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Pope Leo I (440-461) is one of two popes with the sobriquet ‘the Great,’ along with Pope Gregory I, the Great (590-604), although some sources also cite Nicholas I (858-867). All three extended the authority of the Roman pontiff throughout the Latin west.<br><br>
Leo was born in Rome of Tuscan parentage and elected when in Gaul on a diplomatic mission. Leo is often recalled for his extended letter (Leo’s Tome) sent to Flavian, a Patriarch of Constantinople, which was read at the Council of Chalcedon (451). The letter stated that Jesus Christ had two natures, divine and human, in one person, undivided.  This definition was established as a teaching of the Council and an article of faith for Roman Catholics.  It is said the council members rose and dramatically acclaimed “Peter has spoken through Leo!” at the acceptance of this theological definition of the two natures of Christ, a serious issue which riled the unity of Christendom, and thereafter led to some fragmentation among Eastern Orthodox Christians.<br><br>
A second event with which Leo is associated is his meeting at Mantua with Attila, the Hun in 452, who was invading and ravaging Italy.  After meeting with Leo, Attila decided not to sack Rome. This event is commemorated by a fresco by Raphael. An artistic conceit, however allowed Raphael to paint the face of Pope Leo X (his patron) in place of Leo I, who was shown on horseback. Along with Leo’s Tome at Chalcedon, the scene at Mantua was issued on Vatican City stamps in 1951. <br><br>
Verdi composed a somewhat-bloody opera, Attila (1846) in which Leo appears leading a chorus of women and maidens singing Veni Creator Spiritus, the image of which causes Attila to suddenly fear because of his dream that an old man would stop  him at the gates of Rome. It was necessary for Verdi to include a chorus of female voices to contrast with the supposed-Druidic voices of Attila’s followers. Pope Leo the Great also met at the gates of Rome with the Vandal leader Gaiseric. Although the city was looted, Gaiseric did not burn the city or massacre the inhabitants, perhaps influenced by Leo.<br><br>
Of Leo I, historian J. N. D. Kelly states:  “An energetic and purposeful pontiff Leo infused all his policies and pronouncements, especially his anniversary sermons, with his conviction that the pope had universal authority in the church bestowed originally by Christ on Peter, had been transmitted to each subsequent bishop of Rome as the Apostle’s heir. As such, he assumed Peter’s functions, full authority and privileges; and just as the Lord bestowed more power on Peter than on the other apostles so the pope was ‘the  primate of all the bishops’, the Apostle’s mystical embodiment.”
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<b>References:</b>
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 J. N. D. Kelly, <b>Oxford Dictionary of Popes</b>
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David Farmer, <b>Oxford Dictionary of Saints</b>
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Michael Lamothe, <i>Vatican Notes</i>, Volume 67, Number 381, p.52, 2019, <a href= 'http://vaticanstamps.org/vaticannotes/idisplay.php?p=67-381-52-53&r=0'>Art of the Engraver – Artist Trento Cionini</a>
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 Anonymous, <i>Vatican Notes</i>, Volume 6, Number 4, pp. 4-5, 1958,  <a href= 'http://vaticanstamps.org/vaticannotes/idisplay2.php?p=039-04&r=0'>The Council of Chalcedon</a>

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