Our father among the saints, '''Pope Leo I''', or Saint '''Leo the Great''', was a aristocrat who was [[Pope]] of [[Church of Rome|Rome]] from 440 to 461. He is the first widely known Popepope, and even sometimes assigned the title "first Popepope.". He stopped the invasion of Italy by Attila the Hun in 452 by his moral persuasion, and was a [[theologian]]. St Leo the Great the His [[feast day]] is commemorated on [[February 18]], by the Orthodox Church.

Saint Leo was born in AD 400 in Tuscany, Italy. He was well -educated , but yearned for the spiritual life. So he He became a [[deacon]] and occupied a important position with St. [[Cyril of Alexandria]]. He became an [[archdeacon]] under Pope [[Sixtus III of Rome|Sixtus III]], after whose death St. Leo was unanimously elected [[Bishop]] of Rome.

These were difficult times for the Church, when [[Heresy|heretic]]s assaulted Orthodoxy with their false teachings. St Leo combined pastoral attentiveness with uncompromising firmness in the confession of the Faith. He was in particular one of the basic defenders of Orthodoxy against the heresies of [[Eutyches]] and [[Dioscorus]], who taught that there was only one nature in the Lord [[Jesus Christ]]. He was also a defender against the heresy of [[Nestorius]].

He actively promoted the convening of the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council]], at Chalcedon in 451, to condemn the heresy of the [[Monophysitism|Monophysites]].

At the Council at of Chalcedon, at which 630 bishops were present, a letter of St Leo to the deceased St . [[Flavian of Constantinople|Flavian]], [[Patriarch of Constantinople ]] (447-449) , was read. St Flavian had suffered for Orthodoxy under the [[Robber Council of Ephesus]] in the year 449. In the letter of St Leo, the Orthodox teaching about the two natures of Christ, divine and human , was set forth. All the bishops present at the Council were in agreement with this teaching, and so the heretics Eutyches and Dioscorus were [[excommunicate]]d from the Church.

In 452, by the persuasive power of his words, he stopped Attila the Hun from pillaging Italy. Again in the year 455, when the Henzerich, the leader of the Vandals, a Germanic tribe, Henzerichof Vandals, turned towards Rome, he Leo persuaded him not to pillage the city, burn buildings, nor to spill blood.

He Leo died in the year 461. His literary and theological legacy is comprised of 96 [[homily|sermons]] and 143 letters, of which the best known is his Epistleto ''Epistle to St . Flavian''. 

*[[w:Pope Leo I the Great|Pope Leo I]] on Wikipedia*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=100553 St Leo the Great the Pope of Rome] ([[OCA]]) ==External links==*[http://enwww.wikipediaccel.org/wikiccel/Pope_Leo_I_the_Great Pope schaff/npnf212.ii.iii.i.html The Letters and Sermons of Leo Ithe Great, Bishop of Rome] wikipediaat the Christian Classics Ethereal Library*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLifeFeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=100553 St Leo the Great the Pope of Rome ] ([[OCA]] web site)*[http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/saints.asp?contentid=433 Leo the Great, Pope of Rome] ([[GOARCH]]) 

before= Pope Sixtus III|title= Pope of Rome|years= 440-461|after=Pope Hilarius|}}