Pope St. Leo the Great
November 10 every year is the liturgical feast of Pope St. Leo the Great. Catholics worldwide celebrate this extraordinary Man of God, whose immeasurable contribution to the growth and survival of the Orthodox Universal Church is legendary.
At the St. Leo’s Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos Nigeria, it is a great feast day! To the parishioners the name, St. Leo, is a clarion call. They are passionately in love with the Patron Saint. When the spirit is low and you want to rouse them to action, just call, “St. Leo!” And they would respond by yelling, “G-r-e-a-t!” Liturgical Masses, or other social engagements, are not complete without the St. Leo’s Parish Anthem:
“We are family of God at Ikeja,
Have as our Patron, St. Leo the Great,
Greatest Administrator of the Ancient Church,
Pray for us, now and evermore,
St. Leo, St. Leo,
You through whom St. Peter spoke so eloquently,
St. Leo, St. Leo,
Pray for us, now and evermore.”
But how well did most parishioners who have St. Leo the Great as patron saint know the history of the Great Saint?
Who is St. Leo the Great?
St. Leo the Great was a man of uncommon wisdom. He was one of the greatest administrators of the ancient Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Saint to be honoured with the title “Great!” He was firm and decisive. Born in Tuscany, Italy, around 400 AD (actual date is unknown), he became a deacon at about 431 AD. As a deacon, Leo was very popular. He was sufficiently well known outside of Rome, probably because of his gift of wisdom. During the Papacy of Pope Sixtus III, Leo was chosen and sent to Gaul, present day Western Europe, by Emperor Valentinian III to settle a dispute and bring about reconciliation between the Emperor’s chief military commander and the chief magistrate, Albinus.
It was a proof of the great confidence placed in the clever and able deacon by the Emperor. Leo was still on that mission when the Emperor died. Returning to Rome, he was unanimously chosen and consecrated Pope to succeed pope Sixtus III on 29 September 440 AD.. And his pontificate lasted for 21 years! He governed the Universal Church at a time the Church was experiencing the greatest obstacles to her progress because of fast disintegration of the Western Empire. The Eastern Church was also experiencing dogmatic controversies. The Western Church was not left out of many false teachers. This great pope, with far-seeing sagacity and powerful hand, guided the destiny of the Roman and Universal Church.
Leo's chief aim was to sustain the unity of the Church. Not long after his elevation to the Chair of Peter, he saw himself compelled to combat energetically the heresies which seriously threatened Church’s unity in the West. He confronted the heresies of Pelagianism, Manichaesm, and the heresies of the monophysites. He wrote “The human and divine natures exist in Christ and are united without confusion or admixture. This is the faith of the Fathers. This is the faith of the Apostles. We ourselves believe this. Those whose faith is true believe this. Let anyone who believes otherwise be anathema! Peter has spoken through the mouth of Leo. Leo has taught in piety and in truth.”
Call St. Leo the Great, Pope who swept the Church of heretics and their heresies, and you will be right. He firmly defined orthodoxy and strengthened the power and supremacy of the Pope as Successor of St. Peter. He wielded the big stick when necessary. He did not spare even the bishops. Leo at the same time ordered that a Council of Bishops belonging to the neighbouring provinces should be convened to institute a rigid enquiry, with the aim of determining whether any of the bishops had become tainted with the poison of the heresy of "one nature of Christ." Anyone discovered was to be excommunicated without hesitation.
He taught that the Gospel commission to Peter to be the Rock on which the Church is founded means that the bishop of Rome as Peter’s heir has universal authority derived directly from Christ. His sermons and other writings are full of the conviction that the Pope is the “Primate of all Bishops”, which means so much for the role of the Papacy throughout subsequent history
Leo died on 10 November, 461, and was buried in the vestibule of St. Peter's on the Vatican. In 688 Pope Sergius had his remains transferred to the basilica itself, and a special altar erected over them. They rest today in St. Peter's, beneath the altar specially dedicated to St. Leo. His surviving writings number about 173 letters, plus some 80 sermons, elegantly written in style and rich in doctrine! St. Leo the Great was essentially a pastor of his flock, very concerned to pass on the true teaching of Christ. The clarity of his expression and transmission of orthodox teaching was enough for him to be declared Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIV in 1754.
His feast day in the Latin Church is November 10, (11 April, pre-1969 calendar), and in the Eastern Church on 18 February. Happy Patron Saint's day to you all.
St. Leo the Great, Pray for us!
Comments
Post a Comment