St. Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

St. Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor: ca. 400-461 A.D.

Feast day, November 10

Birth, diaconate, and election to papacy
There is no exact nor reliable information about the birth of St. Leo. But it was around the year 400 A.D. that he was probably born in Rome of Tuscan parentage. He served as a deacon under Pope Celestine I and Sixtus III, and achieved a certain eminence. He acted as peacemaker between Aetius and Albinus - imperial generals whose quarrels endangered Gaul from attacks by the barbarians. While in Gaul, Pope Sixtus died, and a deputation was sent to inform Leo that he had been elected to the papacy. St. Leo thus returned to Rome for his consecration on September 29, 440 A.D.

The Eutychian controversy
St. Leo at once began his pastoral duties with a series of ninety-six still extant sermons on faith and charity. He strenuously opposed Manichaeanism, Pelagianism, Priscillianism, and Nestorianism. In 448 A.D., he was faced with the Eutychian problem. Eutyches, an archimandrite in a monastery at Constantinople, denied the two natures of Christ in one person. St. Leo was able to resolve this Eutychian problem through the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. In the Council, St. Leo confirmed the doctrine of the Incarnation against Eutyches, who erred by professing and teaching that Christ had only one nature - His divinity. The bishops of the Council then endorsed the letter of St. Leo as regards this controversy and said: Peter has spoken through Leo.

Invasions by the Huns and the Vandals
In 452 A.D., Attila and his Huns, after overrunning Greece and Germany, invaded the northern cities of Italy, and were about to attack defenseless Rome, when he was dissuaded by Leo in a face-to-face meeting at Peschiera. St. Leo managed to convince Attila to spare Rome by offering him an annual tribute. Three years later, St. Leo was not as successful with the Vandal Genseric from Africa, who plundered and pillaged Rome for fifteen days, but agreeing not to burn the city. On his part, St. Leo ministered to the stricken populace and worked to rebuild the city and the churches. He also sent missionaries to Africa to minister to the captives Genseric took back with him.

Declared Doctor of the Church in 1754 A.D.
The reason St. Leo was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIV in 1754 A.D., was because of his writings and sermons. Chief among the writings was his Tome, a famous letter he wrote to the Archbishop of Constantinople, Flavian, that expressed the Christian doctrine that Christ had two natures in one person: the human and the divine.

Aside from his major work the Tome, St. Leo produced also one hundred forty-three letters. It was his sermons that the Church prizes so much that it included them in the Office of Readings for such main feasts as Christmas and Epiphany. Five sermons of Leo on the Beatitudes are also included in the Office of Readings. A total of twenty-six of his sermons are thus excerpted in the Office of Readings - the same number as that of St. Ambrose's, and second only to St. Augustine's eighty-two sermons.

St. Leo died in Rome on November 10, 461 A.D., and his relics are now preserved in the Vatican Basilica.

References of this article

• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
• The Doctors of the Church vol 1, by John F. Fink
• A Year With the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.

32nd Sunday of the Year (A)

(Edited) Reflections, 32nd Sunday of the Year (A) - November 6, 2011

Liturgical readings

Wisdom 6:12-16
Psalm 63
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13

"Keep your eyes open, for you know not the day."

The NRSV (New Revised Standard Version) bible uses the terms "bridesmaids", "foolish", and "wise" in this Sunday's gospel. The Jerusalem Bible uses the same words, except for the term "sensible", instead of "wise". The New American Bible uses the same terms as the NRSV, but subtitles the parable as the "Parable of the Ten Virgins", and uses the term "virgins" once in the parable. The Good News Bible has simpler terminology: it uses the term "girls", instead of bridesmaids or virgins. But the crux of the parable Jesus wants His hearers to understand lies in the wide difference between "foolish" and "sensible" (or "wise").

The parable Jesus explains to His hearers prefigures the return of the Son of Man - the return of which no one does not know, not "day or the hour". Although no one knows the exact time of His return, the parable teaches a lesson to be sensible and wise. In the context of the parable, sensibility and wisdom means having what is needed before the Lord's return. For the five wise bridesmaids, this meant having enough oil for their flasks so that their torches will remain lit till the bridegroom arrives. If one place oneself in the context of this parable, you can reflect and discern well what it means to you personally: what is the one thing necessary for me to be and to have before the Lord's return?

As the end of the liturgical year nears, there will be two more Sundays left, before the start of Year B in the Church's cycle of liturgical celebrations. And the next two gospel passages has for its common themes that of stewardship, service and judgment. These last two gospel passages that will be heard in the next two Sundays presents the image of God as a Master entrusting talents to His servants, and a King who judges the world at the end of time. For today's gospel passage, God is presented in the image of a Bridegroom. All these images of God requires one to understand well God's wisdom: that He is both Judge and Divine Mercy. Wisdom calls us to a better awareness of God's sovereignty over life and death, time and eternity.

Memorials of Saints Celebrated in the Month of November

Solemnity of All Saints: Originating in the 4th c. Eastern feast of all Martyrs, and attested to by St. Ephrem (died 373 A.D.), Pope Gregory IV established this commemoration for all the Saints of the Roman Church in 835 A.D. Originally celebrated on Easter Friday, it came to be held in Rome on 13 May; later, in the 9th c. A.D., it was transferred to 1 Nov., the date of its celebration in Ireland where it countered the Celtic pagan feast of the Druids. (November 1)

Martin: (died 1639 A.D.); born in Lima of a Spanish father and a black slave mother; O.P. lay brother who humbly ministered to the poor and the sick, especially African slaves; devoted to the Holy Eucharist; a close friend of Rose of Lima; patron of social justice and of peoples of mixed races. (November 3)

Charles Borromeo (died 3 Nov. 1584 A.D.): at age 46; cardinal and secretary of state at age 22 for his uncle, Pope Pius IV; implemented reforms of Trent in his diocese of Milan; founder of seminaries; considered a model pastor by many bishops, including Francis de Sales; held five provincial councils and 11 diocesan synods; patron of catechists and of catechumens. (November 4)

Leo: (died 461 A.D.); eminent pastor and preacher; defender of the Roman primacy; combatted Pelagianism and Manichaeism; his Tome on Christ's two natures was adopted by the Council of Chalcedon 451 A.D.; many of his prayers are found in the Sacramentary; saved Rome from marauding Huns and Vandals. (November 10)

Martin of Tours: (died 397 A.D.); from Pannonia (in Hungary); soldier turned Christian at 18; disciple of St. Hilary; at Liguge, founded the first monastery in the West; bishop of Tours; first non-martyr with annual feast in the Western Church; patron of soldiers, winegrowers, and of France. (November 11)

Josaphat Kuncevych (died 1623 A.D.); born in Poland, raised Ukranian Orthodox, becoming a Basilian monk of the Ruthenian Rite at Vilna; bishop of Polotsk; his fidelity to the Roman See and his desire for union between the Ukranian Church and Rome led to his murder at Vitebsk; first formally canonized saint of the Eastern Rite (1867 A.D.). (November 12)

Albert (died 1280 A.D. at Cologne): from Swabia; O.P. master of philosophy, theology and the natural sciences, especially Aristotle; teacher of St. Thomas; Provincial of the German Dominicans (1254-1257 A.D.), becoming bishop of Regensburg; prolific writer (38 quarto volumes in print); wrote on the cult of the Sacred Heart; patron of scientists. (November 15)

Margaret: (died 1093 A.D.); from Hungary; wife of King Malcolm III of Scotland and mother of eight; helped root out paganism; her love for the poor became legendary; patroness of Scotland. (November 16)

Gertrude: (died 17 Nov 1301 A.D.); born in Thuringia; Benedictine mystic who wrote on the meaning of suffering, the Sacred Heart, the Trinity, and God’s love, most important work: Legatus Memorialis Abundantiae Divinae Pietatis (The Herald of Divine Love). (November 16)

Elizabeth of Hungary (died 1231 A.D. at age 23); wife of Louis VI of Thuringia and mother of 3; as a widow, she became a Franciscan tertiary, dedicated to the needs of the poor and the sick; canonized only 4 years after her death; patroness of the Franciscan Third Order and of Catholic charities. (November 17)

Cecilia or Cecily: (died 3rd c.? A.D.); known from her legendary Passio, a poem which exalts Christian virginity; honored in Rome since 5th c. A.D.; mentioned in the Roman canon; patroness of sacred music because of the song of God in her heart. (November 22)

Clement I: (died c. 100 A.D.); under Trajan; fourth bishop of Rome; wrote famous epistle to the Corinthians; mentioned in the Roman Canon. (November 23)

Columban or Columbanus: (died 615 A.D.); Irish monk and missionary to France; wrote a strict monastic rule and Penitential; founded monasteries at Luxeuil, Bobbio, and elsewhere; exiled to Italy for denouncing court immortality and lax bishops; died at Bobbio. (November 23)

Andrew was one of 117 people who were martyred in Vietnam between 1820-1862 A.D. The last of the martyrs were 17 laypersons, one of them a 9-year-old, executed in 1862 A.D. (November 24)

Catherine of Alexandria: this martyr was a learned woman of the early fourth century, who, following her conversion at the age of eighteen, preached the Gospel throughout Alexandria in Egypt. While imprisoned by the emperor Maximus, she converted both the empress and the leader of the armed forces and for this she was martyred. (November 25)