Pope Leo The Great

Today we celebrate the feast day of Pope Leo the Great, who is considered a doctor of the church. After being succeeding Sixtus III as Pope, he gave a series of ninety-six sermons on faith and charity, and denouncing things such as Manichaeanism. When Italy was invaded by Attila the Hun, Leo met him face-to-face and dissuaded him from attacking. Later, while he was not able to keep the Vandal Genseric from attacking Rome, he was able to persuade him to not burn the city. He worked to rebuild the city and churches and ministered to the people. He also sent missionaries to Africa to minister to the captives of Genseric.





Photo Credit: Catholic Culture

Leo advanced the influence of the papacy to unprecedented heights with his authoritative approach to events, buttressed by his firm belief that the Holy See was the supreme authority in human affairs because of divine and scriptural mandate. In a time of great disorder, he forged an energetic central authority that stood for stability, authority, action, and wisdom; his pontificate was to affect the concept of the papacy for centuries to come.

All information from John J. Delaney's Pocket Dictionary of Saints.