April 19--Leo IX, Pope

 

Leo IX

The Church has always reformed itself, meeting the needs of each age, but still remaining in continuity with Jesus and the Apostles. Today’s saint, Leo IX, was one of the great papal reformers of the Church. The son of a count and cousin of an emperor, he was a soldier and officer in his cousin’s army. Then he was chosen to be bishop of Toul, France in 1027, where he remained for twenty years. Although he was proposed as pope by Emperor Henry III in 1049, he waited until he received the approval of the clergy and the people of Rome. As bishop and soldier he was disciplined, bringing that discipline to the papacy to reform the Church. Thus, we have the start of the great reforming popes of the eleventh century.

He enforced clerical celibacy, condemned simony (the buying and selling of Church positions) and personally deposed those bishops who were guilty, encouraged liturgical reform, and prohibited clergy from being involved in violence. He also foreshadowed Pope St. John Paul’s efforts at showing the unity of the Church by traveling throughout Europe and personally encouraging and enforcing reforms through councils and synods in Italy, France, and Germany. He sent a delegate to Constantinople to support the Latin rite there, but that eventually resulted in the Great Schism in 1054 after his death. He reaffirmed the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, foreshadowing the Church’s dogmatic declaration of that truth at the Council of Trent in 1551. Furthermore, to prevent imperial interference in the selection of the pope, he proposed the use of cardinals as electors of the pope. He also brought the future Pope St. Gregory VII with him to Rome who continued his reforms. The Church is always reforming! Pope St. Leo IX, pray for us!

July 13--St. Henry, Holy Man

A few kings have made it into the calendar of saints, including St. Louis IX of France, St. Wenceslaus of Bohemia, and St. Stephen of Hungary. Among them we have today’s saint, St. Henry II of Bavaria, who was Holy Roman Emperor from 1014-1024. As emperor, St. Henry was responsible for maintaining the unity, peace, and stability of the empire. To that extent, he was involved in many military expeditions throughout central Europe and Italy. He established closer ties with the Church and employed clergy as checks to the secular nobility.

He stressed service to the Church, promoted monastic reform, missionary activity, and made many charitable foundations for the poor. He also supported clerical celibacy. At one point he tried to become a monk, but was denied permission by the abbot, being told that his role in life was to be emperor. He succeeded in persuading the pope to include the word “filioque” in the Nicene Creed, which means that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both God the Father and God the Son.

St. Henry seems to be a contradiction regarding sainthood. Although he was devout and supported the Church, he also was a man of his times, engaging in wars and putting down rebellions that attacked his power as king and emperor. This seems to be a contradiction, but it is more about what sainthood really means. It means being holy in the state of life one is in. St. Henry was ambitious. He was political. These are not inherently evil. He used the power of his office to bring about peace and justice to the best of his ability, even when he was wrong. To be a saint means being a disciple of Christ, whether one is a king or a ditch-digger, a queen or a seamstress.