Saint Leo Pope of Rome
Date of celebration: 18/02
Saint Leo was one of the greatest defenders and champions of the Orthodox faith. He lived in the years of the emperor Marciano and Pulcheria. He was distinguished for his great theological training, the morality of his character, the purity of his life. He was bishop of elder Rome.
His contribution to the work of the Fourth Ecumenical Council was very important, when he sent four delegates, as well as a letter in which he defined the two natures of Christ with full precision and on the basis of the apostolic tradition, which helped to conduct the discussions as well as to write of the final terms of the Synod (in fact, the letter of Saint Leo had been sent three years before to the Patriarch of Constantinople Flavian (see February 16) and was read in the Synod. It is known as the “Tome of Leo”).
At the same time, he was also a prolific writer. Today, several letters have been preserved, written with complete eloquence and eloquence.
He fell asleep in a very old age on November 10, 460 AD. and his Synaxis was held in the Great Church.
But there is another version of his biography, that of S. Efstratiadis. According to her, Saint Leo was born in Rome at the end of the 4th AD. century. He was a deacon to Popes Callisto and Sixtus before ascending to the throne on September 29, 440 AD. He was one of the most absolutist Popes and stubbornly supported the papal primacy. He owes his canonization to the letter he sent to the Fourth Ecumenical Council against the Monothelites and Monophysites and which was enthusiastically received by the fathers present. He fell asleep on November 10, 460 AD.
