Gregory the Great, on 1Sam 10:9

“So when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave unto him another heart, and all these things came to pass that day.”

“23. For the heart is changed to another when it is directed toward desiring better things; the heart is also changed when it is abandoned to evil. But in the case of Saul, who was first good and afterward evil, how this ought rather to be understood literally is not very clear. But if it is said with reference to his advancement, he had a changed heart, because he who had been searching for donkeys was now thinking about the governance of a kingdom. If, however, he is understood to have then received an evil heart, he was humble before the prophet; but as he began to depart, he likewise began also to grow proud. In his mind he was already thinking of himself not as a little one but as a king. He was not yet exalted in rank, but he was exalted in his own estimation. But since throughout this sacred history nothing is yet openly said about his pride, we too act more rightly if for the time being we pass over in silence what might seem unfavorable about him. What can still support his remaining innocence is said in what follows: That Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel (1 Sam. 13:1). For if he was a humble king for two years, the changed heart is asserted of him on account of the vigor of his purpose, not on account of a new swelling of pride. Therefore, in that Saul is said to have had a changed heart, he is likened to new preachers of the holy Church, who when they receive the office of preaching become better through divine grace. For Samuel anointed Saul as prince, but God changed his heart to another, because we receive the sacraments of holy orders outwardly from the teachers of the Church, but we are strengthened inwardly by the power of the sacraments from Almighty God. The power of the sacrament, however, is the grace of the sevenfold Spirit. Those who receive this grace are surely changed as if having received another heart, because those whom the Holy Spirit strengthens by his grace, he immediately makes to be what they were not. So indeed the disciples of the Redeemer also formerly were afraid; but when through the coming of the Holy Spirit another heart was changed in them, they preached the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31). For God changed their heart to another, to whom he granted knowledge of all languages (Acts 2:6). For he changed their heart to another whom he clothed with wondrous love and illuminated with the splendors of all virtues. And it should be noted that God changed his heart to another at the time when he turned his shoulder to go away from the prophet. For he turns his shoulder, as it were, to go away, when he who receives the office of preaching resolves to carry out what is commanded him concerning the pastoral office. He resolves indeed, but does not prevail, if God does not change his heart to another, because the highest place is not well governed unless the mind of the ruler is filled with the supreme grace of the divine gift. Moreover, because these things are promised to him for the future, it is added: And all these signs came to him on that day. 24. For what else is the teaching of a chosen preacher than the day of an instructed disciple? For he who walks in the day sees both the level ground on which to walk and the precipices to avoid. So indeed, while we are illuminated by the teachings of holy preachers, we openly perceive what must be done and what must be avoided. In that day, therefore, in which the prophet preaches, a good hearer perceives the signs of his election—he who beholds in himself those gifts of virtues which his preacher previously showed would come to him. They are indeed signs, because through these those who are advanced to the order of preaching understand themselves to be chosen by God. Therefore, let no one consider himself anointed for the leadership of the Church who has not seen the signs of that day present in the power of perfection. Let him therefore first attentively observe the first sign, namely whether, by the example of men, he already knows how to leap over great pits. Let him also recognize the following sign: whether at the oak of Tabor he met three men whom he saw carrying young goats and loaves of bread to Bethel, to the house of the Lord; whether he received two loaves from their hands. Let him likewise see the third: whether he came to the hill of the Lord, whether he beheld the bands prophesying, whether the Spirit of the Lord leaped upon him and he can already prophesy in their midst. And indeed he saw men leaping over pits if, by the example of the perfect, he has already learned to despise all things of the world. He came to the oak of Tabor if he already knows how to experience the strength and pleasantness of the contemplative life. There he also beheld those carrying young goats and loaves of bread and wine to the Lord, because from the lovers of the contemplative life he has already learned both to acknowledge himself unceasingly as a sinner, and to afflict the flesh for those same sins, and to offer the pain of his affliction gratefully to almighty God. He came to the hill of the Lord if, by advancing, he has ascended to the revealed intimate glory of the Redeemer or to the sublime understanding of the Scriptures. He met the band of prophets if he has understood the harmonious knowledge of the preachers of the holy Church. In their midst he felt the Spirit of the Lord leaping upon him; in that ineffable sweetness of inner experience he recognized in himself the gift of divinity coming upon him, and by speaking he poured forth the abundance of the grace he had come to know. As often as holy preachers show these things to us who are imperfect, through the teaching by which they illuminate us, they produce, as it were, a most brilliant day. And indeed all these things preachers who have already been advanced know, as their ordainers have set them forth. 25. Since therefore they have the day of signs, let them profitably consider whether they already see the promised signs. For he who has not yet learned to despise the glory of the world was able to hear the first sign promised, but did not see it displayed. If he does not know the strength and sweetness of the contemplative life, he has not deserved to see the good of the following sign. If he has not ascended to the height of the Scriptures through the knowledge of intimate learning, he has not yet come to the hill of the Lord. If he does not yet have the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon him, he cannot prophesy. For without that Spirit a pastor is carnal, and what he speaks cannot be attributed to the dignity of preaching, but to the boldness of rashness. With what dread, then, can we wretches be terrified? For behold, we have undertaken the leadership of others, we who do not possess the power of the governance we have assumed. We have heard the signs of spiritual prelacy which we do not see in ourselves through the light of experience. We desire earthly things, we are occupied with outward cares, and we are driven the further from heavenly contemplation the more we are weighed down by anxiety over earthly affairs. Pressed down also by this burden of earthly life, when can we attain that splendor of the intimate glory of the Redeemer, when can we arrive at the loftiest meanings of the holy Scriptures? But neither can we speak of heavenly things, which we do not know, as though they were known. And we who are unwilling to devote ourselves through quiet to the love of the interior life do not feel the Spirit of the Lord leaping upon us. Therefore let the signs that are known but not possessed terrify us, so that when we are pricked with compunction for the immensity of our negligence, we may seek the power of the order we have assumed through weeping and lamentation. Hence the Psalmist laments with the voice of the weak, saying: "We have not seen our signs, there is no longer a prophet" (Psalm 73:9). For one is a prophet when these aforementioned signs of prophecy are foreseen to be present in him. If therefore he is raised to the summit of prelacy, let him not measure himself by the height of his office, but by the power of his perfection. Let him therefore say: "We have not seen our signs, there is no longer a prophet." As if to say: I would call myself a prophet now, if I could discern the gifts of the Spirit with which the person of a prophet ought to shine. He therefore who has heard of the perfection of the pastoral order he has assumed, which he has not deserved to obtain in himself by his manner of living, is not a fit teacher of holy Church. In the first king, therefore, the advancement of all pastors of holy Church is shown.”

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