Gregory the Great, on 1Sam 2:20

“And Heli blessed Elcana and his wife: and he said to him: The Lord give thee seed of this woman, for the loan thou hast lent to the Lord. And they went to their own home.”

“And because God multiplies for the preacher the gains of converts through the discerning zeal of pastoral care, Anna is said to have been visited by the Lord, and through the grace of the divine gift to have merited the grace of fruitfulness in sons and daughters. She bears sons when she gains through the word those through whom she bestows the seeds of preaching to others. She bears daughters when she calls back to the service of almighty God those minds which, although they are not suited for preaching, nevertheless diligently nurture the seed of the word of God received from preachers, which, as if giving birth, the daughters afterwards bring forth through good works as an example to their neighbors.”

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