.
To bear a child . . . as
God bears mankind. In her womb and in her mind, Sylvia feels responsible for
her child. Her mission is not just to give birth to the child but to compose
the whole life of the man: his body and soul, she will devote herself
completely to him--for if the mother gives birth to the body, does she not also
wish to influence the soul? She dreams about him while giving him her breast,
she shapes him, she gives him form with all the "desires" of her body
and all the charms of her soul."
And so for nine months
Sylvia waited and planned.
The child was to be a
boy, no doubt about that--though she cherished her whole family, it was the son
that stood out. She's already seen him: a vision, a positive, creative vision.
Will he be a senator, like his father Gordian, a consul, the emperor? Will he
be pope? A saint? There is no limit to the imagination of a mother.
Now all this took place
in Rome in AD 540. Vigilius was pope and Vetegis was emperor--but who knows
anything about them? It was a world still in transition. On one side were the
invasions, on the other were the heresies. The child did brilliantly in his
studies. He received a fine Latin education that would serve to rule men and
defend dogmas. Already she saw him wearing the tri-colored toga of a Roman
praetor.
But of what importance is
the toga of man when compared with the robe of God? Suddenly Gregory divested
himself of all his responsibilities and wealth and became a monk. The six
villas that he owned in Sicily he turned into six monasteries. He was 35. And
Sylvia felt in her body that the whole delicate structure of history was
trembling.
There was a plague and
the pope died. Sylvia decided that the next pope was to be Gregory. In vain did
he refuse, escape from Rome in a wicker basket, hide in the forests and Pontine
marshes. In the end of course he was found--or betrayed--and with great
rejoicing brought back to the fold, where on Sept. 3, 590, he was consecrated
pope. Gregory was pope, and Sylvia had been his prophet. "I have lost all
the pleasures of peace," he murmured.
It was to be an heroic
pontificate. The Lombards, who were devastating Italy, had to be checked. The
emperor in Constantinople had to be confronted. Gregory wrote several works
(particularly the Morals), reformed the Church, brought the Arian Visigoths
back to the true faith, and evangelized England.
It was he who invented
the phrase: Servant of the servants of God. His most characteristic victory was
to stamp out the heresy of Eutyches, the patriarch of Constantinople, who
maintained that the resurrection of the body would take place in a subtle form,
in an ethereal flesh. Gregory replied that we will be resurrected in flesh and
blood, as literally palpable as was the body of Christ to Saint Thomas.
"I shall be clothed
again with my flesh," says the Book of Job, and at the Last Supper Jesus
said: "This is my Body." One of the most moving aspects of the
Catholic faith is the dominion of the body, semi-incorruptible and eternal.
By the time Gregory
became pope, Sylvia had already entered a convent and her husband had become a
priest--simultaneously, like twins. It was a time when Christianity was
flourishing and it was the fashionable thing to do. But Sylvia's role had been
consummated. The mother blended, merged, and rejoiced with the son (from the
Encyclopedia).
Over her former house on
the Coelian Hill in Rome a chapel was built in her honor (Benedictines).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1103.shtml
Chiesa
di Santa Silvia, a Roma, nel quartiere Portuense.
Statue
de sainte Sylvie avec son fils Grégoire,
église Sainte-Sylvie, Rome.
Santa Silvia Madre
di S. Gregorio Magno
VI secolo
Silvia è stata la madre
di san Gregorio Magno, papa e dottore della Chiesa del VI secolo. Questi visse
a Roma sul Celio in un ambiente cristiano esemplare anche grazie alla santità
delle zie (cognate di Silvia) Tersilia ed Emiliana (o Amelia). La famiglia era
importante anche dal punto di vista civile: il marito di Silvia, Gordiano, era
un integerrimo senatore divenuto anche lui cristiano. Silvia seppe conciliare
la guida della famiglia con le esigenze della radicalità evangelica. Dal figlio
Gregorio traspare la sua santità. Su di lui, infatti, l'esempio e
l'insegnamento della madre deve avere avuto un peso che non si può ignorare.
Quando Gregorio non ebbe più bisogno he della sua guida, Silvia abbandonò il
mondo e si ritirò a vita claustrale presso la basilica di San Paolo fuori le
mura. Morì probabilmente verso il 590. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Silvia =
abitatrice delle selve, donna dei boschi, selvaggia, dal latino
Martirologio
Romano: A Roma, commemorazione di santa Silvia, madre del papa san
Gregorio Magno, che, secondo quanto lo stesso Pontefice riferì nei suoi
scritti, raggiunse il vertice della vita di preghiera e di penitenza e fu per
il prossimo un eccelso esempio.
Prima di tutto una mamma: tenera, affettuosa, premurosissima. E non lasciamoci impressionare se da lei ci separano suppergiù 1500 anni, perché certi valori e certe qualità sono eterni e sempre attuali. Silvia nasce intorno al 520, per alcuni a Roma, per altri a Subiaco o addirittura in Sicilia, in una famiglia di condizioni modeste. Verso i 18 anni va sposa ad un tal Gordiano, membro della gens Anicia: un personaggio in vista con rilevanti cariche pubbliche, un patrimonio più che discreto e una villa meravigliosa al Celio. Non è un’altra versione della storia di Cenerentola, ma la storia di un amore vero e di una profonda intesa spirituale che aiutano la coppia a costruire una famiglia veramente cristiana, illuminata anche dall’esempio delle due sorelle di Gordiano, che vivono in casa una vita ritirata e mortificata, quasi monastica., intessuta di preghiere e di penitenza. Non sappiamo quanti figli ebbero, perché la storia ha conservato solo il ricordo di due figli: il primogenito, Gregorio, che sarà destinato a diventare famoso, e un altro figlio di cui però non conosciamo neppure il nome.
Quel matrimonio funziona egregiamente per più di 30 anni, fino alla morte del marito, databile intorno al 573. I due figli hanno seguito le orme del padre, particolarmente Gregorio, che è diventato funzionario dell’impero bizantino, arrivando a ricoprire la carica di Prefetto di Roma. In cuore conserva però una profonda esigenza di vita spirituale e la segreta aspirazione di dedicarsi completamente alla preghiera e alla meditazione. La morte del padre accelera questa scelta definitiva ed egli trasforma la splendida villa paterna al Celio in un monastero, in cui egli entra per primo come semplice monaco, seguito da molti altri giovani romani.
La scelta di Gregorio fa capire a Silvia che ormai può considerare esaurita la dimensione domestica della sua vita e quasi in punta di piedi, discretamente, si ritira in una località dell’Aventino per potersi dedicare anche lei liberamente alla meditazione e alla preghiera. Ma non dimentica di essere mamma: pensando alla salute gracile del figlio e alla scarsa mensa monastica, con gesto di premura squisita che solo una mamma sa fare, ogni giorno prepara un piatto di legumi freschi o altra verdura del suo orto.per farla recapitare a Gregorio. Che intanto, per volere del papa, è stato ordinato diacono e sta servendo la Chiesa mettendo a frutto la sua vasta esperienza civile ed ecclesiastica, fino a che nel settembre 590 viene eletto papa.
La storia gli attribuirà il titolo di “magno”, la Chiesa lo canonizzerà e noi oggi lo conosciamo e veneriamo come San Gregorio Magno. Sua mamma fa in tempo a vederlo papa, perché muore un paio d’anni dopo. Il culto di Santa Silvia, che nelle varie fasi della sua vita di sposa, mamma e vedova sempre aveva saputo dare a Dio il primo posto, si è andato pian piano affermando nella Chiesa, che ne celebra la memoria il 3 novembre.
Autore: Gianpiero Pettiti
