Commontide
Proper 27
Liturgical Color: White/Gold
The 21st Sunday after Trinity
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Bishop of Rome and Doctor of the Church
Ecumenical Commemoration
Leo the Great was bishop of Rome from 440 to 461 and one of only three popes the church has called "the Great." He is remembered for two things above all: the Tome, his letter defining that Christ is one person in two natures, which the Council of Chalcedon received in 451 as the standard of the faith, and the day in 452 when he rode out unarmed to meet Attila the Hun and turned him back from Italy. He was named a Doctor of the Church, and his feast is November 10.
Leo was born around 400, probably in Tuscany, and rose through the Roman clergy to become an influential deacon. He was elected pope in 440 while on a diplomatic mission to Gaul, and served for twenty-one years — one of the longest and most consequential pontificates in history.
His theological achievement centers on the Tome — a letter sent to Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople, in 449 in response to the heresy of Eutyches, who had so emphasized Christ's unified person that he effectively absorbed Christ's human nature into his divine nature. Leo's response was a masterpiece of theological clarity: 'Each nature performs its proper functions in communion with the other: the Word does what pertains to the Word, the flesh what pertains to the flesh.'
The Tome was initially rejected at the 'Robber Council' of Ephesus in 449, where Eutyches was rehabilitated and his opponents deposed by force. But the Council of Chalcedon in 451 reversed this verdict and adopted Leo's Christological formula. When the Tome was read aloud, the bishops famously declared: 'Peter has spoken through Leo.'
Leo's political interventions were equally dramatic. In 452, when Attila's Huns invaded Italy and seemed poised to sack Rome, Leo met the Hunnic king and persuaded him to withdraw — by what combination of diplomacy, bribery, and spiritual authority is debated. Three years later, when the Vandals under Genseric attacked Rome, Leo could not prevent the sacking but negotiated to limit the destruction.
Leo was also an energetic administrator and prolific preacher — nearly one hundred of his sermons survive, notable for their doctrinal clarity. He died on November 10, 461 — just after Chalcedon vindicated his theology.
Traditionally, when Leo confronted Attila, the Hun king saw a vision of Saints Peter and Paul standing behind the pope with drawn swords, threatening divine vengeance if Rome were attacked. The story first appears in the Liber Pontificalis and was later depicted by Raphael in the Vatican Stanze. Whether the tradition reflects a genuine visionary experience or is legendary embellishment, it captures the conviction that Leo's authority transcended the merely political.