St. Leo the Great
(Fest on November 10th)
by
Trudie Miller
Leo I (440-461) and Gregory I (590-604) are the only two bishops of Rome commonly called "the Great." Leo, at a time when the capital of the Empire had been moved to Constantinople, and the government even in Italy no longer had its headquarters at Rome, was the most important official in the city. To him fell such prosaic tasks as supervising the distribution of grain imports and reorganizing the municipal fire department. When Attila and the Huns invaded Italy in 452, he negotiated their withdrawal, and when Gaiseric (or Genseric) the Vandal captured Rome three years later, it was Leo who prevented the total destruction of the city. It is perhaps not surprising that the theory of papal supremacy gained much ground in his day.
In his day there were disagreements about the correct way to state the truth that Jesus Christ is both God and man. In 449 Leo wrote a letter (known as the Tome of Leo) to Bishop Flavian of Constantinople, in which he affirmed that Christ has two Natures in one Person. The letter was read in 451 by the Council of Chalcedon (the fourth Ecumenical Council), and judged by them to be sound doctrine. It contributed much to the creedal statements of that council.
Leo's influence on church government will naturally get mixed reviews. But for his defense of the belief that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, all Christians may thank God.
From a sermon by Leo the Great:
Although the universal Church of God is constituted of distinct orders of members, still, in spite of the many parts of its holy body, the Church subsists as an integral whole, just as the Apostle says: we are all one in Christ. . . For all, regenerated in Christ, are made kings by the sign of the cross; they are consecrated priests by the oil of the Holy Spirit, so that beyond the special service of our ministry as priests, all spiritual and mature Christians know that they are a royal race and are sharers in the office of the priesthood. For what is more king-like than to find yourself ruler over your body after having surrendered your soul to God? And what is more priestly than to promise the Lord a pure conscience and to offer him in love unblemished victims on the altar of one's heart?
While a deacon under Sixtus III, St. Cyril appealed to him to help with curtailing the ambitions of Juvenal of Jerusalem. In 430 John Cassian writing against the Nestorian heresy, dedicated his treatise De Incarnatione Domini, to Leo. In 440 Leo was sent to Gaul and successfully mediated a dispute between the imperial generals, Aetius and Albinus. During his absence, Pope Sixtus died and Leo was elected to the Chair of Peter.
Ninety-six of his sermons, 143 letters which he wrote and 30 letters written to him are still in existence today. His pontificate was one of great pastoral concern and during it many heresies were refuted, in particular, Manichaeism, Nestorianism, Pelagianism and Priscillianism. As bishop of Rome, he spent a great deal of time teaching the people and his pattern of instructions was followed by many other bishops.
At a later time in his pontificate Leo had to deal with another heresy which was the opposite of the Nestorian one, namely that of Eutychianism. It was in a doctrinal letter entitled, "The Dogmatic Letter" or "The Tome of St. Leo" that Pope Leo I explained the two-fold nature of Christ (human and divine), which is the official teaching of the Catholic Church to this day.
Once again Rome was threatened with attack, this time by Atilla. Leo was able to procure a truce by convincing Attila to accept an annual tribute rather than to ransack the city. Three years later the Vandal Genseric threatened to attack. Leo was not as successful this time, but he did convince Genseric to be satisfied with looting, restraining his troops from killing the people and burning the city.
Leo reigned for twenty-one years and in that time he won the respect of the people: poor and rich, royalty and invader, clergy and laity. His was a reign that showed his only concern was not for himself but the well-being of his people, both physical, and spiritual. Leo died at Rome on November 10, 461.
Saint Quote:
Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife.
-Pope Saint Leo the Great
Bible Quote:
7 Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also that pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth shall bewail themselves because of him. Even so. Amen. 8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. (Apoc. 1:7-8)
<><><><>
THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SOULS
FROM THE PURGATORIAN MANUAL
(Imprimatur 1946)
First Day
PRAYERS FOR THE HOLY SOULS
One of the most consoling doctrines of the Catholic Church is that of the Communion of Saints. All men-the saints in Heaven, we upon earth, the souls in Purgatory - are members of one great family. By this "bond of perfection" which unites the Suffering and Triumphant Church with the Militant Church upon earth, incorporating them into one body, mutual charity becomes an obligation. This reciprocal love, being the duty of all men, renders it imperative that all should pray for one another, for in this general prayer, offered mutually, Christian charity is most beautifully and eloquently expressed.
From this general obligation we derive the special duty to pray for the suffering souls in Purgatory, who are unable in their extreme distress to do aught for their own relief. It has always been the belief of holy Church, that the faithful, united in the Communion of Saints, can mutually assist each other. As the saints in Heaven pray for us, so must we also offer our petitions for the suffering souls in Purgatory, that God in His goodness and mercy, may mitigate and shorten their punishment, and hasten their entrance into Heaven. It is the doctrine of the Church that the faithful upon earth are really able to relieve the temporal punishment of the holy souls in Purgatory. "In this," says the Roman Catechism, "the supreme mercy and goodness of God deserve our grateful acknowledgment and praise, that He has granted to our frailty the privilege that one may satisfy for another."
Prayer: O Lord, Jesus Christ, Thou Who hast said, "Where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them," (Matt. xviii. 20) look mercifully upon Thy holy Church, who implores "Thy clemency in behalf of her suffering members. End their intense pain, and open unto them the portals of the heavenly Jerusalem, that they may praise and bless Thee forever and ever. Amen.
Special Intercession: Pray for those who, during the course of their earthly lives, did most to relieve the souls in Purgatory.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine them; may they rest in peace. Amen. (3 times)
Practice: Attend the public devotion for the suffering souls.
Invocation: My Jesus, mercy! |
