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St. Leo IX

Feast 04-19

Patron of

About

Pope Leo IX, born Bruno of Egisheim-Dagsburg in Alsace, was Bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 until his death in 1054. A reformer of great energy, he traveled widely to enforce clerical celibacy, to combat simony, and to lift the standards of the clergy, working closely with Hildebrand, the future Gregory VII.

He is counted among the most significant popes of the Middle Ages. His legates and the Patriarch of Constantinople exchanged excommunications in 1054, the event known as the Great Schism, which formally divided the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. He died shortly afterward and was venerated as a saint, his feast kept on 19 April.

church reform, reforming the church, church renewal, ecclesiastical reform, renewing the church, church changes, church improvement, church revitalization, church unity, christian unity, ecumenism, unity of christians, ecumenical, church reunion, christian reunion, unity of the churches, christian reconciliation, church fellowship, priests, priest, clergy, clergymen, parish priests, pastors, fathers, celebrants, ordained, parish clergy, diocesan priests

Suggested prayer

O God, who raised up St. Leo IX to reform the clergy and to labor for the unity of Your Church, grant through his intercession that pastors may be holy and that the wounds of division may be healed by the grace of Your Spirit. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sources

Other saints to pray to

For church reform

For church unity