Gregory the Great, on 1Sam 14:1

“Now it came to pass one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, and let us go over to the garrison of the Philistines, which is on the other side of yonder place. But he told not this to his father.”

“The station of the Philistines goes forth when the throng of evil spirits is revealed to the minds of the elect through harmful suggestions. It is indeed called a station for this reason: because the wars of the elect are being described. For to stand, for malignant spirits, is to exert great forces in the battle of the elect. For anyone can strive to accomplish something more powerfully by standing than by sitting. Therefore the station of the Philistines is said to have gone forth, so that the effort of the demons in our war may be openly understood. And because they think of crushing the faithful as though they were inferior and lesser than themselves, going forth they prepare to ascend to Machmas. Or they eagerly desire to ascend to Machmas when they strive by tempting to deceive the hearts of the little ones. But the elect preachers, when they perceive the tempted hearts of their subjects, do not delay in bringing aid. They place some as it were in safety, and lead others with them to endure the dangers of wars. What does it mean that the armor-bearer is led to battle, except that subjects instructed through knowledge are to be advanced to victory in interior conflicts? For some know the art of medicine who lack the experience of healing: so indeed in the holy Church there are some who have learned the art of interior combat, but have not yet been brought to the pressing necessities of actual conflicts. They hear of great men fighting, but the battles which the great endure magnificently they know by hearing, not by proven strength. Such indeed are those who are invited to imitate the footsteps of the Redeemer. "Whoever wishes," he says, "to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matt. 16:24). Now the arms of Jonathan are the exhortations of the teacher. The armor-bearer carries arms with which not he himself but another fights. So indeed are those who are newly instructed in the holy Church. For while they hear from the teachers about the virtues with which the teachers themselves fight against the cunning of evil spirits, they indeed have on their lips what they do not yet have in the practice of virtue. Therefore Jonathan said to his armor-bearer: "Come, let us cross over to the station of the Philistines," because the elect teachers teach their subjects not only the art by which they may fight, but also draw them to battle so that they may triumph. And because lax pastors do not at all take care to undertake the battles that are urged upon them, he does not say: "Go, and cross over to the garrison of the Philistines," but: "Come, let us cross over." They indeed provoke others to the contest, but they themselves attempt those same contests first. But what does it mean when he says: "Which is across that place"? There is a certain place in the holy Church which, enclosed by great battles, is not exposed. Indeed, to possess the goods of the world, to take a wife, to beget children, to offer the pleasures of all lawful things to the body — this is to remain fortified against the enemy in such a way that nothing burdensome is imposed on those placed in that order. But if anyone, kindled by the desire for a better life, strives to cross beyond this place, it is necessary that he be prepared for the gravest battles. For those who despise riches, who embrace the poverty of Christ, who spurn marriage, must always embrace the love of chastity. The former immediately have the most grievous battles of the flesh rising against them, the latter the assault upon the heart: because neither is poverty borne lightly, nor are bodies subjected to chastity without great struggles. Hence it is well said by a certain wise man: "Son, when you come to the service of God, stand in fear, and prepare your soul for temptation" (Sirach 2:1). As if to say: Because you wished to go out from the place of protection, it is necessary that you now fortify yourself in open war against the strongest camps of the enemies. Therefore, when he says "across that place," not "this place," Jonathan signifies the virtue of teachers who, through the singular purpose of their religious life, are always in the open field of combat. And because in all that they bravely fight, in all that they nobly triumph over, they flee the vice of boasting and pride, there follows: (Verse 1.) "But he did not tell his father this same thing." Indeed, the virtues of the elect should be kept silent, lest they be spoken of through boasting, yet sometimes to manifest them for the glory of God is no fault. Because we have represented great preachers in Saul, this fact—that Jonathan conceals the beginning of battle from his father—suggests this: that the great things we do, we sometimes laudably conceal on account of humility. Indeed, through corruption we have already become such that we can never appear good even to those who are set over us without pride. Therefore, when a hidden evil arises from what is manifest, the good is wisely concealed, lest it be stained by the evil that comes upon it. But amid these things it must be known that those can conceal their virtues from their superiors out of this necessity who know how to rightly recognize the good that they do. For if they are too simple, what they consider to be good is often not good; and while they fail to reveal a vice as though it were a virtue, they carry a hidden enemy within themselves. Hence Jonathan, who concealed the plan of war from his father, is declared to be so great that a portion of the army is reported to have been led forth under his command. There were, it says, two thousand men with Saul in Michmash and on the hill of Bethel, and a thousand with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin (1 Kings 13:2). Let it therefore be said of Jonathan: "But he did not reveal this very thing to his father"—because learned men, when they fear incurring the vice of pride from their great works, hide those works from the very ones by whom they could have been helped. We learn better what these aids of the preacher are if we see them in the place of their perfection. For it follows: (Verse 2.) Now Saul was staying in the outermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree, which was in Migron.”

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