Patristic A.D. 407
“And in that He adds seek, and knock, He bids us ask with much importunateness and strength. For one who seeks, casts forth all other things from his mind, and is turned to that thing singly which he seeks; and he that knocks comes with vehemence and warm soul.”
Catena Aurea: Gospel of Matthew, as excerpted in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 7:7-8
PD · J. H. Newman (Oxford, 1841) ↗