Gregory the Dialogist

Let us consider, my dearest brothers, how gracious is that promise by which it is said: "Your belly shall eat, and your bowels shall be filled with this scroll which I give you." For many read, and from that very reading they remain hungry. Many hear the voice of preaching, but after the voice they depart empty. Though their belly eats, their bowels are not filled, because even if they perceive in their mind the understanding of the sacred word, by forgetting and not keeping what they have heard, they do not store these things in the bowels of their heart. Hence it is that through another prophet the Lord rebukes certain people, saying: "Set your hearts upon your ways. You have sown much, and brought in little; you have eaten, and have not been satisfied; you have drunk, and have not been inebriated." He sows much in his heart but brings in little who learns many things about the heavenly commandments either by reading or even by hearing, but by working negligently produces little fruit. He eats and is not satisfied who, hearing the words of God, desires the profits or glory of the world. And rightly is he said not to be satisfied, because he chews one thing and hungers for another. He drinks and is not inebriated who inclines his ear to the voice of preaching but does not change his mind. For through the inebriation of those who drink, the senses are usually changed. Therefore, he who is devoted to knowing the word of God but desires to obtain the things of this world drinks and is not inebriated. For if he had been inebriated, he would without doubt have changed his mind, so that he would no longer seek earthly things, and would no longer love the vain and transitory things he had loved. For of the elect it is said through the Psalmist: "They shall be inebriated from the abundance of your house." Because they are so filled with the love of almighty God that with changed minds they seem to be strangers to themselves, fulfilling what is written: "He who wishes to come after me, let him deny himself." He denies himself who is changed for the better and begins to be what he was not, and ceases to be what he was.

Often, however, we see certain people at the voice of preaching, as if compelled by conversion, change their habit but not their mind, so that they take up religious garb but do not trample down their former vices: they are savagely driven by the goads of anger, they burn with the pain of malice to injure their neighbor, they grow proud before human eyes over certain goods they have displayed, they greedily seek the profits of the present world, and they place their confidence of holiness solely in the outward habit they have assumed. What else should be said to them except what the excellent teacher says to certain people who observe the externals of the law, saying: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation"? For it is not a matter of great merit if something is done outwardly to us in the body, but what is done in the mind must be carefully weighed.

For to despise the present world, not to love transitory things, to lay the mind deeply in humility before God and neighbor, to preserve patience against insults inflicted, and, while guarding patience, to repel the pain of malice from the heart, to give one's own goods to the needy, in no way to covet what belongs to others, to love a friend in God, to love even enemies for God's sake, to grieve over a neighbor's affliction, not to exult over the death of one who is an enemy—this is the new creature, which the same teacher of the Gentiles seeks among other disciples with a watchful eye, saying: "If therefore there is any new creature in Christ, the old things have passed away; behold, all things are made new."

To seek the present world belongs indeed to the old man, to love transitory things from concupiscence, to raise the mind in pride, to have no patience, to think from the pain of malice about harming one's neighbor, not to give one's own goods to the needy, and to seek others' goods in order to multiply one's own, to love no one purely for God's sake, to return enmities for enmities, to rejoice at the affliction of one's neighbor. All these things belong to the old man, which indeed we draw from the root of corruption. But concerning the one who now overcomes these things and turns the mind to kindness according to the Lord's precepts, it is rightly said: Because the old things have passed away, behold all things are made new.

Then therefore new things come about in our minds when the vices of the old man pass away from us; and the vices of the old man pass away when the belly eats the precept of the sacred word and the inmost parts are filled to the marrow. For we have often seen certain people devote themselves with their whole mind to the study of holy reading, and, recognizing amid the Lord's words how greatly they had sinned, slaughter themselves in tears, be afflicted with continual grief, take delight in none of this world's prosperities, so that the present life became a burden to them and the very light became wearisome; scarcely admit common conversation, and relax their mind from the rigor of discipline with difficulty, for love of their Creator rejoicing only in mourning and silence. Their belly ate the sacred volume, and their inmost parts were filled, because the precepts of life which the understanding was able to grasp the memory did not lose, but the mind, gathered in God, preserved these by always mourning and recalling them.

"And he said to me: Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and you shall speak my words to them."

In that the Lord says to the prophet, "You shall speak my words to them," what else does He do but place a bridle of restraint upon his mouth, lest he presume to speak outwardly what he has not first heard inwardly? For false prophets spoke their own words and not God's, of whom it is written: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you and deceive you; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord." And again: "I did not speak to them, and they themselves prophesied." From this it must also be gathered that whoever as an expositor in the explanation of sacred Scripture composes something by lying, perhaps to please his hearers, speaks his own words and not the Lord's—if indeed he lies from a desire to please or to seduce. For if one seeking the power in the Lord's words should understand them differently than he through whom they were uttered understood them, even if under another interpretation he seeks the building up of charity, the words he relates are the Lord's, because God speaks to us through all of sacred Scripture for this one purpose alone: that He may draw us to love of Him and of our neighbor.

And when it is added: "But the house of Israel will not hear you, because they will not hear me," the hardness of Judea is indicated, which both understood the words of the preachers and refused to follow them. And it is well said: "They will not hear you, because they will not hear me," according to what is written: "He who despises you, despises me." The reason why they do not hear is also added when it is said: "For the whole house of Israel is of hardened forehead and stubborn heart."

When the house of Israel is said to have a hardened forehead, what else is to be understood, what else is to be thought, except that frequent sin hardens the forehead of the heart in shamelessness, so that the more often it is committed, the less the mind of the one committing it feels ashamed of it? And therefore the sinner sometimes arrives at such great hardness of heart that he is no longer sensitive to correction, because he who has become hardened by the habit of sinning in no way feels the word of one correcting him, that is, the hand of one touching him, just as it is also said to Judea, who sinned more frequently: "You have acquired the forehead of a prostitute; you refused to blush." Or certainly a hardened forehead is one accustomed to the activities of this world, because just as there are some who prefer quiet to all the rewards and honors of the world, so there are some who, in order to appear to be something in this world, sweat at earthly labors, persist in lawsuits, and involve themselves in quarrels. And although they feel their body failing amid their labors, yet conquered by love of earthly things, they are delightfully wearied. To them it is said through the prophet: "Ephraim is a heifer trained to love threshing." For a heifer accustomed to threshing on the threshing floor, even if released from labor, returns of its own accord. So for certain perverse minds nothing is more laborious than if they are commanded not to labor in the activities of this world. For often certain people, driven away from earthly activity, plead to return, ask to be burdened, and think they have incurred a grave danger in rest. Therefore those have a hardened forehead who not only do not flee labors, but are not even ashamed to appear importunate in seeking labors that are denied them.

"Behold, I have made your face stronger than their faces, and your forehead harder than their foreheads."

Just as shame is praiseworthy in evil, so it is blameworthy in good. For to be ashamed of evil is wisdom; but to be ashamed of good is foolishness. Hence it is written: There is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that brings glory. For he who is ashamed by repenting of the evils he has done arrives at the freedom of life. But he who is ashamed to do good falls from the state of righteousness and tends toward damnation, as it is said by the Redeemer: Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his majesty. And there are some who already conceive good things in their mind, but do not yet openly contradict evils. These indeed, because they are good in mind but have no authority in speech, are not suited for the defense of truth. For he ought to be a defender of truth who neither fears nor is ashamed to speak what he rightly perceives. Hence now it is promised to the prophet as a great gift: "Behold, I have made your face stronger than their faces, and your forehead harder than their foreheads."

But what is a sinner except one who is wounded? And what is a preacher except a physician? If therefore the sinner who lies in his wound is not ashamed, why should the physician be ashamed who provides healing through medicines? Often indeed it happens that a preacher is listened to reverently; but sometimes he is so despised by the perverse as if he were speaking nothing useful to them. Hence it is rightly said now: "I have made your face like adamant and like flint."

Both diamond and flint are hard; but one of them is precious, the other worthless. The diamond is taken for adornment, the flint is trodden underfoot by travelers. And it often happens that when we observe those who receive our correction too humbly, we are ashamed to say certain things to them. But sometimes it happens that when we see those who disregard and hold in contempt our rebuke, we are afraid to bring them the word of preaching. But if we think rightly, we take up the authority of exhortation or rebuke both toward those by whom we observe ourselves to be honored, and toward those by whom we see ourselves to be despised, so that we ought neither to blush at the humility of the former, nor to fear the pride of the latter. Let it therefore be said: "I have made your face like diamond," that is, if you are honored by your hearers; "I have made your face like flint," if you are trampled upon and despised by your hearers, so that neither through honor conferred may the tongue be restrained by shame, nor through contempt may it be silent from weakness.

"And he said to me: Son of man, receive in your heart all my words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears."

We must carefully observe that by the voice of the Lord it is said to the Prophet that he should first hear His words, and afterward speak. For we hear the words of God if we do them. And then we rightly speak them to our neighbors when we ourselves have first done them. This Mark the Evangelist confirms well when he narrates a miracle performed by the Lord, saying: "They bring to Him one deaf and mute, and they besought Him to lay His hand upon him." He indicates the order of the healing, adding: "He put His fingers into his ears, and spitting, He touched his tongue, and looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him: Ephphetha, that is, be opened. And immediately his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke rightly." For what does it mean that God, the Creator of all things, when He wished to heal the deaf and mute man, put His fingers into his ears and, spitting, touched his tongue? What is designated by the fingers of the Redeemer except the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Hence, when in another place He had cast out a demon, He said: "If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has surely come upon you." Concerning which matter He is described by another Evangelist as having said: "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." From both these passages it is gathered that the finger of God is called the Spirit. Therefore to put fingers into the ears is to open the mind of the deaf person to obedience through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But what does it mean that spitting He touched his tongue? The saliva received from the mouth of the Redeemer is for us wisdom in divine eloquence. For saliva flows down from the head into the mouth. Therefore when our tongue is touched by that wisdom which He Himself is, it is immediately formed for words of preaching. He looked up to heaven and sighed—not because He Himself had need of sighing, He who gave what He asked for, but He taught us to sigh to Him who presides over heaven, so that both our ears ought to be opened through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and our tongue ought to be loosed through the saliva of the mouth, that is, through knowledge of divine speech, for words of preaching. To whom immediately "Ephphetha," that is, "be opened," is said; and immediately his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed. In this matter it should be noted that "be opened" was said because of the closed ears. But for one whose ears of the heart have been opened to obedience, without doubt the bond of his tongue is also subsequently loosed, so that he may speak to others about the good things to be done which he himself has done. And here it is well added: "And he spoke rightly." For he speaks rightly who has first done by obeying what he advises by speaking should be done.

"And go, enter in to the captivity of the children of your people."

But as for the fact that the prophet is sent to admonish the people concerning their transmigration, not only should that transmigration be understood which was of that people in body, but also that which had occurred in mind. For they had come from Jerusalem to Babylon. And what is Jerusalem called but "vision of peace," what is Babylon called but "confusion"? But whoever falls from right works into perverse deeds, since he slips from good zeal into vices, comes as it were from Jerusalem to the city of Babylon. For he has abandoned the height of good contemplation and lies in the transmigration of confusion. This often tends to happen to those who, when they do good things, glory in their own virtue in these matters. Hence the Psalmist, lest he should migrate as a captive from the vision of peace, that is, from good deeds, to Babylon, supplicating the Lord, says: "My helper, I shall not migrate." For if he had trusted in himself, he would have migrated by falling from works of righteousness.

But neither should those who have fallen from a state of righteousness into wicked action be despaired of, because behold, the prophet is sent to the captivity of Babylon. And through another prophet the Lord says: "And you shall come even to Babylon, and there you shall be delivered." For often someone, after falling into the confusion of vices, blushing at the evils he has committed, returns to repentance and raises himself from his falls by living well. What then is this except that he came even to Babylon and was delivered there? He who, after committing perverse acts with a confused mind, blushing at those very evils he did, raises himself against himself and by working good returns to a state of righteousness. Therefore he was delivered in Babylon, who through divine grace is shown to have been saved even from confusion. The prophet therefore speaks to the captivity when he rebukes those who have fallen by migrating from a state of righteousness to the vices of error.

"And you shall speak to them, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: if perhaps they may hear and be still."

That the difficulty of hearing is repeated so many times in the divine words, so that it is said, "If perhaps they will hear," what else is designated but the hardness of the exiled people? In these words there is great consolation for us, because if almighty God, sending a prophet, declares that His words are heard with difficulty by a perverse people, why should we wretches be saddened when we are often despised by our brothers in our admonition? For frequently we address those who transgress, often we rebuke them, frequently we deal with them with gentle words, and yet if one hears, another disdains to hear; one partially receives the word of exhortation, and partially refuses to accept it; so that we seem to see daily fulfilled what the Lord narrates through another prophet about what He did in anger, when He says: "I rained upon one city, and upon another I did not rain. One part was rained upon, and the part that was not rained upon dried up." For when one mind receives the words of holy exhortation while another refuses to receive them, the Lord rains upon one city and does not rain upon another. But when even the same neighbor who hears corrects himself from some vices and disdains to amend himself from others, one and the same city is both partly rained upon and partly remains dry, in which it repels from itself the rain of preaching. For there are some who do not hear the words of exhortation at all; these completely refuse to receive the rain. And there are some who hear but nevertheless do not follow it from the depths of their heart, because they cut off some vices in themselves but persist gravely in others. For often we see some who through the word of preaching repel from themselves the heat of avarice, and not only no longer seize what belongs to others but also distribute their own possessions to the needy; yet they do not tame the stings of anger, nor preserve the restraints of patience through tranquility of mind. And often others, at the word of exhortation, now overcome in themselves the uncleanness of the flesh, guard the body in chastity, yet still do not incline their spirit toward their neighbors as they ought, but through the rigidity of pride they exalt themselves in their thoughts. In these, one part has been rained upon because it has borne fruit, and the part that was not rained upon has dried up, because not fully receiving the word of exhortation, it has remained barren of good work.

But let us hear what the voice itself says: "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place." For the hearts of sinners had been the place of the malignant spirit; but when, angry with themselves, they return to life through repentance, they become a place for the glory of the Lord. For now they rise up against themselves, now they pursue with tears of repentance the evils they have committed. Therefore the blessing of glory in praise of the Lord is heard from the very place where previously the injury to the Creator resounded through love of the present age. And the hearts of the penitent, which formerly, set in sins, had been a foreign place, now become the Lord's own place. Moreover, those who are converted from their sins to the Lord not only wash away with tears the perverse things they have done, but also advance to lofty heights through wonderful works, so that they become holy living creatures of almighty God, so that they fly up to the heights with signs and powers, so that they utterly forsake the earth, and having received gifts, suspend themselves toward heavenly things through desire.

But why do we linger on these matters, we who are able, by the Lord's bounty, to understand these words of the prophet through another and more subtle sense, and to speak more clearly? For he says: "And the spirit took me up." The spirit takes up a preacher when it renders his mind, elevated in love of almighty God, now estranged from earthly desires, so that nothing pleases him to do except those things by which he may gather spiritual gains and carry the fruit of his daily work to the heavenly kingdoms. Hence it is also commanded to us preachers: "Labor not for the food that perishes, but for that which endures unto eternal life."

And it is well added: "And I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion." The prophet, filled with the Holy Spirit, narrates as past events what he foresees will happen, because in predestination those things are already done which still follow in their accomplishment. Hence also in the old translation it is said through Isaiah: "Who has done the things that are to come." What is it therefore that the prophet heard behind him the voice of a great commotion, except that after the word of preaching, which is directed to the hearts of sinners, the lamentations of the penitent follow?

The perverse, indeed, while they do wicked things and do not hear right things from the righteous, do not know how grave are the things they commit, and from their very ignorance they are secure in their stupor; and lying in their faults, they rest as if softly, just as it is said of a certain sinful and secure people: "He has settled on his dregs," because he lay secure in his sins.

When the perverse begin to hear the word of preaching—what the eternal punishments are, what the terror of judgment is, how subtle the examination of each and every sin—immediately they tremble, they are filled with groans, and they are distressed by sighs they cannot contain, and, shaken by great fear, they break forth into mourning and weeping. Therefore the voice of great commotion follows the prophet; because after the word of preaching, the mourning of the converted and penitent is heard. For those who previously lay quiet in their wound, afterward touched by the hand of medicine, return to health with pain. Concerning this commotion of the penitent it is said through another prophet: "His feet stood still, and the earth was moved," because when the footsteps of truth are fixed in the mind of the hearers, the mind itself, disturbed in the consideration of itself, is moved. Hence the Psalmist prays for sinners, saying: "You who sit upon the cherubim, let the earth be moved." Hence, praying for the afflicted and penitent, he says: "You have moved the earth and troubled it; heal its fractures, for it has been shaken." For the earth moved and troubled is the sinner anxious from the knowledge of his guilt and brought to the lamentations of penance. For to the sinning man it was said: "You are earth, and into earth you shall go." Let him therefore pray that the brokenness of the earth may be healed, because it has been moved, so that the sinner who is afflicted on account of his faults may be consoled by the joy of heavenly mercy. This therefore is the voice of great commotion, when each one, judging his own deeds, is disturbed in the affliction of penance.

"And the spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion: Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place."

What is this, that after the prophet is sent to the captivity of the sons of the people, he hears behind him a voice of great commotion, saying: "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place"? For he had been turned toward the sinners of Babylon, and he was hearing the voice of the glory of the Lord from his place behind his back. For the place of God is Jerusalem, that is, the vision of peace, because indeed those hearts see the things that are of God which do not descend to the captivity of Babylon, that is, to the vices of confusion. For God dwells there where true peace is sought, where the glory of interior contemplation is loved. For those who flow down to perversity disdain to be the place of God. Therefore the place of the glory of God is either every holy soul, or each angelic spirit remaining in the heavens. And the glory of the Lord is blessed from his place, when eternal praise is sung to the author of all things either by elect men or by holy angels. Therefore in this, that the just think about converting sinners, because by considering their vices they direct their eye to carnal acts, they look toward Babylon, as it were. Yet because of the condition of their righteousness, since they never cease to consider the good things of the saints in praise of God, although they direct their thought elsewhere, they hear, as it were, behind them the voice of the glory of the Lord from Jerusalem, that is, from his place.

But if, as we have said, the living creatures in turn strike one another with their wings, and the wing of each strikes against the wing of another, the meaning of this description also lies open, with the Lord's help. What does it mean, then, that these winged creatures in turn strike their wings one against another, except that all the saints mutually touch one another with their virtues, and rouse each other to advancement through the consideration of another's virtue? For all things are not given to one person, lest being lifted up in pride he should fall, but to this one is given what is not given to you, and to you is given what is denied to him, so that while the former considers the good that you have and he does not have, he may set you before himself in his thought; and again, while you observe that he possesses what you yourself do not have, you may place yourself after him in your thought, and so it comes about as it is written: "Considering one another as superiors." For to speak briefly of a few things out of many: to this one is granted the virtue of marvelous abstinence, and yet he does not have the word of knowledge. To that one, however, is given the word of knowledge; and yet he strives to attain the virtue of perfect abstinence, and cannot. To this one is granted freedom of speech, so that, providing the consolation of protection to all who are oppressed, he may speak freely in defense of justice; but yet, still possessing many things in this world, he wishes to leave all, and cannot. To that one, indeed, it has already been given to leave all earthly things, so that he desires to have nothing in this world; but yet he does not presume to exercise authority of speech against any who are sinning. And he who therefore ought to speak more freely, because he no longer has anything by which he might be held to the world, refuses to speak freely against others, lest he lose that very tranquility of his life. To this one the virtue of prophecy has been given; he already foresees many things that are to come; but yet, seeing and compassionating the sickness of his neighbor in the present, he is unable to cure it. To that one the grace of healing has been given, and by his prayers he drives away from a neighbor's body the affliction that is present; but yet he does not know what will follow him a little later. By a wondrous dispensation, therefore, almighty God so distributes His gifts among His elect that He gives to one what He denies to another, and grants more to one what He grants less to another, so that while either this one observes that the other has what he himself does not have, or that one considers that this one has received more what he thinks is less present to himself, all may admire the gifts of God in one another, that is, in turn; and from this very admiration one may be humbled before another, and may think that he whom he sees to have what he does not have has been placed before him by divine judgment. Therefore, the living creatures in turn strike one another with their wings when holy minds touch each other with alternating virtues, and by touching rouse one another, and once roused, fly toward advancement.

"And the sound of the wings of the living creatures striking one against another."

The prophet hears behind him the sound of a great commotion, because, as has been said, the word of those preaching is followed by the lamentation of the penitent. He hears behind him the sound of the wings of the living creatures, because from that very lamentation of the penitent arise the virtues of the saints, so that they advance all the more in holy action, the more they remember having acted wickedly before their knowledge of life. But there is great uncertainty in these words, because it is not clearly stated by the prophet whether each living creature strikes its wings against itself, or whether these same holy living creatures beat one another in turn with their wings, so that the wing of one touches another, and the wing of another touches this living creature.

But because often in sacred Scripture something is said obscurely so that, by God's wonderful dispensation, it may be explained in many ways, we ought by the Lord's gift to explain both meanings to your charity. We have already often said that the wings of the living creatures are the virtues of the saints. How then does each living creature, spreading its wings, strike one wing against another, unless it is openly given to understand that, if we become holy living creatures, virtue in us stirs up virtue, while one strikes against another toward perfection? For behold, someone already has knowledge of the word of God; he learns to have also bowels of mercy. For through knowledge of the word of God he learns: "Give alms, and behold, all things are clean to you." And when he has begun to be merciful in almsgiving, he reads the words of holy authority; and whatever is said in them about mercy, he understands more deeply through experience. For there it is written: "I was a father to the poor." Perhaps before he read this and passed it by. But when mercy has begun in his heart to imitate nature, he reads and recognizes what it means to be a father to the poor, because returning inward, he understands in himself what he hears outwardly. For it is one thing to give alms from precept, and another from charity. To do good from precept belongs to beginners; but to do good from charity belongs to the perfect, who not only act because it is commanded, but also love what they do in fulfilling the command. Hence it is that it is said with great virtue through the Psalmist: "See that I have loved your commandments, O Lord; in your mercy give me life." For to fulfill God's commandments for the sake of the command belongs to one who serves and obeys, but to fulfill them lovingly belongs to one who obeys and loves. Therefore, because mercy is learned through knowledge of charity, and knowledge is multiplied through the charity of mercy in a contrite heart, wing strikes wing in us, because virtue stirs up virtue. So one who guards the good of chastity in his body is kindled with zeal against the lustful, that they may be cleansed from the stains of impurity. And often when he finds some in their falls, he subdues, afflicts, and restrains them to the purity of chastity. If perhaps his mind has been tempted by the impurity of lust, from that very zeal by which he corrected others he convicts himself, and is ashamed to think impure things which he recalls having corrected in others. In this, therefore, wing strikes wing, while virtue strikes virtue and guards against impurity.

"And the sound of the wheels following the living creatures, and the sound of a great commotion."

We said above that the Testaments are signified by the wheels of sacred Scripture. The voice of the wheels, therefore, is the word of the Testaments. Thus after the voice of the wings of the living creatures, the voice of the wheels is also heard, because when the preaching of the preachers is received, while the virtues of the saints fly upward to accomplish higher things and mutually urge one another toward advancement, the state of the holy Church is raised up, so that throughout the whole world the pages of the sacred Testaments may be read. For everywhere now the holy Gospel resounds, everywhere the words of the apostles, everywhere the law and the prophets. Therefore the voice of the wheels follows after the voice of the wings, because after the miracles of the saints, the words of sacred Scripture are freely and openly heard within the holy Church. The wheels follow the living creatures, because, as was said above, after the life of the saints came into honor, the words of the Testaments also appeared venerable to men.

Or certainly the living creatures follow, because in the life of the holy Fathers we recognize what we ought to understand in the volume of sacred Scripture. For their action opens to us what the page of the Testaments says in its proclamations. But we must ask why, after it was said above, "I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion," after the voice of the wings and wheels there is added: "And the voice of a great commotion." If this is carefully examined, it can be found that it is not repeated idly.

For indeed there are two great commotions by which our hearts are stirred. One commotion is from fear, the other from love; one arises from the grief of the penitent, the other from the fervor of those who love. After the word of preaching, therefore, the first commotion occurs when we bewail the evils we have done; but after the sound of the wings and wheels, there is a second commotion, when with great weeping we seek the heavenly goods that we hear about. For behold, because within holy Church we learn examples of virtues from many Fathers, we hear as it were the sound of wings daily; because sacred utterances resound everywhere, we are aroused as if by the voices of wheels. And because through these same sacred utterances we are kindled to love of our Creator, burning with the fires of great fervor, we lament that we are still far from the face of almighty God. After the first sound of great commotion, therefore, at the end there also comes a sound of great commotion, because we who by knowing God began to bewail our sins, now loving him whom we have known, do not cease to desire him with weeping. After the sound of the wheels, therefore, follows the sound of great commotion, because when the Testaments of God have begun to sound in the ear of the heart, the spirit of those who hear, pierced with compunction from love, is moved to lamentation. For this is why the words of sacred Scripture become savory in the heart of readers; this is why they are often read by those who love them in silence, as it were secretly and quietly. Whence it is also said through another prophet: "You have cut off in alienation the heads of the mighty; nations shall be moved in it; they shall open their mouths like a poor man eating in secret." For almighty God has cut off the heads of the mighty in alienation, because he repelled the pride of the Jews by alienating them from himself. In which alienation the nations were moved, because while the Jews fell from the faith, the hearts of the Gentiles ran to the knowledge of faith. These nations indeed open the mouth of the heart in the nourishment of sacred reading, and eat in secret like a poor man, because with haste and silence they take in the words of life as they read.

Let us see how Paul was touched by the wings of the apostles and stirred to repentance. Considering the evils of his past persecution and the innocent life of the apostles, he said: "For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God." He considered indeed the innocence of the apostles, and because of his preceding wickedness, all the care he showed in the Church became worthless in his eyes; and he did not consider how many he surpassed by the understanding he had received, because, weighing their innocence, he grieved that he had once been a persecutor. But let us see if any of the apostles marvels at the understanding given to Paul. We must first consult the chief of the apostles himself, who, admonishing his disciples, says: "As also our most beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you; as in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which there are certain things hard to understand, which the unlearned and unstable distort." Therefore Paul marvels at the innocence in all the apostles, and the chief of the apostles marvels at the wisdom in Paul. They therefore touch each other with their wings, mutually stirring one another to progress by that whereby they fly.

Therefore, Almighty God works in the hearts of men what He does in the regions of the earth. For He could have bestowed all fruits upon any single region; but if any one region did not need the fruits of another region, it would have had no communion with the other. Hence it happens that He grants to one an abundance of wine, to another an abundance of oil; He makes one abound in a multitude of flocks, another in a richness of crops, so that when one brings what the other does not have, and the other returns what the first did not bring, through the communion of grace the divided lands may be joined together as one. Therefore, just as the regions of the earth, so are the minds of the saints, who, while they mutually share with one another what they have received, as it were bestow their fruits as regions upon regions, so that all may be joined together in one charity.

But amid these things it must be known that just as all the elect always observe in others what they have received better from God than themselves, so that they may prefer them to themselves in thought and lay themselves beneath them in humility, so the mind of the reprobate never considers what good another has more than itself, but what good itself has more than another. For they do not weigh what good things of the spirit another has received that they themselves lack, but what good things they have and what evils are present in another. And while almighty God distributes virtues to individuals for this purpose, that He may humble one to another in thought, the reprobate drag down the good they have received to this end, that they may be destroyed by it through pride, since they always consider the good things that they have and others do not have, and never take care to weigh how many good things others have that they themselves do not have. Therefore what divine mercy arranges for the increase of humility, reprobate minds turn to the increase of pride; and from the diversity of gifts they fall away from good, whence they ought to have grown in the good of humility.

Therefore, for this reason, dearest brothers, it is necessary that you should always look upon what you have less of in yourselves, but in your neighbors look upon what they have received more than you, so that while you look upon them as above yourselves because of the good which they have and you do not have, you too may grow through humility to obtain this as well. For if you weigh the good things received in them, and they consider in you the gifts which you have, you touch one another with wings in turn, so that being stirred up you may always fly toward heavenly things.

So Ahab, that wicked king, when rebuked by the prophet and hearing the divine sentence against himself, was terrified and weighed down with great grief, so that the Lord said to his prophet: "Have you not seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because therefore he has humbled himself for my sake, I will not bring evil in his days." In these words of the Lord we must consider how pleasing to him is the grief of bitterness in his elect who fear to lose the Lord, if repentance so pleased him even in a reprobate who feared to lose the present world? Or how pleasing to him is voluntary affliction for sins in those who please him, if this pleased him even temporarily in one who displeased him? But we must know that no one can do these things from the whole heart out of love for the almighty Lord except one whose soul the Holy Spirit has taken hold of. For when is a man able by his own strength to despise earthly things, to love heavenly things, to seek peace with God, to engage in strife with himself, to reprove himself in thought, and to punish himself with groans? No one can do these things except one whom divine grace has strengthened.

But we must ask, since the spirit does not elevate the mind unless it has taken hold of it, why did it first elevate and afterward is said to have taken hold? But in this place "taken hold" means "held firmly." For there are some whom it elevates but does not take hold of, whose understanding indeed flashes forth to spiritual things, yet whose life, remaining in carnal deeds, does not accord with their understanding. For Balaam was elevated by the spirit of prophecy, but was not taken hold of, because he was able to foresee truly things far in the future, and yet was unwilling to separate his mind from earthly desires. But because the holy prophet was elevated in knowledge and likewise taken hold of in his life, let us now hear in what manner he proceeds to preach: "And I went away bitter in the indignation of my spirit."

Ponder, dearest brothers, for whom the gifts of the Holy Spirit had increased, why he departed embittered? Does every heart which the same Spirit takes up become embittered in the indignation of his spirit? Hence it must be known that for one to whom the present life is still sweet, even if he seems to speak the word of God, he is not an elevated and taken-up preacher. For the mind which the Holy Spirit fills, He moves into bitterness toward temporal things through delight in eternal things. For it is sweet to be among human affairs, but only for one who has not yet tasted any joys from heavenly things, because the less one understands eternal things, the more pleasantly one rests in temporal things. But if anyone has already tasted with the mouth of the heart what that sweetness of heavenly rewards is, what those hymn-singing choirs of angels are, what the incomprehensible vision of the Holy Trinity is, for this one the sweeter that becomes which he sees within, the more everything he endures outwardly turns to bitterness. He quarrels with himself about those things which he recalls having done wrongly, and he becomes displeasing to himself, when He who created all things has already begun to please him. He rebukes himself for his thoughts, pursues himself for his words, and punishes himself by weeping for his deeds. He yearns for things above, and now tramples all earthly things through contempt of mind. And as long as he does not yet have by direct sight what he desires, he finds weeping sweet, and afflicting himself with continual lamentations. And because he does not yet see himself to be in the homeland for which he was created, in the exile of this life nothing else pleases him more than his own bitterness. For he disdains to be subject to temporal things, and ardently sighs for eternal things. Hence it is also rightly said through Solomon: "Because in much wisdom there is much indignation, and whoever adds knowledge adds sorrow." For knowing heavenly things, we disdain to subject our mind to earthly things. And when we begin to understand more about those things we have done wrongly, we become angry at ourselves, and in much wisdom there is much indignation, because the more we advance in knowledge, the more we are indignant at ourselves for perverse deeds. And sorrow increases with knowledge, because the more we know eternal things, the more we grieve that we are in the misery of this exile. Or as it is said in another translation: "And whoever adds knowledge adds labor." For to the degree that we begin to know what heavenly joys are, to that degree we labor by weeping so that we may escape the snares of our errors. In much wisdom, therefore, there is much indignation, because if we now have wisdom of eternal things, we disdain to desire temporal things. If we now have wisdom of eternal things, we despise ourselves for having done what could separate us from the love of eternity. Conscience rebukes itself, accuses what it has done, condemns through penitence what it accuses; strife arises in the soul, giving birth to peace with God.