Pope Sylvester I

Sylvester became bishop of Rome on 31 January 314, less than a year after Constantine's Edict of Milan legalized Christianity, and remained in office until his death on 31 December 335. During those two decades he convened the Council of Arles in 314, which condemned the Donatist separatists, and the First Council of Nicaea in 325, called to resolve the Arian controversy over Christ's nature. His pontificate coincided with the construction of Old St. Peter's Basilica, the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, and the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran - the physical architecture of a faith moving from catacombs to capitals. Very little is known of his life itself. His feast, Saint Sylvester's Day, falls on 31 December in the West and 2 January in the East.