Golden Age of the Fathers (325–600)

Leo the Great

c. 400 – 461 · Rome · Pope who defined Christ's two natures

Overview

A Roman deacon elected pope in 440, Leo brought to the office a lawyer's clarity and a statesman's nerve. His Tome — the letter read out at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 — supplied the enduring formula of one Christ in two natures, greeted with the cry 'Peter has spoken through Leo.' The next year he rode out to meet Attila the Hun and persuaded him to spare Rome. Nearly a hundred of his sermons survive, models of compressed doctrine — 'Christian, remember your dignity.' He is among the very few popes whom tradition remembers as 'the Great.'

Did You Know?

In 452 he rode out to face Attila the Hun in person — and Attila turned his army away from Rome.

Read Their Works

Sermons on the Nativity (Sermons XXI–XXIV, XXVI)5 sections The Tome of Leo (Letter 28, to Flavian)6 sections

Major Works

Tome of Leoletter that shaped Chalcedon's definition

Sermonsnearly a hundred models of doctrine

Letterspapal governance across the empire

In the Bible Reader

Leo the Great has 32 commentary entries in HolyStudy’s verse-by-verse Church Fathers commentary. Open any Gospel chapter, tap a verse, and choose the Church Fathers tab.

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Image: Wikimedia Commons · Francisco Herrera the Younger · Public domain