Память святого отца нашего Льва, папы Римского

The great saint and shepherd of the Church of God - Leo, Pope of Rome, was from Italy; his father was called Quintian. From a young age, Saint Leo was taught all book wisdom, became acquainted with the external philosophy of 1433 and was instructed in Christian virtues. Having loved the spiritual life over the worldly, he was first an archdeacon in 1434 for Pope Sixtus III in 1435. For his high chastity and purity, after the death of Sixtus, he was unanimously elected high priest of the Roman Church. Like a good shepherd, Saint Leo diligently shepherded the verbal sheep of Christ, laying down his soul for them. At that time, the fierce tormentor Attila, leader of the Huns 1436, called the scourge of God, having conquered many countries, came to Italy, intending to devastate it with fire and sword. Seeing that no one could resist the formidable conqueror, Pope Leo turned to God with diligent prayer and, imposing a fast on himself, calling on the holy chief Apostles Peter and Paul for help, with tears he begged the Lord to protect His slaves from the ferocious enemy. Having gained courage and firmness from prayer, Saint Leo decided to go to the tormentor in order to calm his anger and stop his rage, ready, if necessary, to even lay down his soul for his sheep. With wise, sweet-talking and God-inspired words, he talked with Attila and turned him from a fierce wolf into a meek sheep; the formidable and indomitable warrior humbly and gently listened to the words of the saint of God, amazed at his hierarchical greatness and horrified at the holiness of his honest face. Having fulfilled everything according to the wishes of Saint Leo, the formidable Attila departed from the borders of Italy to his own lands. Attila's commanders were quite surprised how Leo could so quickly and so unusually turn Attila from such a fierce prince into such a meek one; they asked Attila: - Why were you afraid of only the Roman who came without weapons? Why did you obey him? Why did you, as if defeated, flee, leaving so much wealth in Italy? “You did not see what I saw,” Attila answered them, “but I saw two angelic men standing on both sides of the pope (these were the holy supreme Apostles Peter and Paul); they held naked swords in their hands and threatened me with death if I did not obey God’s bishop. Such was the great saint of God Leo, instilling fear not only in invisible enemies, but even in visible ones, passionately loved by the sheep, since for their sake he was not afraid to go to the terrible conqueror, preparing, if necessary, even to suffer from him. During his priesthood after the heretic Nestorius in 1437, the following came out: Eutychius, Archimandrite of Constantinople, and Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria 1438, shameless blasphemers who merged the two natures in Christ our Lord, Divine and human, into one. With their heresy they greatly embarrassed the Church of God. Gathering their unrighteous council in Ephesus in 1439 in 1440, they unjustly condemned and tortured Saint Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople, defender of Orthodoxy, and caused much harm to the Orthodox. Then holy Pope Leo used all his efforts to strengthen and pacify the Church, which was troubled by heretics; he wrote to the kings, first to Theodosius in 1441, then to Marcian in 1442, asking them to convene an Ecumenical Council. Finally, during the reign of Marcian and Pulcheria, an Ecumenical Council was convened in Chalcedon in 1443, the fourth in a row, against Eutyches and Dioscorus, who preached in Christ the Lord one nature, one action and will. It was impossible for His Holiness Pope Leo to be present at this council, both because of the length of the journey and his advanced age, and because it was impossible for him to leave Italy due to the frequent invasions of enemies into this country; therefore, he sent his governors: bishops Paschasius and Lucentius and presbyters Bonifatius and Basil. During the debate with the heretics at that council, many were overcome by strong doubts; then, at the command of the holy fathers, regarding the objections of the heretics, the message of Saint Leo, Pope of Rome, written to the former Patriarch of Constantinople, Saint Flavian, was read, who convened a Local Council in Constantinople against Eutyches. It is said about this message that the holy Supreme Apostle Peter himself corrected it with his apostolic hand; We find evidence of this in the Limonar of St. Sophronius of Jerusalem: “Abba Mina, abbot of the monastery called Salamanova, located near Alexandria, told us,” writes Saint Sophronius, “that he heard such a story from Abba Eulogius, the Patriarch of Alexandria. When I came (Evlogy said) to Constantinople, I lived with Mr. Gregory, an archdeacon of the Roman Church, a truly excellent and virtuous husband, and often talked with him. It was he who told me about the most blessed and holy Leo, the Pope of Rome: it was about him that the following is written in the Church of Rome: when Saint Leo wrote a letter to Saint Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople, against the evil Eutyches and Nestorius, he laid this message on the tomb of the supreme Apostle Peter, and with prayer and fasting he asked this Apostle: – If I, as a person, made a mistake in anything or did not explain something, then you, to whom the Church and this throne have been entrusted from the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, correct it. Forty days later, the Apostle appeared to him during prayer and said: - I read it and corrected it. Taking his message from the tomb of blessed Peter, Leo opened it and found it corrected by the hand of the Apostle. Saint Sophronius tells us this When this message of Holy Pope Leo was read at the Fourth Ecumenical Council, all the holy fathers cried out: – The Holy Apostle Peter speaks through the mouth of Leo. Thus, the fathers of the council based their judgments on the message of Saint Leo and with this message they shamed the heretics. Not only then, but also later, this letter, affirming Orthodoxy and stopping the lips of heretics, was in great veneration among the holy fathers and, by the way, among the aforementioned blessed Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria. This Eulogius, while the heretics strongly blasphemed the message of Leo and objected to what was written in it, strongly defended it, therefore it was pleasing to Saint Leo, who had already departed from this life at that time and was standing together with the saints before God. The same Saint Sophronius narrates about this: “Saint Theodore, bishop of the city of Darna in Libya in 1445, told us the following: when I was the cuvicular of the holy Patriarch of Alexandria Eulogius in 1446, I saw in a dream a man of sacred stature and light, who said to me: “Tell Patriarch Eulogius about me.” -Who are you, lord, and how can I tell you about you? Entering Patriarch Eulogius, I told him: “The Most Holy and Blessed Pope Leo, the High Priest of Rome, wants to come to you. Hearing this, Patriarch Eulogius quickly got up and went out to meet him; Having prayed, they kissed and sat down. Then blessed Leo said to the holy Patriarch Eulogius: - Do you know why I came to you? - I came to thank you for the fact that you defended my letter well and strongly, explained my understanding, blocked the lips of heretics with it, and thus explained my letter, which I wrote to my brother Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople, to expose the evil heresy of Nestorius and Eutyches: know, brother, that not only I worked and worked on this letter, but also the holy supreme The Apostle Peter read and corrected it, and most of all, Christ our God Himself, the Truth we preach, sanctified it. I saw such a vision (Bishop Theodore relates) not once, but twice and three times: the blessed fathers Leo and Eulogius met three times before my spiritual eyes and talked with each other; I announced this vision, repeated three times, to Saint Eulogius. Hearing this, Saint Eulogius shed tears and, stretching out his hands to heaven, gave thanks to God, saying: “I thank Your great and ineffable goodness, Lord Christ our God, for You have vouchsafed me, unworthy, to be a preacher of Your truth and, through the prayers of Your servants, Peter and Leo, have deigned to accept my small boldness, like the widow’s two coppersmiths 1447.” This is the news of Sophronius. The vision set forth here took place many years after the repose of Saint Leo, for Saint Eulogius lived much later, namely, during the reign of the emperors Mauritius and Phocas 1448, while Saint Leo, the Pope of Rome, died before that, during the reign of the same-name king Leo the Great 1449. This is what is known about the last days of St. Papa Leo: Having reached a very old age and approaching the end of the days of his earthly life, Saint Leo was informed by God about the forgiveness of his human infirmities. This happened under the following circumstances: Pope Leo spent forty days at the tomb of the Holy Apostle Peter in prayer and fasting, begging the Holy Apostle to ask the Lord, may the all-merciful God forgive him his sins; after forty days the holy Apostle Peter appeared to him and said: “I prayed for you, and all your sins have been forgiven, except for the sins that you committed during the consecration of others to sacred degrees.” The only thing you will have to answer is: whether you ordained someone lawfully or not.” After this announcement, Saint Leo intensified his prayers, deepened his fast, increased his alms, crying out in contrition of his heart until he received the joy of perfect forgiveness. Then, having prepared as he should for the exodus, he betrayed his holy soul into the hands of God and joined the ranks of the previously deceased saints, great hierarchs and teachers 1450; with them he now stands before the throne of Christ our God, glorified and worshiped with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. On the throne, the glory of the seated priesthood and the lions of the mouth of words, you have illuminated the dogmas of the Divinely inspired Honest Trinity with the light of God-understanding for your flock. For this reason, you have become glorified as the Divine secret place of God’s grace. External philosophy was the name given to the works of pagan philosophers - Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras and others, that is, those writers who, by faith, were outside the Church of Christ. Archdeacon – senior or first deacon. Each episcopal see had one archdeacon. In the ancient Church, the office of archdeacon was considered very respectable, and the archdeacon was one of the closest persons to the bishop. Archdeacons were often elected bishops, as can be seen in the example of St. Athanasius the Great, Leo, the Pope of Rome, and many others. Nowadays, the leading hierodeacons are called archdeacons, i.e., deacons monastic in large monasteries, especially stauropegial monasteries, and cathedrals. This title gives only primacy of honor, and not power, because the archdeacon is not the chief of the deacons, but only the first of them in place in the ministry and meetings. Pope Sixtus III occupied the Roman See from 432 to 440 The Huns were an Asian people who invaded Europe at the end of the 4th century and caused significant devastation in it, destroying cities and entire kingdoms. In Europe, the Huns established their residence in the valley of the Tissa River, a tributary of the Danube, in what is now upper Hungary. The reign of Attila (433–454) represented a brilliant period of Hunnic power. Attila kept the Byzantine emperor in constant fear, forced him to pay a huge tribute and provide the Huns with all the lands south of the Danube. In 440, Attila, at the head of a 500,000-strong army, moved to the West. Consigning everything to fire and sword, he walked all of Germany to the Rhine, then crossed this river and destroyed a number of cities. In the south of France, however, he received a rebuff and was forced to return to Germany. In 452, he launched a new raid - this time on Italy. Rome and all of Italy were in danger of becoming a victim of enemies; but Attila stopped his victorious march and, after negotiations with Pope Leo the Great, returned back. Soon after this campaign, Attila died. Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who occupied the see from 428 to 431, preached the heretical doctrine that Jesus Christ is not the true God, but a man, the son of Joseph and Mary, honored for. the holiness of life, the special grace of God, which saves us not by atoning death, but by instructions and example of life. For this heresy, Nestorius was excommunicated from the Church at the Third Ecumenical Council and died in exile in 436. He occupied the Patriarchal See of Alexandria from 444 to 451. Ephesus is a city on the western shore of Asia Minor, which was originally the center of the Greek colonies of Asia Minor, and during the time of the emperors it was one of the main cities of Asia Minor. The holy Apostle John the Theologian spent the rest of his life in Ephesus and died; the Third Ecumenical Council also met. Reigned from 408 to 450. Reigned from 460 to 467. Chalcedon, a suburb of Constantinople, was located opposite it, on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus. The meeting of the council opened on October 8, 451. Libya is a province in northern Africa, adjacent to Egypt, stretching west of it, along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and deep into Africa. Kuvicularium - sleeping bag, bed sheet. Wed. “And Jesus sat opposite the treasury and watched as the people put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in a lot” (Mark 12:41–44). Emperor Mauritius occupied the throne from 582 to 602. Emperor Phocas - from 602 to 610. The Byzantine emperor Saint Leo I reigned from 457 to 474. The death of Saint Leo, Pope of Rome, followed in 461. His relics rest in the vicinity of his name in the Vatican Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle. After Pope Leo, up to a hundred words and up to 140 letters remained - dogmatic and moral content. All these works are marked by the spirit of strictly adhered to Orthodox teaching. Thus, in his famous letter to Patriarch Flavian of Constantinople at the 4th Ecumenical Council, Saint Leo expresses the following thoughts about the incarnation of God: “The Divinity accepted our weakness without violating the properties of either one or the other. The true God appeared in the true and perfect nature of a true man, all with that which is characteristic of Him, and all with that which is characteristic of us. Man is not destroyed by the greatness of the Divine. Both natures act in mutual communication in their own way.” The moral teaching of Pope Leo also deserves special attention. Saint Leo often convinced his flock to do works of mercy. The duty of mercy, he said, is determined not by the measure of benefits, but by the disposition of the heart. The rich themselves must find the poor and help him. God gives wealth so that it flows to the poor. Speaking about prayer, Saint Leo urges people to turn to the intercession of saints for help and commanded us to honor holy relics. You might be interested in: