Saint Leo the Pope of Rome - Baptism Gift Collection

Saint Leo I the Great was born in 390 and came from Etruria. In his youth he received an excellent education (he was a disciple of St. Celestine of Rome) and had the opportunity to make a good secular career, but, seeking spiritual life, chose a different life path for himself and became an archdeacon under the holy pope Sixtus III (432-440), and after his death in August 440 was elected to the papacy.

Having become a pope, the saint struggled with the eastern heresy - Manichaeism and remnants of paganism. In 452, the saint met with Atilla, gave him the nickname "scourge of God" and persuaded him not to destroy Rome. In honor of this victory, Leo gave the order to pour the statue of Capitoline Jupiter into the figure of the apostle St.. Petra, which was installed in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Next to St. Peter's Basilica, Leo opened two monasteries - St. John and St. Paul. It is believed that St. Lion was able to combine pastoral softness and kindness with unshakable firmness in matters of religion. In 455, Saint Leo met with the vandal Heiserich, but could not change his intention to capture the city, but managed to convince him not to betray the city to destruction, not to burn buildings and not to shed innocent blood.
It was he who was the main defender of Orthodoxy against the heresy of Eutychius and Dioscorus, who taught of one nature in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the heresy of Nestorius.
He used all his influence to pacify the church confused by the heretics. The prelate Leo lived to a very old age. He knew in advance about his death and prepared himself with a warm prayer and good deeds for the transition from this world to eternity.

He died in 461 and was buried in Rome, in the Vatican Cathedral. Leo was the first pope buried in St. Peter's Basilica. His literary and theological heritage consists of 96 sermons and 143 epistles. The relics of Saint Leo rest in the side-chapel of his name in the Vatican Cathedral in Rome. Saint Leo pray for healing from various ailments.