Letters Leo The Great by Leo The Great 9780813211343, 9780813214030, 0813214033, 0813211344 instant download after payment.

As the vestiges of the Roman political machine began to collapse in
the fifth century A.D., the towering figure of Pope St. Leo the Great
came into relief amid the rubble. Sustained by an immutable doctrine
transcending institutions and cultures, the Church alone emerged from
the chaos. Eventually, the Roman heritage became assimilated into
Christianity and ceased to have a life of its own. It would be
practically impossible to understand this monumental transition from
Roman world to Christendom without taking into account the pivotal role
played by Leo—and not the emperor—who went out to confront Attila and
Hun. It was Leo who once averted and on another occasion mitigated the
ravages of barbarian incursions.

As significant as his
contribution was to history, Leo had an even greater impact on theology.
When partisans of the monophysite heresy had through various
machinations predetermined the outcome of a council held at Ephesus in
450, Leo immediately denounced it as a latrocinium (robbery) rather than a concilium
(council). A year later—with cries of "Peter has spoken through
Leo!"—the ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, a pillar of Catholic
Christianity, adopted in its resounding condemnation of monophysitism
the very language formulated by Leo. Pope Leo also developed the most
explicit and detailed affirmations known up to that time of the
prerogatives enjoyed by successors if St. Peter. Many theological
principles find their clearest, and certainly their most eloquent,
expression in his sermons.

Leo spoke with all the refinement of a
Roman orator, without the pagan trappings, and thus epitomized a
Christian appropriation of the classical heritage. In the midst of it
all, however, Pope St. Leo thought of himself simply as the humble
servant of those entrusted to his care.

This volume presents the first English translation of the complete sermons.