Gregory the Great, on 1Sam 1:26

“And Anna said: I beseech thee, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord: I am that woman who stood before thee here praying to the Lord.”

“51. Anna stood before Eli, because the holy Church did not fall to any persecutions from the doctors of the synagogue. This is as if the Church, glorying, were to say to the leaders of the Synagogue: Therefore I was able to bring forth the world to God through the Gospel, because I endured unconquered the adversities which you inflicted upon me. For if, overcome by punishments, I had submitted myself to antiquity, I would never have begotten for the Redeemer a new offspring of so many nations. And because she speaks humbly, she calls upon the Lord by beseeching. Because indeed she desires that the pledge of eternal life be given to her in faith in the Redeemer, she says: "As your soul lives." But she who gloried that she had stood spoke great things about herself. And because she had spoken those same great things humbly, not proudly, she immediately referred them to the praise of almighty God, saying: (Verse 27.) "I prayed, and the Lord gave me my petition which I asked of him; therefore I also have commended him to the Lord."”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.