On January 2, everyone who bears the name Silvia, Silva, Silvana, Sylvester, Plamen and Plamena, Goran, Gorica and their derivatives celebrate their name day.
On January 2, the Orthodox Church commemorates the memory of St. Sylvester, Pope of Rome. He held the papal throne from 314 to 335. The people call this holiday Karamanovden, Volski fest, Rinachovden, Silvestri. St. Sylvester was born in Rome. His teacher in faith and science was the pious presbyter Kirin. Many strangers came to the capital of the world empire at that time, and young Sylvester loved to shelter them in his hospitable home. For more than a year, his dear guest was an Eastern bishop – Timothy, who arrived in Rome to preach the gospel to the pagans, who were the vast majority in this international city, and the Christians numbered about 200,000.
The evangelist won many idolaters to Christ and the Church, but the city governor Tarquinius captured Bishop Timothy and imprisoned him. He was tortured three times with a whip to make him renounce his Christian faith, and because he remained adamant, he was beheaded. The city governor called Sylvester to offer a sacrifice to the gods and threatened him with torture and death if he did not carry out the order. St. Sylvester foresaw the imminent death of the greedy and cruel governor and answered him with the Gospel words from the parable of the foolish rich man:
"Tonight they will demand your soul" (Luke 12:20) – and declared to him that his threats would not come true! The arrogant Tarquinius ordered Sylvester to be taken to prison and chained, but as he sat down to eat, a fish bone got stuck in his throat and he died at midnight. Sylvester was released from prison.
When he was 30 years old, Sylvester was ordained a deacon by Pope Miltiades, and after his death he was elected Bishop of Rome and became the thirty-fifth Pope. During his pontificate (314-335), the most important reforms of Constantine the Great (306-337) were carried out to end the persecutions and for the triumph of Christianity and the peace of the Church. Through his envoys Hosius of Cordoba and two presbyters, St. Sylvester signed the acts of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325. He renamed Sunday from "day of the sun" to "Lord's day", because on Sunday the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. The saint supervised his spiritual children with words and deeds. He tightened the discipline of the clergy, strictly forbidding them to engage in trade.
After many and fruitful labors, with which he attracted many pagans and Jews to the Christian faith, St. Sylvester blissfully died in the Lord. His holy relics rest in the tomb he built on the catacomb "St. Priscilla" and his tomb is one of the oldest tombs in the "Eternal City", writes Actualno.com.