History records very few details about the early life of Pope Leo, the first of only two popes referred to as “the Great.” He was born—probably sometime during the 390’s—into a family of Tuscan origin¹ that had settled at Rome. We can judge from the quality and style of his writings that Leo had a solid classical and Christian education. Although in expressing his thoughts he uses all the elements of classical style and vocabulary, he (like St. Cyprian) does not anywhere in the Sermons mention names from classical literature. At the same time, his sermons are replete...

At the time of his election to the See of Peter on 29 September 440, Leo expressed his gratitude for the trust placed in him by God and by God’s Church (Serm. 1). For some years thereafter he gave special sermons on the anniversary of his election, four of which have come down to us: Serms. 2 (441), 3 (443), 4 (444), and 5 (after 445?). The same general themes reverberate throughout the sermons: gratitude for the trust placed in him; humility resulting from his feelings of unworthiness and weakness, accompanied by a request for prayers that he prove competent;...

Known together as the De Collectis (Concerning the Collections), Sermons 6–11 deal with the annual collection of alms taken up for the sick and the poor of Rome. Leo identifies the practice as “established by the Holy Fathers with most salutary effect” (Serm. 7.1), insisting that “the things that have been laid down by tradition from the apostles” should be preserved “with lasting dedication” (Serm. 8.1 and cf. 9.3, 10.1, et al.).

Each sermon mentions a different day of the week on which the offerings were to be made.¹ Although the particular time of year is not mentioned, many historians...

Leo extols the benefits of fasting (prescribed by both the Old and the New Testaments) in a number of his sermons. InSerm. 19.2 he refers to the spring fast of Lent, the summer fast after Pentecost, the autumn fast in the seventh month (September) and the winter fast in the tenth month (December). Leo upholds the necessity of bodily and spiritual fasts, stressing that abstinence from food must be completed with prayer and almsgiving.

He also enumerates works of mercy which must accompany fasting: defending widows, taking care of orphans, consoling mourners, making peace between factions, welcoming travelers, relieving...

Leo wrote these Christmas sermons in the years 440–444 and 450–454. As he states in Serm. 28.4, “... practically no one has gone astray who did not disbelieve the reality of two natures in Christ while at the same time acknowledging a single Person.” Consequently, from the very first years of his pontificate, he emphasized—in the discharge of his episcopal duty to preach—the reality and the wonder of (in short, the “Good News” about) the Incarnation of the Word. One phase of his preaching stresses the key points of the different heresies that had broken out...

These eight sermons, delivered on the feast of the Epiphany, cover numerous aspects of that event. Leo bewails the blindness of Jews in the person of Herod (whom he addresses several times, e.g., Serms. 31.2 and 34.2). Yet he points out that, in consequence of this, Gentiles owe thanks to God for giving his light to them (Serm. 32.2). Jews were “unwilling to recognize with their eyes the one whom they had pointed to from their sacred books” (cf. Serms. 32.2 and 33.3).

In the image of three wise men following the light of a star, Leo finds many opportunities...

These sermons cover the years 441–445, 451–455, and perhaps also 457–458. As he had with the Collection sermons, Leo reminds his audience that the “fasts have been ordained by the holy apostles through the Holy Spirit” (Serms. 47.1 and 50.2), and that “... there are none who do not need renewal” (Serm. 43.1). Preparation for the coming Feast of the Resurrection includes the many ways in which people can repair their souls for celebrating the great miracle. “There are none so perfect and so holy that they cannot be more perfect and more holy” (Serm. 40.1). Thorough...

Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. “At that time, Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up onto a high mountain,” etc.¹

This Gospel reading, dearly beloved, which has struck the interior hearing of our souls through the ears of the body, calls us to the knowledge of a great mystery, and we shall seek for it all the more easily with the breath of God’s grace if we turn our thoughts to those things which were told a little while ago. Christ, the Savior of the human race, God, when he established this...

Leo delivered a sermon on the Lord’s Passion during Holy Week, breaking it up into parts over a couple of days, as he himself explained: “These things that I have put into your devout ears are enough today, dearly beloved, lest the weariness caused by too many words distress you. What still needs to be added we promise to give you on Wednesday, God willing, since he who has given what we have said, will give, we believe, what to say then, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Serm. 52.5). Upon resuming that particular sermon, Leo states: “Fidelity demands, dearly beloved,...

Two sermons for the Feast of the Ascension, dated to the years 444 and 445, deal predominantly with faith. As the Gospels relate, the apostles doubted the Resurrection. According to Leo, it is from their wavering that subsequent believers receive assurance (Serm. 73.1). Those forty days after the Resurrection were given for further proofs of that event (Serm. 73.2). When the Lord ascended, human nature ascended with him (Serm. 73.4).

After the blessed and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, when the divine power, “in three days, raised” the true “temple” of God which Jewish wickedness had “destroyed,”¹ on...

As far as can be determined,¹ Leo delivered these sermons on Pentecost Sunday, with the exception of Serm. 80, which he gave on one of the fast days. Serms. 75–77, while barely mentioning the fast, emphasize the Feast of Pentecost, where Leo describes the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles (Serm. 77.1).

As usual, Leo denounces the relevant heresies. Macedonianism, while holding the Father and the Son to be equal, considered the Holy Spirit to have an inferior nature (Serm. 75.4), thus undermining the Trinity, for “by no reckoning is that truly one which is different by any...

Serms. 82–83, written in 441 and 443 respectively for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, instruct the flock by emphasizing the fact that all the might and secular glory of Rome cannot compare with the Rome blessed by the presence of Christ in his two apostles (Serm. 82.1). Their courage, in entering the city to claim it for Christ, remained undaunted by the cruelty of Nero’s persecution, which actually increased the number of faithful Christians (Serm. 82.6). Serm. 83, taken largely verbatim from Serm. 1, focuses on our Lord’s preferential treatment of Peter, particularly noted in the section of...

After the fall of Carthage (19 October 439), the Vandals severely threatened the whole Mediterranean area, particularly Italy and Rome. They reached Sicily but did not enter Italy. In 442 Valentinian III was obliged to accept the treaty offered by Gaiseric, the Vandal leader.

Alaric had sacked Rome on 28 August 410, and a commemoration of gratitude for Rome’s deliverance had been held annually ever since. During the years immediately preceding the treaty with Gaiseric (441–442), the first years of Leo’s pontificate, people attended the anniversary celebration in great numbers as the Vandals were threatening. After the treaty had...

It is not known exactly when this sermon was composed. Most likely, however, Leo delivered it on 1 August (the Feast of the Maccabees) any year between 446 and 461. Leo expresses gratitude that his flock appreciates this feast and that they especially appreciate the mother of the Maccabees (Serm. 84B.1). He cautions them not to become complacent in the absence of government persecution, but to probe the depths of the heart, where the devil’s persecutors (i.e., vices) constantly lurk (Serm. 84B.2). With regard to these temptations which attack everyone (and these are enumerated), Leo explains: “When you see that...

Martyrs eminently put into practice the essence of Christ’s message, love of God and love of neighbor. Their examples are more powerful than words (Serm. 85.1). Leo tells the story of Lawrence’s sufferings: “..... that fire was less effective which burned on the outside than the one which burned within” (Serm. 84.4); “..... even the instruments of torture were transformed into the honor of his triumph” (Serm. 84.4), and he went, despite the cruelty of his executioner, to the embrace of his God.

Since, dearly beloved, the peak of all virtues and the fullness of complete justice is born of...

Leo placed great confidence in the spiritual efficacy of fasting. “Although any time is suitable for restraint, this time is most fit because we see it as chosen by the appointment of the apostles and the laws, that, as in other days of the year, so in September, we should cleanse ourselves by spiritual purification” (Serm. 93.3). The sermons for the four seasonal fasts have slightly different emphases. This group highlights the benefits of the corporateness of the act. Leo praises unity of worship and action as a protection against temptations. “A general fast ought to be celebrated on certain...

Leo introduces the Beatitudes by reminding his audience that, while the Lord effected many bodily cures, he gave special instructions for interior health in the Beatitudes. His meditation on “most happy poverty” is somewhat more detailed than any of the others. By using the last thought on one Beatitude as the first thought on the next Beatitude, Leo links the virtues into a whole, ending with peace and adherence to the will of God.

Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. “At that time, Jesus, seeing the crowds, went up onto the mountain and, when he sat down, his...

Leo himself clearly indicates how he means to be the prudent physician using preventative remedies for his people. Agents from Alexandria had brought with them the monophysite doctrine that only the nature of the divinity was in Christ, and the real nature of human flesh which he took from Mary was not in him. These newcomers peddled their doctrine in the Velabrum, the commercial quarter of Rome near the Tiber, and it was to the Roman workers there, in the Basilica of St. Anastasia, that Leo once again clearly states the doctrine of the Incarnation, inveighing against the heresies of...