From the desk of the pastor for July 27, 2025

The Lord be with you! We are going to depart from the grand scope of history to look at the lives of two men: Pope Leo I and Attila the Hun. Leo would save Rome from Attila in 452 AD almost miraculously.

Born around AD 391 in Tuscany, Leo first served the Church as a deacon and became famous for his intelligence. Around AD 440 Pope Sixtus III sent Leo to France to settle a dispute between a Roman general and magistrate. While serving there Pope Sixtus died, and Leo was elected Pope.

In his first few years as Pope, Leo worked against several different heresies spreading in Rome and Italy. He condemned both the followers of Pelagius, who claimed that grace was not needed for salvation, and the Manichaeans. Read enough theology and you will run into facsimiles of their beliefs. To wit the Manichaeans claim that the only way to become free from the evils of this world is through spiritual ascension that involves esoteric knowledge. In other words, you needed to learn the passwords to get into heaven!

Pope Leo also helped the Council of Chalcedon, which resolved a dispute about Christ’s human nature. Leo had written a letter later to be called his Tome that stated the Catholic belief that in a single person, Jesus Christ, has two natures, human and divine, that neither commingle nor are confused. Pope Leo rightly articulated that the natures are distinct but the person is one in Jesus.

As mentioned last week the barbarian tribes were not strangers to the Roman Empire. The Huns had established an empire in Central Europe containing a number of other tribes around AD 400. The Huns were fierce warriors who fought on horseback with javelins and bows. Attila ruled the Huns AD 434-453. The Easter Roman Empire had been paying Attila to not attack them. That treaty broke down as the Empire did. Around AD 442 Attila started invading and looting the Balkans. He eventually went all the way to Constantinople, but he could not take the city. He made several attempts but failed.

Attila had a much better relationship with the Western Empire until court intrigue got him on the wrong side of a succession dispute. The Romans allied with the Franks and first defeated Attila at the Battle of Catalaunian Plains in Ad 451. Attila returned to Italy the next year claiming the nation and the hand of Honoria, the sister to the Emperor. Somehow Pope Leo was able to convince Attila to leave and abandon his campaign. Supposedly Attila saw the vision of a giant dressed as a priest during the negotiations and left. He would die the next year.

Pope Leo was not so lucky with the Vandals in AD 455 but did spare the city from being burnt. Pope Leo would gain his heavenly reward in 461. By the time of his death the Western Empire had fallen into petty kingdoms, but the East still held.

In His Sacred Heart,
Fr. John