Today is the feast of Pope St. Leo I, Doctor of the Church, also known as Leo the Great. From his Sermon 22:
Whoever then you are that devoutly and faithfully boastest of the Christian name, estimate this atonement at its right worth. For to you who wast a castaway, banished from the realms of paradise, dying of your weary exile, reduced to dust and ashes, without further hope of living, by the Incarnation of the Word was given the power to return from afar to your Maker, to recognize your parentage, to become free after slavery, to be promoted from being an outcast to sonship: so that, you who were born of corruptible flesh, may be reborn by the Spirit of God, and obtain through grace what you had not by nature, and, if you acknowledge yourself the son of God by the spirit of adoption, dare to call God Father. Freed from the accusings of a bad conscience, aspire to the kingdom of heaven, do God's will supported by the Divine help, imitate the angels upon earth, feed on the strength of immortal sustenance, fight fearlessly on the side of piety against hostile temptations, and if you keep your allegiance in the heavenly warfare, doubt not that you will be crowned for your victory in the triumphant camp of the Eternal King, when the resurrection that is prepared for the faithful has raised you to participate in the heavenly Kingdom.
