Leo the Great composes a Latin sermon (Sermon 85) in Rome in 446/461 in honour of the feast day of *Laurence (deacon and martyr of Rome, S00037).
E05492
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Leo the Great (pope)
Leo the Great, Sermon 85
Summary:
Leo tells the congregation that there is no love brighter than that found in the martyrs, who died in imitation of Christ.
... ad erudiendum dei populum nullorum est utilior forma quam martyrum.
‘... no model is more useful in teaching God’s people than that of the martyrs’.
Leo then narrates Laurence’s martyrdom. The persecutor demanded the riches of the church. Laurence gathered together the poor, on whom the riches had been spent. The persecutor then demands that Laurence recant and tortures him: his limbs are cut. The persecutor then orders that Laurence be killed by being cooked on an iron frame over a fire. He was turned from time to time to lengthen his suffering. When he died, his soul joined God’s in heaven. Rome becomes famous through the shining glory Laurence, just as Jerusalem was ennobled through *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030).
Text: Chavasse 1973.
Translation: Lett Feltoe 1895.
Summary: Frances Trzeciak.
Service for the saint
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Cult PlacesCult building - unspecified
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
Oral transmission of saint-related stories
Saint as patron - of a community
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
Leo the Great’s sermons were composed and delivered to the congregation in Rome throughout his papacy, between 440 and 461. The vast majority of these sermons were delivered at St Peter’s at the Vatican. The most recent editor of these sermons, A. Chavasse, argues that Leo edited and circulated a collection of 59 sermons, composed between 441 and 445, and that a second group of sermons from the latter part of his papacy were edited and circulated shortly after his death in 460. It is possible that these sermons were intended to provide a model for other bishops or to educate priests and the lower clergy.Discussion
This sermon was probably preached at Laurence's burial place and main shrine, marked by the present church of San Lorenzo fuori le mura, built in the 6th c., and reconstructed in the 13th c.Bibliography
Text:Chavasse, A., Sancti Leonis Magni Romani Pontificis tractaus (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 138, 138A; Turnhout, 1973).
Translation:
Freeland, J. and Conway, A., St Leo the Great Sermons (Fathers of the Church 93; Washington D.C., 1996).
Lett Feltoe, C., Leo the Great. Gregory the Great (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 12; New York, 1895).
Further Reading:
Salzman, M.R., "Leo’s Liturgical Topography: Contestations for Space in Fifth-Century Rome," Journal of Roman
Studies 103 (2013), 208-232.
Wessel, S., Leo the Great and the Spiritual Rebuilding of Rome (Leiden, 2008).
Frances Trzeciak
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00030 | Stephen, the First Martyr | Stephanus | Certain | S00037 | Laurence/Laurentius, deacon and martyr of Rome | Laurentius | Certain |
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