Gregory the Great, on Ezek 3:12

“And the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion, saying: Blessed be the glory of the Lord, from his place.”

“But why do we linger on these matters, we who are able, by the Lord's bounty, to understand these words of the prophet through another and more subtle sense, and to speak more clearly? For he says: "And the spirit took me up." The spirit takes up a preacher when it renders his mind, elevated in love of almighty God, now estranged from earthly desires, so that nothing pleases him to do except those things by which he may gather spiritual gains and carry the fruit of his daily work to the heavenly kingdoms. Hence it is also commanded to us preachers: "Labor not for the food that perishes, but for that which endures unto eternal life." And it is well added: "And I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion." The prophet, filled with the Holy Spirit, narrates as past events what he foresees will happen, because in predestination those things are already done which still follow in their accomplishment. Hence also in the old translation it is said through Isaiah: "Who has done the things that are to come." What is it therefore that the prophet heard behind him the voice of a great commotion, except that after the word of preaching, which is directed to the hearts of sinners, the lamentations of the penitent follow? The perverse, indeed, while they do wicked things and do not hear right things from the righteous, do not know how grave are the things they commit, and from their very ignorance they are secure in their stupor; and lying in their faults, they rest as if softly, just as it is said of a certain sinful and secure people: "He has settled on his dregs," because he lay secure in his sins. When the perverse begin to hear the word of preaching—what the eternal punishments are, what the terror of judgment is, how subtle the examination of each and every sin—immediately they tremble, they are filled with groans, and they are distressed by sighs they cannot contain, and, shaken by great fear, they break forth into mourning and weeping. Therefore the voice of great commotion follows the prophet; because after the word of preaching, the mourning of the converted and penitent is heard. For those who previously lay quiet in their wound, afterward touched by the hand of medicine, return to health with pain. Concerning this commotion of the penitent it is said through another prophet: "His feet stood still, and the earth was moved," because when the footsteps of truth are fixed in the mind of the hearers, the mind itself, disturbed in the consideration of itself, is moved. Hence the Psalmist prays for sinners, saying: "You who sit upon the cherubim, let the earth be moved." Hence, praying for the afflicted and penitent, he says: "You have moved the earth and troubled it; heal its fractures, for it has been shaken." For the earth moved and troubled is the sinner anxious from the knowledge of his guilt and brought to the lamentations of penance. For to the sinning man it was said: "You are earth, and into earth you shall go." Let him therefore pray that the brokenness of the earth may be healed, because it has been moved, so that the sinner who is afflicted on account of his faults may be consoled by the joy of heavenly mercy. This therefore is the voice of great commotion, when each one, judging his own deeds, is disturbed in the affliction of penance.”

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

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