Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

Biography

Before becoming Pope, he had shown his exceptional qualities in all the undertakings entrusted to him. He was always faithful and responsible. While touring France, he was elected Pope. It was the year 440. Every year, on the anniversary of his coronation, he thanked the faithful for the trust they had placed in him, without deserving it, at the same time that he begged them for their prayers, telling them: "SO THAT YOU WOULD NOT HAVE TO REGRET YOUR LESSON." The arrival of Saint Leo to the chair of Peter, at that time, was providential. Rome was crumbling from all sides. Faced with the invasion, the foundations of society creaked. The generals deserted, the emperors were puppets without consistency. The twenty-one years of San León's government were a chain of triumphs against discouragement. He did not suffer only for Rome. He was pastor of the entire Church. He repressed the Manichaeans in Italy, attended to the problems of Gaul, encouraged the churches in Africa, intervened in the Balkans, and wrote to Sto. Toribio de Astorga, warning him about the deviations from Priscillianism. In the East the Monophysite heresy of Eutyches spread, which defended the existence of a single nature in Christ. Many supported the heresy. Saint Leo writes from Rome to Flavian of Constantinople. The fourth ecumenical council meets in Chalcedon and truth triumphs. "Peter has spoken through the mouth of Lion," cry out the six hundred bishops present. Saint Leo continued to act, writing letters, preaching sermons, which were an exhaustive catalog of the problems of his time, and served to expose the truth. He fought as an indomitable champion for the integrity of the faith and for the unity of the Church. He was above all a great catechist and a teacher of Catholic morality. "Recognize, Christian, your dignity," cried Saint Leo. He was great in his life, in his word and in his action. He well deserved the nickname Magnus. He was the providential Pope in that fateful hour. He died in the year 461.