The Solemnity or Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord is celebrated on March 25. Here, in his typically lyrical language and powerful imagery, Leo the Great ponders the unfathomable mystery of God becoming man in the womb of a Virgin who had the...
Leo the Great on the famous passage from Matthew 16 in which Jesus gives Cephas the new name of Peter, meaning rock, along with the keys to the kingdom of heaven. It is read each year on the Feast of the Chair of...
Leo the Great here emphasizes that the Incarnation, the mystery of God becoming man, changes everything. Human dignity is now vastly elevated, requiring us to live in a new way, with a new relationship to the visible things of this beautiful but passing world....
Lenten fasting works best when accompanied by almsgiving and works of mercy, says Leo the Great, writing around AD 450. This powerful combination brings healing, spiritual renewal, and progress in virtue....
"Epiphany" means revelation or appearance of a King. On this feast, the church celebrates the revelation of Christ as King, messiah, Lord, and God to the Gentiles, to all nations, represented by the Magi from the east. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]he loving providence of...
Leo the Great reminds us that Christmas, the nativity of the Lord Jesus, is the birthday of peace and our birthday as well, since we are members of Christ's body, the Church....
Saint Leo says the genealogy of Jesus given us in Luke and Matthew's gospels shows that Jesus was truly one of us, possessing a complete human nature. He did not merely appear in human form, as in the biblical types and scriptural symbols of the...
Leo the Great teaches that he sign of the cross with the oil called chrism, conferred on all Christians in baptism and confirmation, makes all sharers in the priesthood and kingship of Christ, the anointed one....
Leo the Great here comments on the right use of earthly treasure to store up heavenly riches. True wealth consists in the possession of God, the source of all delight. We store it up through mercy and compassion. ...
Leo the Great on the seventh of the Beatitudes, "blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." Those who have inner peace due to submission to the will of God are the ones who can create true harmony in the...