The great mystery of Reconciliation
From a letter by Saint Leo the Great, Pope (d.461)
The mystery of our reconciliation with God
To speak of our Lord, the son of the blessed Virgin Mary, as true and perfect man is of no value to us if we do not believe that he is descended from the line of ancestors set out in the Gospel. Matthew’s gospel begins by setting out the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham, and then traces his human descent by bringing his ancestral line down to his mother’s husband, Joseph. On the other hand, Luke traces his parentage backward, step by step, to the actual father of mankind, to show that both the first and the last Adam share in the same nature.
No doubt the son of God, in his omnipotence, could have taught and sanctified men by appearing to them in a semblance of human form as he did to the patriarchs and prophets, when for instance he engaged in a wrestling contest or entered into conversation with them, or when he accepted their hospitality and even ate the food they set before him. But these appearances were only types, signs that mysteriously foretold the coming of one who would take a true human nature from the stock of the patriarchs who had gone before him. No mere figure, then, fulfilled the mystery of our reconciliation with God, ordained from all eternity. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon the Virgin nor had the power of the Most High overshadowed her, so that within her spotless womb Wisdom might build itself a house and the Word become flesh. The divine nature and the nature of a servant were to be united in one person so that the Creator of time might be born in time, and he through whom all things were made might be brought forth in their midst.
For unless the new man, by being made in the likeness of a sinful humanity, had taken on himself the nature of our first parents, unless he had stooped to be one in substance with his mother while sharing the Father’s substance and, being alone free from sin, united our nature to his, the whole human race would still be held captive under the dominion of Satan. The Conqueror’s victory would have profited us nothing if the battle had been fought outside our human condition. But through this wonderful blending the mystery of new birth shone upon us, so that through the same Spirit by whom Christ was conceived and brought forth we too might be born again in a spiritual birth; and in consequence the evangelist declares the faithful to have been born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
Saint Leo the Great was born in Rome of Tuscan parents and served as deacon under Popes Celestine I and Sixtus III. He served as a peacemaker between the imperial generals whose quarrels left Gaul open to attacks by the barbarians. He was elected Pope in 440, succeeding Sixtus III. He completed a series of ninety six sermons which still exist today, on matters of theology, faith and morals, clarifying the doctrine of the Incarnation, and eloquent commentaries opposing the heresies of his time. In 452, Attila and his Huns invaded Italy and were about to attack defenseless Rome when he was met at the gates by Leo. In this face-to-face meeting with Leo, Attila was dissuaded from destroying the city.
The story is told of Attila’s servants asking him why he had so easily accommodated the Bishop of Rome. Attila answered that all the while the Pope was speaking there appeared in the sky above the Pope’s head a figure dressed as a priest holding a drawn sword and was ready to kill him unless he consented to do as Leo asked. The figure was that of Saint Peter!
Three years later, Rome was again attacked, this time by the Vandal Genseric, who indeed plundered Rome, but at Leo’s persuasion, agreed not to violate the inhabitants. Leo ministered to the stricken populace and worked to rebuild the city and its churches. He also sent missionaries to Africa to minister to the captives Genseric took back with him. Leo died in Rome on November 10, 461. His legacy advanced the influence of the papacy to unprecedented heights. In a time of great disorder, he forged an energetic central authority which affected the papacy for centuries to come.
Saint Leo the Great confronting Attila the Hun at Rome – Painted by Raphael in 1514