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Saint Leo the Great
Image: Francisco Herrera the Younger · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Saint Leo the Great

The pope of a time of crisis, who faced Attila and wrote the Tome to Flavian

Rank
Saint
Kind
Pope, Doctor of the Church
Life
400 – 461
Era
5th century
Feast
10 November
Countries
Italy
Italy

Life story

Leo was born around 400 in Italy, probably in Tuscany, and served as a deacon in Rome under Popes Celestine I and Sixtus III. He was trusted with diplomatic tasks for the Church. In 440, while on a mission in Gaul, he was elected pope. For more than twenty years he worked to strengthen the authority of the bishop of Rome and to keep the faith united across East and West.

In 449 he sent a long letter to Flavian, patriarch of Constantinople, setting out that Christ is one person with two natures. At the Council of Chalcedon in 451 the bishops approved this letter after hearing it read. Through it the teaching on the two natures of Christ was stated clearly.

Leo is also remembered for his part in political crises. In 452 he was among the delegation that met Attila near the Mincio River in northern Italy, and Attila afterwards withdrew; historians still debate other causes beyond the meeting. In 455 the Vandals under Gaiseric sacked Rome, and Leo appealed for the lives of the city's people to be spared. More than ninety of his sermons and about one hundred and forty letters survive. He died in 461, was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIV in 1754, and is remembered on 10 November. His Latin sermons, often delivered on feast days in Rome, are admired for their clear, balanced prose, and they set a model for later papal preaching.

Works and witness

  • Pope from 440 to 461
  • Wrote the Tome to Flavian in 449, accepted at the Council of Chalcedon in 451
  • In 452 joined the delegation that met Attila near the Mincio, after which Attila withdrew
  • In 455 pleaded with the Vandals to spare the people of Rome
  • Left over ninety sermons and many letters; Doctor of the Church since 1754

Saints from the same country

Saint Agnes, Saint Lawrence, Saint Cecilia, Saint Sebastian

References

  • Leo the Great, Sermons and Letters (including the Tome to Flavian)
  • Acts of the Council of Chalcedon
  • Martyrologium Romanum

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.