Interesting facts about st. leo the great

St. Leo the Great, Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls 

The pontificate of Pope Leo I spanned the middle of the fifth century (). It was an era marked by great disturbances, in the world and in the Church.
One of the most famous events in his papacy occurred in the year , when the whole of the Italian peninsula was trembling in the face of invasion by Attila the Hun.

Already, large parts of northern Italy had fallen before the invader; the cities of Aquileia, Padua, and Milan were conquered, sacked, and razed to the ground.
Attila, threatening the interior of Italy, camped near Mantua, on the Mincio River; and it is here that he met Leo, the Bishop of Rome.

Leo had come as the head of a delegation to persuade Attila to withdraw his forces. According to a later legend, during the negotiations, Attila had a vision of the Apostles St Peter and St Paul, carrying drawn swords, and threatening Attila if he dared to attack the