As part of my preparation for the celebration of Christmas, I like to read through St. Leo the Great’s Christmas sermons. Leo was the Bishop of Rome from 440 until his death in 461. In history, he is best known for convincing Attila the Hun to spare Rome and cease his Italian campaign. In Church History, Leo is best known for his arguments in carrying the day at the Council of Chalcedon that Christ is of two natures in one person. His Christmas sermons reflect his emphasis on the centrality of the Incarnation to our Faith. It is through the Incarnation that God defeats sin and death and the devil and begins to cleanse our nature from the stain of sin.
For Leo, the Nativity is not something we merely observe in the historical record, but something we actively and presently participate in. He writes that we too are re-born in the Nativity. For in the Nativity, Christ was born as the Son of Man so that we might have the power to be re-born as the sons of God. At Christmas, Christ takes on our human nature, so that we may take on his divinity. Therefore, within this great feast, we celebrate not only the birth of a child but our own rebirth as children of God.
Leo writes that in Christ’s conquering of sin and his restoration of our nature, the Nativity necessarily brings us joy. This joy, according to Leo, is for everyone. He writes “No one is kept from sharing in this happiness. There is for all one common measure of joy, because as our Lord the destroyer of sin and death finds no one free from charge, so He has come to free us all. Let the saint exult in that he draws near to victory. Let the sinner be glad in that he is invited to pardon. Let the gentile [those outside the church] take courage in that he is called to life.” We have joy because our story of Salvation begins on Christmas Day.
His sermons are about a ten-minute read. A link to the sermons and a deeper summary of the sermons are HERE.
Service Schedules:
Messiah Christmas Eve is at 5:30 p.m.
Messiah Christmas Day is at 10:00 a.m.
Trinity Christmas Eve is at 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.
Trinity Christmas Day is at 10:00 a.m.
On Tuesday, January 7 we will reconvene to discuss Jesus’s Baptism and Desert Temptations in Luke 3:1-4:13. Please come and join us. All you need is a Bible.