Three popes bear the moniker “the Great,” and Saint John Paul II has been enthusiastically commended to be the fourth, writes Father Zachary Mabee, Pastor of Saint Joseph Shrine, Brooklyn, and Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, November 10.
In addition to Saint Gregory and the lesser-known Saint Nicholas I, the first to receive the designation was Saint Leo I, who succeeded Pope Sixtus III in 440 A.D. Like with the other two “Greats,” it can seem an overwhelming challenge to summarize what was most striking, noble, or exemplary in Saint Leo’s life and apostolic witness, which was radiant on so many fronts.
One way of distilling his episcopal virtue is through the lens of a shepherd and his responsibilities. We take that model — as the Lord himself is described in Psalm 23 — as foundational for the bishop, who carries a crosier, modeled after a shepherd’s staff. Among the key responsibilities of shepherds are, of course, caring for and protecting their flocks: Making sure that they are well-fed and safe; leading them, to quote Psalm 23, to green pastures and beside still waters. A concomitant aspect of this care is protecting their flocks — against predators, disease, dangerous terrain, or anything else that might imperil them.
Saint Leo fed the people of God with life-giving spiritual nourishment in a time when various heresies (like Nestorianism) sought to undermine our utterly foundational belief in the Incarnation — that in the one person of Jesus Christ, his divine and human natures are truly (hypostatically) united, without confusion, change, division, or separation. His Tome, which defended orthodox Christianity against Eutyches and others, was the flagship document of the Council of Chalcedon (451).
He was also known for fostering, as a faithful shepherd and spiritual father should, the spiritual and pastoral vitality of his people — nourishing them with astute but grounded preaching and calling them to works of charity and mercy amidst famine, hunger, and significant migration. What is more, he sought to excise, like his confreres whom we also call “Great,” tumors within the Church, like clerical and episcopal corruption. He imposed discipline on the clerical ranks and sought to purify these holy offices.
Finally, Saint Leo was remarkable in his protection of the Church from threats from without. He famously — by aid of a heavenly vision, the story goes — stood firm against the encroachment of Attila the Hun in 452 and spared Rome from being sacked. Though he was not as successful against the Vandal invasion several years later, he at least helped protect Rome against being burned and was no doubt a singular stalwart against the most threatening political invaders of his era.
We just heard in the lectionary, for the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Saint Paul having described his ministry as a life of being poured out like a libation for the People of God. Saint Leo did this as well, as a faithful and diligent shepherd of the universal Church, and so we rightly — giving glory and honor to God — hail him as Great.