(c.534-c.600) Leander is the elder brother of two brothers and a sister from a devout Spanish family who are all canonized saints, including a Doctor of the Church, Saint Isidore of Seville. Around 42 years old, Leander became a Benedictine monk and then the bishop of Seville. He was exiled to Constantinople by the Arian Visigoth king after converting the king’s sons, where he befriended the future Pope Saint Gregory the Great. Leander returned to Seville when that king died, and introduced the recitation of the Nicene Creed during Mass to help reinforce the faith against the Arian heresy.
Arianism proposed that the Son was created and finite, rather than “consubstantial” (with the same substance, or, one in being) with the Father. The Church had already settled the question hundreds of years earlier, but bad theology persisted. How do you address misunderstandings or damaging ways of thinking? Are there justifications or reservations in your own recovery that need addressing?
“True wisdom is found in knowing Christ and making Him known” (Saint Leander of Seville).
Reflection by Brad Farmer