Pope St Leo the Great
Yesterday the Church celebrated the feast for St. Leo the Great(400-461), the first in the history of the Church to be called "the great". He was first a deacon and later became pope in the fifth century and later declared "doctor of the Church." Upon hearing that Atilla the Hun was coming to sack Rome, he went out to meet him and convinced him to turn his armies away.
He called the Council of Chalcedon which denounced many heresies of the time including Pelagianism, which maintained that man has no original sin and does not need God's grace to merit heaven, but can attain heaven through his own goodness and good works. St. Augustine went after this heresy as well. Interestingly, the very heresy they fought is what Catholics are accused of believing. Catholics have never believed we can attain heaven by works alone, but not by faith alone either (James 2)!
"what [is] more iniquitous than to hold blasphemous opinions, and not to give way to those who are wiser and more learned than ourself. Now into this unwisdom fall they who, finding themselves hindered from knowing the truth by some obscurity, have recourse not to the prophets' utterances, not to the Apostles' letters, nor to the injunctions of the Gospel but to their own selves: and thus they stand out as masters of error because they were never disciples of truth."
He called the Council of Chalcedon which denounced many heresies of the time including Pelagianism, which maintained that man has no original sin and does not need God's grace to merit heaven, but can attain heaven through his own goodness and good works. St. Augustine went after this heresy as well. Interestingly, the very heresy they fought is what Catholics are accused of believing. Catholics have never believed we can attain heaven by works alone, but not by faith alone either (James 2)!
"what [is] more iniquitous than to hold blasphemous opinions, and not to give way to those who are wiser and more learned than ourself. Now into this unwisdom fall they who, finding themselves hindered from knowing the truth by some obscurity, have recourse not to the prophets' utterances, not to the Apostles' letters, nor to the injunctions of the Gospel but to their own selves: and thus they stand out as masters of error because they were never disciples of truth."
posted by Russ Rentler, M.D. | 8:25 AM
1 Comments:
"St. Al," as I've affectionately been calling him, (my "big brother in Jesus)and with all due respect, held nothing back in his remarks about Luther & Calvin... not one whit! Read "The Way of Salvation and of Perfection" to see his fervid, blazing love for Holy Mother Church and the "Builder" of this One, Holy, apostolic Church. The Saints must cringe and probably would like to "slap us" for the PCness that's run amok in the Church and so many parishes. So many just can't seem to "boldly proclaim the Truth" anymore. I pray our priests, in this "new Springtime" will once again, "shout from the mountains" that Jesus Christ is Lord and WILL NOT BE MOCKED! Luther, God rest his soul, did one "helluva" lot of damage, as did his ilk, and all the rest that "held NOT to the Tradtions handed down to them. Lord have mercy. We've all gone astray, each going 'his own way.'
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