Saint Leo the Great, Pope of Rome

Leo, son of Quintianus, was born in Italy and served as archdeacon of Rome before he was elected pope in 440. In 449 he wrote his famous letter, the Tome, to Patriarch Flavian of Constantinople on the two natures of Christ; it was read at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, and the bishops accepted it. In 452 he went out to meet Attila, king of the Huns, who had invaded Italy, and persuaded him to withdraw; his Life tells that Attila saw the apostles Peter and Paul standing beside the pope with drawn swords. In 455 he met the Vandal king Genseric and won a promise that Rome, though plundered, would not be burned. He died in 461; nearly a hundred of his sermons and many letters survive.