Saint of the day, November 10

November 10 – Pope St. Leo the Great

Born: unknown

Died: 461

Nationality: Italian

Vocation: pope

Attributes: papal vestments, papal tiara

Canonization: pre-congregation

Little is known about the early life of Pope St. Leo I, also known as St. Leo the Great. He became a deacon in Rome around 430.

In 440, amid significant political unrest in the Western Roman Empire, the imperial court requested St. Leo’s help in settling a dispute between the military commander Aetius and the prefect Albinus in Gaul.

While St. Leo was away, Pope St. Sixtus III died and the Roman Church elected St. Leo to succeed him. He served faithfully for over two decades, making the unity of the Church a central priority of his pontificate.

He defended the Church against the heresies of Pelagianism and Manichaeism, and intervened in the fifth-century Christological controversy in the East. Emperor Marcian convened the Council of Chalcedon in 451 with St. Leo’s approval, and the pope’s legates presided on his behalf.

St. Leo clarified the Church’s teaching about the divine and human natures of Christ united in one Person. After hearing his Tome, a doctrinal letter addressed to Bishop St. Flavian of Constantinople, the bishops gathered at Chalcedon acclaimed his teaching, saying, “Peter has spoken through the mouth of Leo.”

In addition to resolving conflicts within the Church, St. Leo joined a Roman delegation that met with Attila the Hun near Mantua in 452. His intervention helped spare Rome: Following the meeting, Attila withdrew his forces from Italy without attacking the city.

St. Leo died in 461, and Pope Benedict XIV proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church in 1754. He and Pope St. Gregory the Great are the only two popes who are also Doctors of the Church. St. Leo’s original burial place was in the portico of the old St. Peter’s Basilica; his relics now rest inside the present basilica.

Pope St. Leo the Great, pray for us.

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