St. Leo the Great: "Who was he? What made him so great?"

When the Catholic mission of St. Leo the Great was established by the Diocese of Galveston-Houston in 1968, Bishop Nold most likely chose the patron saint Pope Leo I because Centerville was the county seat of Leon County.  The Spanish word “león” is derived from the Latin declension of the name “Leo” as well as the Latin word for “lion.”  However, the connection is unclear of the 5^th century pope to Martín De León (of Texas history) or to the yellow wolf (“león”) of this region.

Leo was born in Tuscany in the early 400s.  He was elected pope in 440 after serving as a deacon in the Roman Church under Pope Celestine I.  Leo’s chief aim, as Successor of St. Peter, was to work for the unity of the Universal Church.  The two heresies called Pelagianism and Manichaeism threatened to tear the Church apart.  Pelagianism taught that Original Sin did not taint human nature and that the human will could choose the good without God’s grace.  Manichaeism, a Gnostic movement that had infiltrated Christianity, held that the human body and material creation was essentially evil (created by the evil god, satan) and that only spiritual creation was good (created by the good God).  These heresies risked diminishing the doctrine of the Incarnation and the need for a divine Savior.

In order to lead Christians to the truth and to protect them from error, Leo wrote (what is called) the “Tome”, which explained the two natures of Jesus Christ: human and divine.  Leo’s language was adopted by the Council of Chalcedon in 451, which taught that Jesus Christ, as one divine Person, is both true God and true man.  As true man, he has a human body and a rational soul, consubstantial with us in all things but sin, and Son of the Virgin Mary.  As true God, He is eternally consubstantial with God the Father and eternally begotten by the Father.  Leo was also protector of Rome from barbarian invasions.  In 452, he managed to stop Attila and the Huns from attacking Rome.  Attila allegedly saw a giant man (perhaps St. Peter or St. Paul) in priestly robes holding a sword behind Leo threatening punishment, and so Attila withdrew his forces.  In 455, Leo was able to dissuade the Vandals from murder and arson when they sacked Rome.

St. Leo the Great entered into eternal life on November 10, 461.  He is the patron saint against snakes and naughty children (good news for Centerville teachers!).  He and only one other pope, St. Gregory I, have merited to be called “great” in the history of the Church (with possibly the addition of John Paul II in our lifetime).  His life, teaching, and patronage reminds us that even here in Leon County, we are called to proclaim Jesus Christ as true God and true man, the only Savior of the world.  With Christ’s grace and the intercession of St. Leo, we not only protect ourselves against serpents and little rascals, but against the enemies to our salvation — allurements of the world, the flesh and the devil.  We are all called to holiness and courage in our faith, and when we are discouraged or attacked, we do not give up, but we remember St. Leo’s advice from his Christmas Day sermon:  “Christian, Remember your dignity.”