Fr Alex Swain

Beloved in Christ,

Every now and again, someone of profound heroic stature seems to arise in times of immense crisis. Pope Leo the Great of Rome—whose feast day we celebrate today—is one of those people.

According to Lesser Feasts and Fasts (2024), Leo was born around the year 400 when the Western Roman Empire was “almost in shambles.”

Political struggles, an inefficient economy, and constant invasions led Rome and the Western Roman Empire into collapse.

Even so, he received a strong education, and the notable theologian John Cassian called Pope Leo “the ornament of the Roman Church and the divine ministry.”

Indeed, it is under Pope Leo that the Latin word frequently used for Bishops—“Pope”—began to be used exclusively for the Bishop of Rome.

Leo exercised great political acumen and frequently called the church to support the needs of the poor and oppressed. Rome was in collapse and yet still received numerous refugees from throughout the Western Roman Empire, who Leo supported and called for the Church to take care of.

He was also profoundly important in helping the Council of Chalcedon settle the arguments on the divine and human natures of Christ, through a document titled the Tome of Leo. It affirmed that Christ’s natures were “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation” which became known as dyophysitism, accepted by nearly all Christian traditions to this day.

Leo also helped prevent the ransacking of Rome from Attila the Hun and stopped the Vandal warlord Genseric from burning Rome to the ground. Through his efforts, he saved the lives of tens of thousands of people and kept Rome standing.

Pope Leo the Great is one who embodies what Christ reminds us today: “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”

He was a man of profound faith, deep care, and particular purity of faith which manifested in all the good works that he performed in his day.

And while many of us may not have the same kind of power that Leo wielded (for good!), we all have the opportunity to take seriously our faith and pray for purity which leads to the fruits of the Spirit, which Pope Leo so wonderfully wielded.

May Pope Leo pray for us to the Lord our God!

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Alex