The Feriae of Pope Sylvester I

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Stephen Korsman September 16, 2018

Pope St Sylvester I

Pope Sylvester and his “feriae”

Adventists quote a dubious medieval source that describes something Pope Sylvester may
or may not have done centuries earlier. They usually don’t understand what it says. The
source says this:

Pope Sylvester first among the Romans ordered that the names of the days [of the week],
which they previously called after the name of their gods, that is, [the day] of the Sun, [the
day] of the Moon, [the day] of Mars, [the day] of Mercury, [the day] of Jupiter, [the day] of
Venus, [the day] of Saturn, they should call feriae thereafter, that is the first feria, the
second feria, the third feria, the fourth feria, the fifth feria, the sixth feria, because that in
the beginning of Genesis it is written that God said concerning each day: on the first, “Let
there be light:; on the second, “Let there be a firmament”; on the third, “Let the earth bring
forth verdure”; etc. But he [Sylvester] ordered [them] to call the Sabbath by the ancient term
of the law, [to call] the first feria the “Lord’s day,” because on it the Lord rose [from the
dead], Moreover, the same pope decreed that the rest of the Sabbath should be transferred
rather to the Lord’s day [Sunday], in order that on that day we should rest from worldly
works for the praise of God.
— Rabanus Maurus, De Clericorum Institutione, book 2, chapter 46 [via “Exactly Which Pope
Changed The Sabbath To Sunday?” by Michael Scheifler, with his modifications; see Pope
Sylvester I – who changed the Sabbath?]
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Note that this was written a good 400 years after the time of Pope Sylvester I, and it’s
historical accuracy is questioned by some. Nonetheless, that makes no difference to the
dishonest Adventist claim being refuted.

Often you’ll then hear (or see) the dishonest Adventists harp on about this amazing word –
“feriae” – as if it proves something. It’s actually hilarious to see this sometimes. The more
sober Adventists will simply show that the pope used the name “Lord’s Day” for the first day
of the week, supposedly proving that THIS is the pope who changed the sabbath to Sunday.

What really happened? Well, it’s uncertain whether or not this actually did happen. But let’s
assume it did happen. What Pope Sylvester saw around him was a 7-day week with days
named after pagan gods or planets. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, Saturday in modern English. In Latin: Dies Solis, dies Lunae, dies Martis, dies
Mercurii, dies Iovis, dies Veneris, dies Saturni.

He supposedly decided that this was unsuitable for Christian usage, and proposed that
they be named according to their religious significance for the two weekend days
(Dominica and Sabbatum), and simply “weekday 2” to “weekday 6” for the weekdays, or
“feria secunda” to “feria sexta” in Latin.

Common Roman name Pope Sylvester’s English

Day usage (pagan) name translation

1 Sunday Dies Solis Dominica Lord’s (Day)

2 Monday Dies Lunae Feria secunda Day two

3 Tuesday Dies Martis Feria tertia Day three

4 Wednesday Dies Mercurii Feria quarta Day four

5 Thursday Dies Iovis Feria quinta Day five

6 Friday Dies Veneris Feria sexta Day six

7 Saturday Dies Saturni Sabbatum Sabbath

By this time, the term “ Lord’s Day” was

well established in Latin and Greek as
the name for Sunday in Christian
circles. In Greek, but not Latin, the day
before the sabbath retained the
biblical term “Παρασκευη“, or
“Preparation day” in preparation for the
sabbath (see John 19:42).

But you’ll still find the Adventist who

doesn’t comprehend what is being
described, and blabs on about how the
pope “established the feriae” as if it
means anything intelligent.
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Before we move on, it’s worth noting
that, for the most part, this system of
naming days never really took hold. A
few Romance languages today use it.
Also worth noting is that in most
Romance languages not using pagan
names for days, the name of the 7th
day of the week is a derived term from
the Latin “Sabbatum” – and speakers
of these languages aren’t fooled by the
Adventist claim that the sabbath was
changed to Sunday – their own
language calls the 7th day of the week
“sabbath“.
Who plagiarised from whom?

See the series on the pope who never

changed the sabbath to Sunday:

Constantine, the Papacy, and the real origins of Sunday

Pope Sylvester I – who changed the Sabbath?
More on Sunday and Pope Sylvester I

This post comes from a larger post on Adventist dishonesty – Dishonesty in Seventh-day
Adventism, Part 2 – Catholicism – and deserves its own page in the series on the Pope
who didn’t change the sabbath.

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