Today is the feast day of St. Leo the Great, pope and Doctor of the Church. The place and date of his birth are unknown but, according to the “Liber Pontificalis”, Leo was a native of Tuscany. Historical information confirms that Leo was a deacon of the Roman Church under Pope Celestine I and that after a successful mission in Gaul he was chosen to be the successor of Pope Sixtus III. Leo was consecrated on 29 September 440 and governed the Church for the next twenty-one years.
During his papacy, Leo’s goal was the unity of the Church and he dedicated himself to combat the heresy that threatened the church unity. His whole work aimed to raise the prestige of the Holy See before the entire world, to restore a strict ecclesiastical discipline in a time when the rules of morality were being seriously violated. (Source)
Let us Pray:
God our Father,
you will never allow the power of hell
to prevail against your Church,
founded on the rock of the apostle Peter.
Let the prayers of Pope Leo the Great
keep us faithful to your truth
and secure in your peace.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.