Mar

6

GENERAL AUDIENCE: Saint Leo the Great

Posted By reynor | Filed Under General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI, Quotes & Excerpts 

GENERAL AUDIENCE

Paul VI Audience Hall
Wednesday, 5 March 2008

Saint Leo the Great

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Continuing our catechesis on the Fathers of the Church, we turn to Saint Leo the Great, one of the most influential Popes in history. He was born in Tuscia and became Bishop of Rome in 440 during times of severe social unrest. Since the Roman Emperor’s authority had practically disappeared in the West, and Italy was suffering from frequent Barbarian incursions, Pope Leo took it upon himself to protect Rome. His courageous meeting in Mantua with Attila the Hun, whom he convinced to desist from his plans to devastate the city, is the most well known, but not the only event of its kind. Pope Leo promoted the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome as the successor of the Apostle Peter, and exercised this ministry in the East and the West with great prudence, pastoral sensitivity and wisdom. The Bishops attending the important Council of Chalcedon in 451, acclaimed the text he sent concerning faith in Jesus, true God and true man, with the words: “Peter has spoken through the mouth of Leo”. Thanks to Pope Leo’s sermons and letters, we can still appreciate his zeal and charity as pastor of the Church, and his theological depth and clarity. He also shares with us his profound understanding of the liturgy, where he sees the mysteries of salvation as present to our time and influential in our everyday realities. May the life and example of Pope Saint Leo always remind us that the encounter with God in Christ is the source of our joy and our salvation!

* * *

I offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims attending today’s audience, including the groups from England, Denmark, Sweden, Indonesia, Canada and the United States. I extend particular greetings to the visitors from Christendom College, and to the many student groups present. May this Lenten season purify your hearts and renew your faith and your hope in the mystery of Christ our Redeemer. God bless you all!

 

 

 

© Copyright 2008 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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