Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, 461 -- Biographical Sketch

O Lord our God, grant that your Church, following the teaching of your servant Leo of Rome, may hold fast the great mystery of our redemption, and adore the one Christ, true God and true Man, neither divided from our human nature nor separate from your divine Being; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

2 Timothy 1:6-14
Psalm 77:11-15
Matthew 5:13-19

Leo was born in 400 as the Western Roman Empire was disintegrating from within and without. Despite the tenuous nature of his surroundings, Leo received a good education and was ordained deacon and entrusted with the significant administrative tasks of managing Church possessions, supervising the grain distribution and overseeing finances. In 440, while on away on a mission to Gaul, Leo was unanimously elected Pope.

Leo’s abilities proved to be far beyond that of a first rate manager. His leadership in the controversies surrounding the doctrine of the human and divine natures of the One Person of Christ are evidenced by the document produced by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. (This document may be found on page 864 in the Book of Common Prayer.) His sermons (96 of which still survive) were both expositional and encouraging in character, as he dealt with a range of pastoral and doctrinal issues (from almsgiving to persistent heresies).

Because of the crumbling Roman infrastructure, Leo became the de facto leader of the city — negotiating with Attila the Hun and preventing the further ransacking of Rome. Three years later, when the Vandals came town, Leo was unable to prevent the pillaging, but was able to keep them from burning Rome to the ground and slaughtering the citizens. After the second barbarian invasion, Leo spent the rest of his ministry working to repair the damage to churches and restore the morale of the citizens of Rome.