Background
He was born Bruno of Egisheim on June 21, 1002, in the district of Alsace. He was a relative of the Holy Roman emperor Conrad II.
He was born Bruno of Egisheim on June 21, 1002, in the district of Alsace. He was a relative of the Holy Roman emperor Conrad II.
He was educated at Toul, where he successively became canon and, in 1026, bishop.
After he was ordained a priest, he served for 2 years as chaplain at the Emperor's court. In 1026 the Emperor caused him to be named bishop of Toul in Alsace. During his 22 years as leader of the church in Toul, Bruno was concerned about both the morals of his people and the welfare of the emperors.
When the papacy was vacant in 1048 and delegates from all over the empire met in Worms to decide on the candidates, Bruno's cousin, Emperor Henry III, proposed him as the next pope. Bruno accepted but insisted that the people and clergy of the city of Rome elect him formally, as was their right. This they did, and in 1049 he was consecrated pope with the name of Leo IX.
Several months later, while presiding over the Easter Synod in Rome, Leo took over leadership of the reform movement in the Church by enacting strict regulations against priests' marrying and against simony (using religious activities to make money). He also reacted unfavorably to the teachings of Bérenger de Tours that the body and blood of Christ were present only symbolically in the sacrament of the Eucharist. After the synod Pope Leo set out to bring its message to other parts of Italy. He continued his travels throughout Germany in the company of the Emperor, presiding over synods in Reims and Mainz, and later went into France and Hungary with his words of reform and renewal. In the course of his travels he came in contact with a number of outstanding men, many of whom he later brought to Rome to be future leaders of the Church.
When King Macbeth of Scotland came to Rome to seek forgiveness for his crimes, Leo pronounced the absolution. He directed King Edward the Confessor of England to build what later came to be Westminster Abbey. When the Normans invaded the southern part of Italy in 1053, Leo led an army of German and Italian soldiers against them. He was not as successful in war as he had been in Church affairs and was taken prisoner by the Normans. When, in 1054, his health failed in prison, perhaps because of malaria, he was taken back to Rome to die. Leo IX was acknowledged after his death to have been a successful leader of men and a true reformer of the Church.
Quotations:
"It has always been the habit of Catholic in danger and in troublous times to fly for refuge to Mary, and to seek for peace in Her maternal goodness; showing that the Catholic Church has always, and with justice, put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God. And truly the Immaculate Virgin, chosen to be the Mother of God and thereby associated with Him in the work of man's salvation, has a favour and power with Her Son greater than any human or angelic creature has ever obtained, or ever can gain."
"There are many, and there will be many, who will gladly purchase eternal life for a small price, if they see that others are fighting for God in earnest, rather than pretending to do so."
"If the Almighty in his mercy allows us to settle peace among the christian leaders, we shall press on not only to destroy completely the bad seeds, but also to expand the territories of Christ, and, supported by these achievements, we shall go forward, with God favouring his own purposes, to the most holy expedition against the infidels, the desire for which is deeply fixed in our heart."
"No person shall preach without the permission of his Superior. All preachers shall explain the Gospel according to the Fathers. They shall not explain futurity or the times of Antichrist!"
"Not the Christian religion only, but nature herself, cries out against the state of slavery."
"As far as Martin [Luther] himself is concerned, O good God, what have we overlooked or not done? What fatherly charity have we omitted that we might call him back from such errors?"
"Give heed to the cause of the holy Roman Church, mother of all churches and teacher of the faith, whom you by the order of God, have consecrated by your blood. Against the Roman Church, you warned, lying teachers are rising, introducing ruinous sects, and drawing upon themselves speedy doom. Their tongues are fire, a restless evil, full of deadly poison. They have bitter zeal, contention in their hearts, and boast and lie against the truth."
"Arise, O Lord, and judge your own cause. Remember your reproaches to those who are filled with foolishness all through the day. Listen to our prayers, for foxes have arisen seeking to destroy the vineyard whose winepress you alone have trod."
"This devotion, so great and so confident, to the august Queen of Heaven, has never forth with such brilliancy as when the militant Church of Go has seemed to be endangered by the violence of heresy spread abroad, or by an intolerable moral corruption, or by the attacks of powerful enemies. Ancient and modern history and the more sacred annals of the Church bears witness to public and private supplications addressed to the Mother of God, to help She has granted in return, and to the peace and tranquillity which She has obtained from God."
"We have devoted ourselves to the government and extension of the Church, and, among other objects, we have conceived it to be our duty to foster especially literature and the fine arts ... next to knowledge and true worship of the Creator, nothing is better or more useful to mankind than such studies."
"To deny that in a child after baptism sin remains is to treat with contempt both Paul and Christ."