ROME, December 23, 2015 — In the Latin Church, the liturgical celebration of Christmas emerged in the middle of the 4th century, in the thick of the Christological controversies that threatened to compromise the divinity of Jesus or his humanity.

In Rome at the time was Pope Leo, who would go down in history as “the Great.” His homilies for the feasts of Christmas and the Epiphany contributed in a decisive way to reinforcing the dogma of the incarnation, the birth of the Word of God in the flesh, as the heart of the elevation of the whole of man to God.

In Italy, the latest publication of the nineteen splendid Christmas homilies of Saint Leo the Great is of 2014, from Dehoniane press. But some of them can also be read in the online anthology of patristic texts called Monastero Virtuale:

Read the article “Classic Reflections for the Christmas Season” on chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it.