Leo the Great

According to my St. James Calendar of the Christian Year, today is the feast day of St. Leo the Great, a pope (Pope Leo I) and a Doctor of the Church. Leo died on November 10, 461. He was pope for 21 years (one of the ten longest papacies) during an important time in church history. He defended the primacy of Rome and wrote many influential letters and sermons.

Of course, my interest in St. Leo is highly correlated with the importance of Saint Leo University to my family, where numerous relatives, including my mom and dad and their siblings, went to school. For example, last month, my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Eddie were presented with the Florida Benedictine Spirit Award for "their uncommon dedication to Saint Leo Abbey, Holy Name Monastery and Saint Leo University."

According to the university, Saint Leo was chartered in 1889 and was the first Catholic college in Florida (this was soon after the city of San Antonio, Florida, and other towns in the area such as St. Joseph were started.) It was originally a college, then a prep school (from 1921 to 1964), and then again a college (from 1959).

In other news related to east Pasco County, you may want to plan to attend the Kumquat Festival, which will be January 26, 2008, in Dade City. The festival was mentioned in the November, 2007, issue of Spirit, the Southwest Airlines in-flight magazine.