RADIO VATICANA REPORT: Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday
issued the Motu Proprio Latina Lingua, which establishes the new Pontifical
Academy for Latin. The Academy is meant to promote the knowledge and study of
the Latin language and Latin literature, from classical times to the present
day.
“The Latin language has always been held in high regard by the Catholic Church and the Roman pontiffs,” writes Pope Benedict.
He pointed out Latin and Greek were used in the early Church, being the universal languages of the time, and since then the Church has made Latin “her own language.”
The Holy Father writes, “After the demise of the Roman Empire, the Church of Rome not only continued to make use of the Latin language, but also became in a way its guardian and promoter, both in theology and liturgy, and in formation and the transmission of knowledge.”
Pope Benedict said a good understanding of Latin is more necessary than ever in the Church, due to its importance in studying Theology, Liturgy, Patristics, and Canon Law.
He said a “superficial” knowledge of Latin can be detrimental to the philosophical and theological training of future priests.
“in our own times…there is a renewed interest in the Latin language and classical culture, and not only on those continents that have their cultural roots from the Greco-Roman heritage,” Pope Benedict writes. “Such interest is all the more significant because it involves not only the academic world, but also young people and scholars from very diverse nations and traditions.”
The new Pontifical Academy will be under the Pontifical Council for Culture, and replace the Latin Foundation established by Pope Paul VI. The President of the Academy will be Professor Ivano Dionigi, while the Secretary will be Father Roberto Spataro, S.D.B.
Its mandate includes producing publications, hosting conferences and seminars, and promoting Latin in the new media.
However, the Academy is also meant to serve the wider society.
Pope meets Italian choir members
“The Latin language has always been held in high regard by the Catholic Church and the Roman pontiffs,” writes Pope Benedict.
He pointed out Latin and Greek were used in the early Church, being the universal languages of the time, and since then the Church has made Latin “her own language.”
The Holy Father writes, “After the demise of the Roman Empire, the Church of Rome not only continued to make use of the Latin language, but also became in a way its guardian and promoter, both in theology and liturgy, and in formation and the transmission of knowledge.”
Pope Benedict said a good understanding of Latin is more necessary than ever in the Church, due to its importance in studying Theology, Liturgy, Patristics, and Canon Law.
He said a “superficial” knowledge of Latin can be detrimental to the philosophical and theological training of future priests.
“in our own times…there is a renewed interest in the Latin language and classical culture, and not only on those continents that have their cultural roots from the Greco-Roman heritage,” Pope Benedict writes. “Such interest is all the more significant because it involves not only the academic world, but also young people and scholars from very diverse nations and traditions.”
The new Pontifical Academy will be under the Pontifical Council for Culture, and replace the Latin Foundation established by Pope Paul VI. The President of the Academy will be Professor Ivano Dionigi, while the Secretary will be Father Roberto Spataro, S.D.B.
Its mandate includes producing publications, hosting conferences and seminars, and promoting Latin in the new media.
However, the Academy is also meant to serve the wider society.
Pope meets Italian choir members
Pope Benedict on
Saturday greeted members of the Italian Association of Santa Cecilia, which is
made up of members of church choirs from across the country.Noting that this is the Year of Faith, the Holy Father spoke to the choristers about the role sacred music can play in promoting the faith, and working for the New Evangelization.
“If, in fact, faith always comes from the Word of God – a listening, of course, which is not only through our senses, but which also passes to the mind and heart – there is no doubt that music and especially singing can give the recitation of psalms and biblical canticles greater communicative power,” the Pope said.
Pope Benedict spoke about how St. Augustine was moved by the Ambrosian Chant he encountered in Milan.
“[Augustine] did not approve of the pursuit of a mere pleasure of the senses during sung liturgies,” the Pope explained. “But he recognized that well-constructed music and singing can help to welcome the Word of God.”
Quoting the Vatican II document on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, Pope Benedict said the purpose of sacred music “is the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful.”
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
CATHOLIC MOVIES - WATCH ST. BERNADETTE OF LOURDES - PART 2
In honor of the YEAR OF FAITH - JCE news will
be showing some of the TOP Catholic movies of all time. Tune in for the next
PART of St. Bernadette of Lourdes- tomorrow.
PART I http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2012/11/catholic-movies-watch-st-bernadette-of.html
PART I http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2012/11/catholic-movies-watch-st-bernadette-of.html
AMERICA : GUATEMALA : EARTHQUAKE KILLS 52 - GREAT DAMAGE
Agenzia Fides REPORT – 52 people have died
due to the earthquake on November 7, while 22 people are still considered
missing, according to the report of Caritas Guatemala, sent to Fides Agency.
Official figures show a terrible situation: 5,251 displaced, 150 wounded and
2,263 houses seriously damaged. The most affected are mainly very poor people.
Even the damage to the infrastructure in the area is severe: 3 bridges
destroyed, 10 schools and 26 hospitals damaged.
Caritas Guatemala has begun the collection of detailed information to be able to create a clear picture in order to provide targeted support to the victims in the affected areas: San Marcos, Quetzaltenango and Sololá. The Archdiocese of Guatemala has opened two centers for the collection of food and blankets, while a truck with medical supplies and drinking water has already left the capital. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 10/11/2012)
Caritas Guatemala has begun the collection of detailed information to be able to create a clear picture in order to provide targeted support to the victims in the affected areas: San Marcos, Quetzaltenango and Sololá. The Archdiocese of Guatemala has opened two centers for the collection of food and blankets, while a truck with medical supplies and drinking water has already left the capital. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 10/11/2012)
ASIA : LEBANON : MARONITE PATRIARCH TRIES TO DIALOGUE WITH HEZBOLLAH
ASIA NEWS REPORT
The meeting between the cardinal-designate and a delegation of the Party of God is followed by those with the opposition and Christian politicians. Agreement on the need for dialogue to end the crisis and the need, in principle, for a truly representative electoral law.
Beirut (AsiaNews) - An important meeting for the future of Lebanon took place yesterday in Bkerke between Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and a delegation of Hezbollah, led by Sayyed Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, head of the political council of the Party of God ( in the picture).
The formal motivation was the presentation of congratulations on the Patriarch's appointment as cardinal, to which he responded with a less formal invitation to the ceremony in Rome on 24 November.
The occasion was used, however, for an exchange of views on key issues, such as the new electoral law and, above all, for finding a way out of a crisis that has long held the Land of Cedars in political stalemate.
Card. Rai is very cautiously moving on this front. The meeting with the Shi'ite group in fact follows those with the opposition, the 14 March party led by Fouad Siniora, and with Christian politicians such as Michel Aoun.
This in an attempt to "open a breach in the wall" in place between the political forces. A line that actually sees the patriarch sided with President Michel Sleiman.
For his part, Sayyed called the meeting with the Patriarch as "an opportunity to discuss issues affecting the Lebanese" and for agreement on the "use of dialogue to resolve differences".
The same Sayyed, however, has denied that there is the possibility of creating a "neutral government" suggested by March 14.
In principal, the Patriarch and Shiites have both agreed on the need for a new electoral law. Card. Rai wants it to be "truly representative of all parts of society and that safeguards coexistence." Sayyed explained that Hezbollah's support for a proportional electoral law "means that we reject that of 1960" and the new one "must ensure effective representation and maintain collaboration between the public and the political authority."
What concrete steps these affirmations will produce remains to be seen. (PD)
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS IT
The meeting between the cardinal-designate and a delegation of the Party of God is followed by those with the opposition and Christian politicians. Agreement on the need for dialogue to end the crisis and the need, in principle, for a truly representative electoral law.
Beirut (AsiaNews) - An important meeting for the future of Lebanon took place yesterday in Bkerke between Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and a delegation of Hezbollah, led by Sayyed Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, head of the political council of the Party of God ( in the picture).
The formal motivation was the presentation of congratulations on the Patriarch's appointment as cardinal, to which he responded with a less formal invitation to the ceremony in Rome on 24 November.
The occasion was used, however, for an exchange of views on key issues, such as the new electoral law and, above all, for finding a way out of a crisis that has long held the Land of Cedars in political stalemate.
Card. Rai is very cautiously moving on this front. The meeting with the Shi'ite group in fact follows those with the opposition, the 14 March party led by Fouad Siniora, and with Christian politicians such as Michel Aoun.
This in an attempt to "open a breach in the wall" in place between the political forces. A line that actually sees the patriarch sided with President Michel Sleiman.
For his part, Sayyed called the meeting with the Patriarch as "an opportunity to discuss issues affecting the Lebanese" and for agreement on the "use of dialogue to resolve differences".
The same Sayyed, however, has denied that there is the possibility of creating a "neutral government" suggested by March 14.
In principal, the Patriarch and Shiites have both agreed on the need for a new electoral law. Card. Rai wants it to be "truly representative of all parts of society and that safeguards coexistence." Sayyed explained that Hezbollah's support for a proportional electoral law "means that we reject that of 1960" and the new one "must ensure effective representation and maintain collaboration between the public and the political authority."
What concrete steps these affirmations will produce remains to be seen. (PD)
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS IT
AFRICA : NIGERIA : 64 COUPLES MARRIED BY BISHOP
DAILY TRUST REPORT: BY:
EMMA ELEKWA
About 64 couples were last Saturday joined together in holy matrimony by Rt. Rev. Mons Anselm Umoren at the All Saints Catholic Church, Dutsen- Alhaji, in Bwari Area Council of the FCT.
The couples in appreciation gave N100,000 to the church for assisting them financially to get married.
Speaking during the wedding, the auxiliary bishop, His Lordship, Rt. Rev. Mons Anselm Umoren, told the couples to allow God be the pilot of their marriage lives as they learn to tolerate each other.
He blessed the marriages and prayed the couples have God's peace, joy and fruitfulness in their new homes.
Mr. Raymond Ugbeshe who spoke on behalf of the couples during thanksgiving mass, thanked God for giving them the opportunity to receive the sacrament of holy matrimony.
He expressed appreciation particularly to the auxiliary bishop, Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Daniel Agber and the entire parishioners for organizing the wedding their financial contributions
About 64 couples were last Saturday joined together in holy matrimony by Rt. Rev. Mons Anselm Umoren at the All Saints Catholic Church, Dutsen- Alhaji, in Bwari Area Council of the FCT.
The couples in appreciation gave N100,000 to the church for assisting them financially to get married.
Speaking during the wedding, the auxiliary bishop, His Lordship, Rt. Rev. Mons Anselm Umoren, told the couples to allow God be the pilot of their marriage lives as they learn to tolerate each other.
He blessed the marriages and prayed the couples have God's peace, joy and fruitfulness in their new homes.
Mr. Raymond Ugbeshe who spoke on behalf of the couples during thanksgiving mass, thanked God for giving them the opportunity to receive the sacrament of holy matrimony.
He expressed appreciation particularly to the auxiliary bishop, Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Daniel Agber and the entire parishioners for organizing the wedding their financial contributions
AUSTRALIA : ARCHBISHOP 'S FUNDRAISING DINNER
ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE RELEASE
Melbourne News Archbishop's Dinner 2012
Friday 9 November 2012
By John Ralph AC
MORE than 500 people attended this year's Archbishop's Dinner at the Flemington Racecourse Function Centre on Friday 5 October. This was the largest attendance at this annual event since it was established fourteen years ago. The dinner is organized each year by the Priests Support and Education Fund to raise funds for the further education of Seminarians and Priests in the Dioceses of Victoria. The Fund was set up by the Knights of the Southern Cross in 1998.
View Gallery
While the Dinner was established to raise funds for a very worthy cause, it has other specific objectives. One is that by gathering together, members of the Catholic community and their friends show their support for their Bishops and clergy. A second is to provide an opportunity for sharing a spirit of community, a spirit that goes back to the foundation of the Church.
It was an enjoyable and entertaining night for all those present. The guest speaker at the dinner was Mr Bernard Salt, Australia's leading demographer and social commentator. In his presentation, which was both informative and entertaining, he illustrated the changing demographics that have significant implications for the future of Australia. He explained that not only do people have a much longer life expectancy, but there are now many more changes
within their lifetime, compared with their
predecessors.
Today on average, people enter the workforce later, and have a longer prospective period in retirement. Mr Salt included a chart showing the substantially increasing numbers of people entering retirement from this year on, as the baby boomers start to retire, which will have major implications for future health and social security funding.
Seminarians, forming the Scola at the Corpus Christi College seminary, sang three sacred songs for the enjoyment of the guests. These songs and others have been recorded on a CD which was available for purchase on the night and is generally for sale. The Dinner raised $70,000 and a cheque for this amount was handed to Archbishop Hart who expressed his appreciation and that of his fellow bishops. In doing so, he commented on the wonderful spirit of the evening.
John Ralph AC is Chairman of the Knights of the Southern Cross Priests Support and Education Fund.
Photos by John Romeo
By John Ralph AC
MORE than 500 people attended this year's Archbishop's Dinner at the Flemington Racecourse Function Centre on Friday 5 October. This was the largest attendance at this annual event since it was established fourteen years ago. The dinner is organized each year by the Priests Support and Education Fund to raise funds for the further education of Seminarians and Priests in the Dioceses of Victoria. The Fund was set up by the Knights of the Southern Cross in 1998.
View Gallery
While the Dinner was established to raise funds for a very worthy cause, it has other specific objectives. One is that by gathering together, members of the Catholic community and their friends show their support for their Bishops and clergy. A second is to provide an opportunity for sharing a spirit of community, a spirit that goes back to the foundation of the Church.
It was an enjoyable and entertaining night for all those present. The guest speaker at the dinner was Mr Bernard Salt, Australia's leading demographer and social commentator. In his presentation, which was both informative and entertaining, he illustrated the changing demographics that have significant implications for the future of Australia. He explained that not only do people have a much longer life expectancy, but there are now many more changes
within their lifetime, compared with their
predecessors. Today on average, people enter the workforce later, and have a longer prospective period in retirement. Mr Salt included a chart showing the substantially increasing numbers of people entering retirement from this year on, as the baby boomers start to retire, which will have major implications for future health and social security funding.
Seminarians, forming the Scola at the Corpus Christi College seminary, sang three sacred songs for the enjoyment of the guests. These songs and others have been recorded on a CD which was available for purchase on the night and is generally for sale. The Dinner raised $70,000 and a cheque for this amount was handed to Archbishop Hart who expressed his appreciation and that of his fellow bishops. In doing so, he commented on the wonderful spirit of the evening.
John Ralph AC is Chairman of the Knights of the Southern Cross Priests Support and Education Fund.
Photos by John Romeo
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE SAT. NOV. 10, 2012
Philippians 4: 10 - 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me; you were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Not that I complain of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | I can do all things in him who strengthens me. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedo'nia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | for even in Thessaloni'ca you sent me help once and again. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Not that I seek the gift; but I seek the fruit which increases to your credit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | I have received full payment, and more; I am filled, having received from Epaphrodi'tus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | And my God will supply every
need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TODAY'S SAINT: NOV. 10: ST. LEO THE GREAT
St. Leo the
Great
POPE
Feast: November 10
Information:
Feast Day:
November 10
Born:
400 at Tuscany, Italy
Died:
11 April 461 at Rome, Italy
Place and date of birth unknown; died 10 November, 461. Leo's pontificate, next to that of St. Gregory I, is the most significant and important in Christian antiquity. At a time when the Church was experiencing the greatest obstacles to her progress in consequence of the hastening disintegration of the Western Empire, while the Orient was profoundly agitated over dogmatic controversies, this great pope, with far-seeing sagacity and powerful hand, guided the destiny of the Roman and Universal Church. According to the "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Mommsen, I, 101 sqq., ed. Duchesne, I, 238 sqq.), Leo was a native of Tuscany and his father's name was Quintianus. Our earliest certain historical information about Leo reveals him a deacon of the Roman Church under Pope Celestine I (422-32). Even during this period he was known outside of Rome, and had some relations with Gaul, since Cassianus in 430 or 431 wrote at Leo's suggestion his work "De Incarnatione Domini contra Nestorium" (Migne, P.L., L, 9 sqq.), prefacing it with a letter of dedication to Leo. About this time Cyril of Alexandria appealed to Rome against the pretensions of Bishop Juvenal of Jerusalem. From an assertion of Leo's in a letter of later date (ep. cxvi, ed. Ballerini, I, 1212; II, 1528), it is not very clear whether Cyril wrote to him in the capacity of Roman deacon, or to Pope Celestine. During the pontificate of Sixtus III (422-40), Leo was sent to Gaul by Emperor Valentinian III to settle a dispute and bring about a reconciliation between Aëtius, the chief military commander of the province, and the chief magistrate, Albinus. This commission is a proof of the great confidence placed in the clever and able deacon by the Imperial Court. Sixtus III died on 19 August, 440, while Leo was in Gaul, and the latter was chosen his successor. Returning to Rome, Leo was consecrated on 29 September of the same year, and governed the Roman Church for the next twenty-one years.
Leo's chief aim was to sustain the unity of the Church. Not long after his elevation to the Chair of Peter, he saw himself compelled to combat energetically the heresies which seriously threatened church unity even in the West. Leo had ascertained through Bishop Septimus of Altinum, that in Aquileia priests, deacons, and clerics, who had been adherents of Pelagius, were admitted to communion without an explicit abjuration of their heresy. The pope sharply censured this procedure, and directed that a provincial synod should be assembled in Aquileia, at which such persons were to be required to abjure Pelagianism publicly and to subscribe to an unequivocal confession of Faith (epp. i and ii). This zealous pastor waged war even more strenuously against Manichæism, inasmuch as its adherents, who had been driven from Africa by the Vandals, had settled in Rome, and had succeeded in establishing a secret Manichæan community there. The pope ordered the faithful to point out these heretics to the priests, and in 443, together with the senators and presbyters, conducted in person an investigation, in the course of which the leaders of the community were examined. In several sermons he emphatically warned the Christians of Rome to be on their guard against this reprehensible heresy, and repeatedly charged them to give information about its followers, their dwellings, acquaintances, and rendezvous (Sermo ix, 4, xvi, 4; xxiv, 4; xxxiv, 4 sq.; xlii, 4 sq.; lxxvi, 6). A number of Manichæans in Rome were converted and admitted to confession; others, who remained obdurate, were in obedience to imperial decrees banished from Rome by the civil magistrates. On 30 January, 444, the pope sent a letter to all the bishops of Italy, to which he appended the documents containing his proceedings against the Manichæans in Rome, and warned them to be on their guard and to take action against the followers of the sect (ep. vii). On 19 June, 445, Emperor Valentinian III issued, doubtless at the pope's instigation, a stern edict in which he established seven punishments for the Manichæans ("Epist. Leonis", ed. Ballerini, I, 626; ep. viii inter Leon. ep). Prosper of Aquitaine states in his "Chronicle" (ad an. 447; "Mon. Germ. hist. Auct. antiquissimi", IX, I, 341 sqq.) that, in consequence of Leo's energetic measures, the Manichæans were also driven out of the provinces, and even Oriental bishops emulated the pope's example in regard to this sect. In Spain the heresy of Priscillianism still survived, and for some time had been attracting fresh adherents. Bishop Turibius of Astorga became cognizant of this, and by extensive journeys collected minute information about the condition of the churches and the spread of Priscillianism. He compiled the errors of the heresy, wrote a refutation of the same, and sent these documents to several African bishops. He also sent a copy to the pope, whereupon the latter sent a lengthy letter to Turibius (ep. xv) in refutation of the errors of the Priscillianists. Leo at the same time ordered that a council of bishops belonging to the neighbouring provinces should be convened to institute a rigid enquiry, with the object of determining whether any of the bishops had become tainted with the poison of this heresy. Should any such be discovered, they were to be excommunicated without hesitation. The pope also addressed a similar letter to the bishops of the Spanish provinces, notifying them that a universal synod of all the chief pastors was to be summoned; if this should be found to be impossible, the bishops of Galicia at least should be assembled. These two synods were in fact held in Spain to deal with the points at issue (Hefele, "Konziliengesch." II, 2nd ed., pp. 306 sqq.).
The greatly disorganized ecclesiastical condition of certain countries, resulting from national migrations, demanded closer bonds between their episcopate and Rome for the better promotion of ecclesiastical life. Leo, with this object in view, determined to make use of the papal vicariate of the bishops of Arles for the province of Gaul for the creation of a centre for the Gallican episcopate in immediate union with Rome. In the beginning his efforts were greatly hampered by his conflict with St. Hilary, then Bishop of Arles. Even earlier, conflicts had arisen relative to the vicariate of the bishops of Arles and its privileges. Hilary made excessive use of his authority over other ecclesiastical provinces, and claimed that all bishops should be consecrated by him, instead of by their own metropolitan. When, for example, the complaint was raised that Bishop Celidonius of Besançon had been consecrated in violation of the canons—the grounds alleged being that he had, as a layman, married a widow, and, as a public officer, had given his consent to a death sentence—Hilary deposed him, and consecrated Importunus as his successor. Celidonius thereupon appealed to the pope and set out in person for Rome. About the same time Hilary, as if the see concerned had been vacant, consecrated another bishop to take the place of a certain Bishop Projectus, who was ill. Projectus recovered, however, and he too laid a complaint at Rome about the action of the Bishop of Arles. Hilary then went himself to Rome to justify his proceedings. The pope assembled a Roman synod (about 445) and, when the complaints brought against Celidonius could not be verified, reinstated the latter in his see. Projectus also received his bishopric again. Hilary returned to Arles before the synod was over; the pope deprived him of jurisdiction over the other Gallic provinces and of metropolitan rights over the province of Vienne, only allowing him to retain his Diocese of Arles.
These decisions were disclosed by Leo in a letter to the bishops of the Province of Vienne (ep. x). At the same time he sent them an edict of Valentinian III of 8 July, 445, in which the pope's measures in regard to St. Hilary were supported, and the primacy of the Bishop of Rome over the whole Church solemnly recognized "Epist. Leonis," ed. Ballerini, I, 642). On his return to his bishopric Hilary sought a reconciliation with the pope. After this there arose no further difficulties between these two saintly men and, after his death in 449, Hilary was declared by Leo as "beatæ memoriæ". To Bishop Ravennius, St. Hilary's successor in the see of Arles, and the bishops of that province, Leo addressed most cordial letters in 449 on the election of the new metropolitan (epp. xl, xli). When Ravennius consecrated a little later a new bishop to take the place of the deceased Bishop of Vaison, the Archbishop of Vienne, who was then in Rome, took exception to this action. The bishops of the province of Arles then wrote a joint letter to the pope, in which they begged him to restore to Ravennius the rights of which his predecessor Hilary had been deprived (ep. lxv inter ep. Leonis). In his reply dated 5 May, 450 (ep. lxvi), Leo acceded to their request. The Archbishop of Vienne was to retain only the suffragan Bishoprics of Valence, Tarentaise, Geneva, and Grenoble; all the other sees in the Province of Vienne were made subject to the Archbishop of Arles, who also became again the mediator between the Holy See and the whole Gallic episcopate. Leo transmitted to Ravennius (ep. lxvii), for communication to the other Gallican bishops, his celebrated letter to Flavian of Constantinople on the Incarnation. Ravennius thereupon convened a synod, at which forty-four chief pastors assembled. In their synodal letter of 451, they affirm that they accept the pope's letter as a symbol of faith (ep. xxix inter ep. Leonis). In his answer Leo speaks further of the condemnation of Nestorius (ep. cii). The Vicariate of Arles for a long time retained the position Leo had accorded it. Another papal vicariate was that of the bishops of Thessalonica, whose jurisdiction extended over Illyria. The special duty of this vicariate was to protect the rights of the Holy See over the district of Eastern Illyria, which belonged to the Eastern Empire. Leo bestowed the vicariate upon Bishop Anastasius of Thessalonica, just as Pope Siricius had formerly entrusted it to Bishop Anysius. The vicar was to consecrate the metropolitans, to assemble in a synod all bishops of the Province of Eastern Illyria, to oversee their administration of their office; but the most important matters were to be submitted to Rome (epp. v, vi, xiii). But Anastasius of Thessalonica used his authority in an arbitrary and despotic manner, so much so that he was severely reproved by Leo, who sent him fuller directions for the exercise of his office (ep. xiv).
In Leo's conception of his duties as supreme pastor, the maintenance of strict ecclesiastical discipline occupied a prominent place. This was particularly important at a time when the continual ravages of the barbarians were introducing disorder into all conditions of life, and the rules of morality were being seriously violated. Leo used his utmost energy in maintining this discipline, insisted on the exact observance of the ecclesiastical precepts, and did not hesitate to rebuke when necessary. Letters (ep. xvii) relative to these and other matters were sent to the different bishops of the Western Empire—e.g., to the bishops of the Italian provinces (epp. iv, xix, clxvi, clxviii), and to those of Sicily, who had tolerated deviations from the Roman Liturgy in the administration of Baptism (ep. xvi), and concerning other matters (ep. xvii). A very important disciplinary decree was sent to bishop Rusticus of Narbonne (ep. clxvii). Owing to the dominion of the Vandals in Latin North Africa, the position of the Church there had become extremely gloomy. Leo sent the Roman priest Potentius thither to inform himself about the exact condition, and to forward a report to Rome. On receiving this Leo sent a letter of detailed instructions to the episcopate of the province about the adjustment of numerous ecclesiastical and disciplinary questions (ep. xii). Leo also sent a letter to Dioscurus of Alexandria on 21 July, 445, urging him to the strict observance of the canons and discipline of the Roman Church (ep. ix). The primacy of the Roman Church was thus manifested under this pope in the most various and distinct ways. But it was especially in his interposition in the confusion of the Christological quarrels, which then so profoundly agitated Eastern Christendom, that Leo most brilliantly revealed himself the wise, learned, and energetic shepherd of the Church (see MONOPHYSITISM). From his first letter on this subject, written to Eutyches on 1 June, 448 (ep. xx), to his last letter written to the new orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, Timotheus Salophaciolus, on 18 August, 460 (ep. clxxi), we cannot but admire the clear, positive, and systematic manner in which Leo, fortified by the primacy of the Holy See, took part in this difficult entanglement.
Eutyches appealed to the pope after he had been excommunicated by Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople, on account of his Monophysite views. The pope, after investigating the disputed question, sent his sublime dogmatic letter to Flavian (ep. xxviii), concisely setting forth and confirming the doctrine of the Incarnation, and the union of the Divine and human natures in the one Person of Christ . In 449 the council, which was designated by Leo as the "Robber Synod", was held. Flavian and other powerful prelates of the East appealed to the pope. The latter sent urgent letters to Constantinople, particularly to Emperor Theodosius II and Empress Pulcheria, urging them to convene a general council in order to restore peace to the Church. To the same end he used his influence with the Western emperor, Valentinian III, and his mother Galla Placidia, especially during their visit to Rome in 450. This general council was held in Chalcedon in 451 under Marcian, the successor of Theodosius. It solemnly accepted Leo's dogmatical epistle to Flavian as an expression of the Catholic Faith concerning the Person of Christ. The pope confirmed the decrees of the Council after eliminating the canon, which elevated the Patriarchate of Constantinople, while diminishing the rights of the ancient Oriental patriarchs. On 21 March, 453, Leo issued a circular letter confirming his dogmatic definition (ep. cxiv). Through the mediation of Bishop Julian of Cos, who was at that time the papal ambassador in Constantinople, the pope tried to protect further ecclesiastical interest. in the Orient. He persuaded the new Emperor of Constantinople, Leo I, to remove the heretical and irregular patriarch, Timotheus Ailurus, from the See of Alexandria. A new and orthodox patriarch, Timotheus Salophaciolus, was chosen to fill his place, and received the congratulations of the pope in the last letter which Leo ever sent to the Orient.
In his far-reaching pastoral care of the Universal Church, in the West and in the East, the pope never neglected the domestic interests of the Church at Rome. When Northern Italy had been devastated by Attila, Leo by a personal encounter with the King of the Huns prevented him from marching upon Rome. At the emperor's wish, Leo, accompanied by the Consul Avienus and the Prefect Trigetius, went in 452 to Upper Italy, and met Attila at Mincio in the vicinity of Mantua, obtaining from him the promise that he would withdraw from Italy and negotiate peace with the emperor. The pope also succeeded in obtaining another great favour for the inhabitants of Rome. When in 455 the city was captured by the Vandals under Genseric, although for a fortnight the town had been plundered, Leo's intercession obtained a promise that the city should not be injured and that the lives of the inhabitants should be spared. These incidents show the highmoral authority enjoyed by the pope, manifested even in temporal affairs. Leo was always on terms of intimacy with the Western Imperial Court. In 450 Emperor Valentinian III visited Rome, accompanied by his wife Eudoxia and his mother Galla Placidia. On the feast of Cathedra Petri (22 February), the Imperial family with their brilliant retinue took part in the solemn services at St. Peter's, upon which occasion the pope delivered an impressive sermon. Leo was also active in building and restoring churches. He built a basilica over the grave of Pope Cornelius in the Via Appia. The roof of St. Paul's without the Walls having been destroyed by lightning, he had it replaced, and undertook other improvements in the basilica. He persuaded Empress Galla Placidia, as seen from the inscription, to have executed the great mosaic of the Arch of Triumph, which has survived to our day. Leo also restored St. Peter's on the Vatican. During his pontificate a pious Roman lady, named Demetria, erected on her property on the Via Appia a basilica in honour of St. Stephen, the ruins of which have been excavated.
Leo was no less active in the spiritual elevation of the Roman congregations, and his sermons, of which ninety-six genuine examples have been preserved, are remarkable for their profundity, clearness of diction, and elevated style. The first five of these, which were delivered on the anniversaries of his consecration, manifest his lofty conception of the dignity of his office, as well as his thorough conviction of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome, shown forth in so outspoken and decisive a manner by his whole activity as supreme pastor. Of his letters, which are of great importance for church history, 143 have come down to us: we also possess thirty which were sent to him. The so-called "Sacramentarium Leonianum" is a collection of orations and prefaces of the Mass, prepared in the second half of the sixth century. Leo died on 10 November, 461, and was buried in the vestibule of St. Peter's on the Vatican. In 688 Pope Sergius had his remains transferred to the basilica itself, and a special altar erected over them. They rest today in St. Peter's, beneath the altar specially dedicated to St. Leo. In 1754 Benedict XIV exalted him to the dignity of Doctor of the Church (doctor ecclesiæ). In the Latin Church the feast day of the great pope is held on 11 April, and in the Eastern Church on 18 February.
SOURCE http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/L/stleothegreat.asp
Feast: November 10
Information:
Feast Day:
November 10
Born:
400 at Tuscany, Italy
Died:
11 April 461 at Rome, Italy
Place and date of birth unknown; died 10 November, 461. Leo's pontificate, next to that of St. Gregory I, is the most significant and important in Christian antiquity. At a time when the Church was experiencing the greatest obstacles to her progress in consequence of the hastening disintegration of the Western Empire, while the Orient was profoundly agitated over dogmatic controversies, this great pope, with far-seeing sagacity and powerful hand, guided the destiny of the Roman and Universal Church. According to the "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Mommsen, I, 101 sqq., ed. Duchesne, I, 238 sqq.), Leo was a native of Tuscany and his father's name was Quintianus. Our earliest certain historical information about Leo reveals him a deacon of the Roman Church under Pope Celestine I (422-32). Even during this period he was known outside of Rome, and had some relations with Gaul, since Cassianus in 430 or 431 wrote at Leo's suggestion his work "De Incarnatione Domini contra Nestorium" (Migne, P.L., L, 9 sqq.), prefacing it with a letter of dedication to Leo. About this time Cyril of Alexandria appealed to Rome against the pretensions of Bishop Juvenal of Jerusalem. From an assertion of Leo's in a letter of later date (ep. cxvi, ed. Ballerini, I, 1212; II, 1528), it is not very clear whether Cyril wrote to him in the capacity of Roman deacon, or to Pope Celestine. During the pontificate of Sixtus III (422-40), Leo was sent to Gaul by Emperor Valentinian III to settle a dispute and bring about a reconciliation between Aëtius, the chief military commander of the province, and the chief magistrate, Albinus. This commission is a proof of the great confidence placed in the clever and able deacon by the Imperial Court. Sixtus III died on 19 August, 440, while Leo was in Gaul, and the latter was chosen his successor. Returning to Rome, Leo was consecrated on 29 September of the same year, and governed the Roman Church for the next twenty-one years.
Leo's chief aim was to sustain the unity of the Church. Not long after his elevation to the Chair of Peter, he saw himself compelled to combat energetically the heresies which seriously threatened church unity even in the West. Leo had ascertained through Bishop Septimus of Altinum, that in Aquileia priests, deacons, and clerics, who had been adherents of Pelagius, were admitted to communion without an explicit abjuration of their heresy. The pope sharply censured this procedure, and directed that a provincial synod should be assembled in Aquileia, at which such persons were to be required to abjure Pelagianism publicly and to subscribe to an unequivocal confession of Faith (epp. i and ii). This zealous pastor waged war even more strenuously against Manichæism, inasmuch as its adherents, who had been driven from Africa by the Vandals, had settled in Rome, and had succeeded in establishing a secret Manichæan community there. The pope ordered the faithful to point out these heretics to the priests, and in 443, together with the senators and presbyters, conducted in person an investigation, in the course of which the leaders of the community were examined. In several sermons he emphatically warned the Christians of Rome to be on their guard against this reprehensible heresy, and repeatedly charged them to give information about its followers, their dwellings, acquaintances, and rendezvous (Sermo ix, 4, xvi, 4; xxiv, 4; xxxiv, 4 sq.; xlii, 4 sq.; lxxvi, 6). A number of Manichæans in Rome were converted and admitted to confession; others, who remained obdurate, were in obedience to imperial decrees banished from Rome by the civil magistrates. On 30 January, 444, the pope sent a letter to all the bishops of Italy, to which he appended the documents containing his proceedings against the Manichæans in Rome, and warned them to be on their guard and to take action against the followers of the sect (ep. vii). On 19 June, 445, Emperor Valentinian III issued, doubtless at the pope's instigation, a stern edict in which he established seven punishments for the Manichæans ("Epist. Leonis", ed. Ballerini, I, 626; ep. viii inter Leon. ep). Prosper of Aquitaine states in his "Chronicle" (ad an. 447; "Mon. Germ. hist. Auct. antiquissimi", IX, I, 341 sqq.) that, in consequence of Leo's energetic measures, the Manichæans were also driven out of the provinces, and even Oriental bishops emulated the pope's example in regard to this sect. In Spain the heresy of Priscillianism still survived, and for some time had been attracting fresh adherents. Bishop Turibius of Astorga became cognizant of this, and by extensive journeys collected minute information about the condition of the churches and the spread of Priscillianism. He compiled the errors of the heresy, wrote a refutation of the same, and sent these documents to several African bishops. He also sent a copy to the pope, whereupon the latter sent a lengthy letter to Turibius (ep. xv) in refutation of the errors of the Priscillianists. Leo at the same time ordered that a council of bishops belonging to the neighbouring provinces should be convened to institute a rigid enquiry, with the object of determining whether any of the bishops had become tainted with the poison of this heresy. Should any such be discovered, they were to be excommunicated without hesitation. The pope also addressed a similar letter to the bishops of the Spanish provinces, notifying them that a universal synod of all the chief pastors was to be summoned; if this should be found to be impossible, the bishops of Galicia at least should be assembled. These two synods were in fact held in Spain to deal with the points at issue (Hefele, "Konziliengesch." II, 2nd ed., pp. 306 sqq.).
The greatly disorganized ecclesiastical condition of certain countries, resulting from national migrations, demanded closer bonds between their episcopate and Rome for the better promotion of ecclesiastical life. Leo, with this object in view, determined to make use of the papal vicariate of the bishops of Arles for the province of Gaul for the creation of a centre for the Gallican episcopate in immediate union with Rome. In the beginning his efforts were greatly hampered by his conflict with St. Hilary, then Bishop of Arles. Even earlier, conflicts had arisen relative to the vicariate of the bishops of Arles and its privileges. Hilary made excessive use of his authority over other ecclesiastical provinces, and claimed that all bishops should be consecrated by him, instead of by their own metropolitan. When, for example, the complaint was raised that Bishop Celidonius of Besançon had been consecrated in violation of the canons—the grounds alleged being that he had, as a layman, married a widow, and, as a public officer, had given his consent to a death sentence—Hilary deposed him, and consecrated Importunus as his successor. Celidonius thereupon appealed to the pope and set out in person for Rome. About the same time Hilary, as if the see concerned had been vacant, consecrated another bishop to take the place of a certain Bishop Projectus, who was ill. Projectus recovered, however, and he too laid a complaint at Rome about the action of the Bishop of Arles. Hilary then went himself to Rome to justify his proceedings. The pope assembled a Roman synod (about 445) and, when the complaints brought against Celidonius could not be verified, reinstated the latter in his see. Projectus also received his bishopric again. Hilary returned to Arles before the synod was over; the pope deprived him of jurisdiction over the other Gallic provinces and of metropolitan rights over the province of Vienne, only allowing him to retain his Diocese of Arles.
These decisions were disclosed by Leo in a letter to the bishops of the Province of Vienne (ep. x). At the same time he sent them an edict of Valentinian III of 8 July, 445, in which the pope's measures in regard to St. Hilary were supported, and the primacy of the Bishop of Rome over the whole Church solemnly recognized "Epist. Leonis," ed. Ballerini, I, 642). On his return to his bishopric Hilary sought a reconciliation with the pope. After this there arose no further difficulties between these two saintly men and, after his death in 449, Hilary was declared by Leo as "beatæ memoriæ". To Bishop Ravennius, St. Hilary's successor in the see of Arles, and the bishops of that province, Leo addressed most cordial letters in 449 on the election of the new metropolitan (epp. xl, xli). When Ravennius consecrated a little later a new bishop to take the place of the deceased Bishop of Vaison, the Archbishop of Vienne, who was then in Rome, took exception to this action. The bishops of the province of Arles then wrote a joint letter to the pope, in which they begged him to restore to Ravennius the rights of which his predecessor Hilary had been deprived (ep. lxv inter ep. Leonis). In his reply dated 5 May, 450 (ep. lxvi), Leo acceded to their request. The Archbishop of Vienne was to retain only the suffragan Bishoprics of Valence, Tarentaise, Geneva, and Grenoble; all the other sees in the Province of Vienne were made subject to the Archbishop of Arles, who also became again the mediator between the Holy See and the whole Gallic episcopate. Leo transmitted to Ravennius (ep. lxvii), for communication to the other Gallican bishops, his celebrated letter to Flavian of Constantinople on the Incarnation. Ravennius thereupon convened a synod, at which forty-four chief pastors assembled. In their synodal letter of 451, they affirm that they accept the pope's letter as a symbol of faith (ep. xxix inter ep. Leonis). In his answer Leo speaks further of the condemnation of Nestorius (ep. cii). The Vicariate of Arles for a long time retained the position Leo had accorded it. Another papal vicariate was that of the bishops of Thessalonica, whose jurisdiction extended over Illyria. The special duty of this vicariate was to protect the rights of the Holy See over the district of Eastern Illyria, which belonged to the Eastern Empire. Leo bestowed the vicariate upon Bishop Anastasius of Thessalonica, just as Pope Siricius had formerly entrusted it to Bishop Anysius. The vicar was to consecrate the metropolitans, to assemble in a synod all bishops of the Province of Eastern Illyria, to oversee their administration of their office; but the most important matters were to be submitted to Rome (epp. v, vi, xiii). But Anastasius of Thessalonica used his authority in an arbitrary and despotic manner, so much so that he was severely reproved by Leo, who sent him fuller directions for the exercise of his office (ep. xiv).
In Leo's conception of his duties as supreme pastor, the maintenance of strict ecclesiastical discipline occupied a prominent place. This was particularly important at a time when the continual ravages of the barbarians were introducing disorder into all conditions of life, and the rules of morality were being seriously violated. Leo used his utmost energy in maintining this discipline, insisted on the exact observance of the ecclesiastical precepts, and did not hesitate to rebuke when necessary. Letters (ep. xvii) relative to these and other matters were sent to the different bishops of the Western Empire—e.g., to the bishops of the Italian provinces (epp. iv, xix, clxvi, clxviii), and to those of Sicily, who had tolerated deviations from the Roman Liturgy in the administration of Baptism (ep. xvi), and concerning other matters (ep. xvii). A very important disciplinary decree was sent to bishop Rusticus of Narbonne (ep. clxvii). Owing to the dominion of the Vandals in Latin North Africa, the position of the Church there had become extremely gloomy. Leo sent the Roman priest Potentius thither to inform himself about the exact condition, and to forward a report to Rome. On receiving this Leo sent a letter of detailed instructions to the episcopate of the province about the adjustment of numerous ecclesiastical and disciplinary questions (ep. xii). Leo also sent a letter to Dioscurus of Alexandria on 21 July, 445, urging him to the strict observance of the canons and discipline of the Roman Church (ep. ix). The primacy of the Roman Church was thus manifested under this pope in the most various and distinct ways. But it was especially in his interposition in the confusion of the Christological quarrels, which then so profoundly agitated Eastern Christendom, that Leo most brilliantly revealed himself the wise, learned, and energetic shepherd of the Church (see MONOPHYSITISM). From his first letter on this subject, written to Eutyches on 1 June, 448 (ep. xx), to his last letter written to the new orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, Timotheus Salophaciolus, on 18 August, 460 (ep. clxxi), we cannot but admire the clear, positive, and systematic manner in which Leo, fortified by the primacy of the Holy See, took part in this difficult entanglement.
Eutyches appealed to the pope after he had been excommunicated by Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople, on account of his Monophysite views. The pope, after investigating the disputed question, sent his sublime dogmatic letter to Flavian (ep. xxviii), concisely setting forth and confirming the doctrine of the Incarnation, and the union of the Divine and human natures in the one Person of Christ . In 449 the council, which was designated by Leo as the "Robber Synod", was held. Flavian and other powerful prelates of the East appealed to the pope. The latter sent urgent letters to Constantinople, particularly to Emperor Theodosius II and Empress Pulcheria, urging them to convene a general council in order to restore peace to the Church. To the same end he used his influence with the Western emperor, Valentinian III, and his mother Galla Placidia, especially during their visit to Rome in 450. This general council was held in Chalcedon in 451 under Marcian, the successor of Theodosius. It solemnly accepted Leo's dogmatical epistle to Flavian as an expression of the Catholic Faith concerning the Person of Christ. The pope confirmed the decrees of the Council after eliminating the canon, which elevated the Patriarchate of Constantinople, while diminishing the rights of the ancient Oriental patriarchs. On 21 March, 453, Leo issued a circular letter confirming his dogmatic definition (ep. cxiv). Through the mediation of Bishop Julian of Cos, who was at that time the papal ambassador in Constantinople, the pope tried to protect further ecclesiastical interest. in the Orient. He persuaded the new Emperor of Constantinople, Leo I, to remove the heretical and irregular patriarch, Timotheus Ailurus, from the See of Alexandria. A new and orthodox patriarch, Timotheus Salophaciolus, was chosen to fill his place, and received the congratulations of the pope in the last letter which Leo ever sent to the Orient.
In his far-reaching pastoral care of the Universal Church, in the West and in the East, the pope never neglected the domestic interests of the Church at Rome. When Northern Italy had been devastated by Attila, Leo by a personal encounter with the King of the Huns prevented him from marching upon Rome. At the emperor's wish, Leo, accompanied by the Consul Avienus and the Prefect Trigetius, went in 452 to Upper Italy, and met Attila at Mincio in the vicinity of Mantua, obtaining from him the promise that he would withdraw from Italy and negotiate peace with the emperor. The pope also succeeded in obtaining another great favour for the inhabitants of Rome. When in 455 the city was captured by the Vandals under Genseric, although for a fortnight the town had been plundered, Leo's intercession obtained a promise that the city should not be injured and that the lives of the inhabitants should be spared. These incidents show the highmoral authority enjoyed by the pope, manifested even in temporal affairs. Leo was always on terms of intimacy with the Western Imperial Court. In 450 Emperor Valentinian III visited Rome, accompanied by his wife Eudoxia and his mother Galla Placidia. On the feast of Cathedra Petri (22 February), the Imperial family with their brilliant retinue took part in the solemn services at St. Peter's, upon which occasion the pope delivered an impressive sermon. Leo was also active in building and restoring churches. He built a basilica over the grave of Pope Cornelius in the Via Appia. The roof of St. Paul's without the Walls having been destroyed by lightning, he had it replaced, and undertook other improvements in the basilica. He persuaded Empress Galla Placidia, as seen from the inscription, to have executed the great mosaic of the Arch of Triumph, which has survived to our day. Leo also restored St. Peter's on the Vatican. During his pontificate a pious Roman lady, named Demetria, erected on her property on the Via Appia a basilica in honour of St. Stephen, the ruins of which have been excavated.
Leo was no less active in the spiritual elevation of the Roman congregations, and his sermons, of which ninety-six genuine examples have been preserved, are remarkable for their profundity, clearness of diction, and elevated style. The first five of these, which were delivered on the anniversaries of his consecration, manifest his lofty conception of the dignity of his office, as well as his thorough conviction of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome, shown forth in so outspoken and decisive a manner by his whole activity as supreme pastor. Of his letters, which are of great importance for church history, 143 have come down to us: we also possess thirty which were sent to him. The so-called "Sacramentarium Leonianum" is a collection of orations and prefaces of the Mass, prepared in the second half of the sixth century. Leo died on 10 November, 461, and was buried in the vestibule of St. Peter's on the Vatican. In 688 Pope Sergius had his remains transferred to the basilica itself, and a special altar erected over them. They rest today in St. Peter's, beneath the altar specially dedicated to St. Leo. In 1754 Benedict XIV exalted him to the dignity of Doctor of the Church (doctor ecclesiæ). In the Latin Church the feast day of the great pope is held on 11 April, and in the Eastern Church on 18 February.
SOURCE http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/L/stleothegreat.asp
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