Gregory the Great, on Ezek 40:13

“And door against door. In this place, "contra" (against/opposite) is not placed in opposition to adversity, but to rectitude. For a door is opposite a door when one arrives by a straight path from the outer entrance to the inner one. In the knowledge of almighty God, our first door is faith, while the second is the vision of Him, to which we arrive by walking through faith. For in this life we enter through the former, so that we may afterward be led to the latter. Therefore a door is opposite a door, because through the entrance of faith the entrance to the vision of God is opened. But if anyone wishes to understand both of these doors as pertaining to this life, neither does this conflict with a sound understanding. For often we wish to consider the invisible nature of almighty God, but we are by no means able to do so; and the soul, wearied by these very difficulties, returns to itself, and makes for itself steps of ascent from itself, so that it may first consider itself, if it is able, and then investigate, as far as it can, that nature which is above it. But if our mind has been scattered among carnal images, it is by no means able to consider either itself or the nature of the soul, because by however many thoughts it is led, it is blinded as if by that many obstacles. The first step, therefore, is for the soul to gather itself to itself; the second is to see what it is like when gathered; the third is to rise above itself and subject itself by directing its attention to the contemplation of the invisible Creator. But it can by no means gather itself to itself unless it has first learned to banish from the eyes of the mind the phantasms of earthly and heavenly images, to reject and trample underfoot whatever from sight, whatever from hearing, whatever from smell, whatever from touch and bodily taste presents itself to its thought, so that it may seek itself within as it is without these things. For when it thinks about these things, it turns over within itself, as it were, certain shadows of bodies. All things must therefore be driven away by the hand of discernment from the eyes of the mind, so that the soul may consider itself as it was created under God and above the body, so that, vivified by what is above, it may vivify the lower realm which it administers. The soul has been infused into the body in such a way that it is not divided into parts according to the parts of the limbs. For if any part of the body is struck in any place, the whole soul feels pain. In a wondrous manner, while presiding over the limbs with one and the same vivification, though it is not diverse in its nature, it nevertheless performs diverse functions through the body. For it is the soul that sees through the eyes, hears through the ears, smells through the nostrils, tastes through the mouth, touches through all the limbs, and by touching distinguishes smooth from rough. And although it performs such diverse operations through the senses, it arranges these not as diverse things but by that one reason in which it was created. Therefore, when the soul thinks about itself without images of the body, it has already entered the first door. But from this door it stretches toward another, so that it may contemplate something of the nature of almighty God. The soul in the body is the life of the flesh; but God, who vivifies all things, is the life of souls. If, therefore, the vivified life is of such magnitude that it cannot be comprehended, who can comprehend with the intellect how great is the majesty of the vivifying life? But to consider and discern this very thing is already in some measure to enter, because from its own estimation the soul gathers what it may perceive concerning the uncircumscribed Spirit, who incomprehensibly governs those things which he incomprehensibly created. For our Creator presides over His creation in a manner far beyond comparison, and He makes certain things to exist, yet not to live; certain things indeed to exist and live, yet not to be able to discern anything about life; and certain things to exist, live, and discern. And He who is one works all things, but is not divided in all things. For He is truly supreme, and never unlike Himself. But the soul, although by nature it is not different from itself, nevertheless is different through thought. For in that very moment and instant when it thinks about sight, it forgets to think about hearing; and in that moment and instant when it thinks about hearing or taste, it cannot think about smell or touch, because through attention and forgetfulness it always becomes unlike itself, so that now it holds this in thought, now that. But Almighty God, because He is not unlike Himself, sees by the same power by which He hears all things, creates by the same power by which He judges what is created. Therefore His seeing is at the same time to administer all things, and His administering is to behold. Nor does He help the just by one thought and condemn the unjust by another, but by one and the same force of His singular nature, always unchanging in Himself, He disposes dissimilar things. But why should we marvel at this concerning the power of the Creator, when we behold traces of His power even in creatures? For the nature of clay and wax is different. But the ray of the sun is not different, and yet although it is not different, what it works in clay and wax is different, because by one and the same heat of its fire it hardens clay and melts wax. But perhaps this is in the nature of the clay or wax, not in the substance of the sun itself, which seems to work different effects in different natures. But Almighty God has it in Himself to dispose changeable things without change, to do different things without diversity in Himself, to form dissimilar things without alternation of thoughts. Therefore God, who is never unlike Himself, works dissimilar things in a manner far dissimilar, He who both is everywhere and is wholly everywhere. For He says: Heaven is my throne, and earth is the footstool of my feet. And of Him it is written: Who measures heaven with a span, and encloses the earth in His fist. From which matter it is necessary to consider that He who presides over heaven as His seat is both above and within. And He who encloses heaven in His palm and the earth in His fist is also outside, above, and below. Therefore, to indicate that Almighty God is interior and superior to all things, He declared that heaven itself is His seat. But to show that He surrounds all things, He asserts that He measures heaven with His palm and encloses the earth in His fist. He Himself therefore is interior and exterior, He Himself is lower and higher: higher by ruling, lower by bearing; interior by filling, exterior by surrounding. And He is so within that He is also without; He so surrounds that He penetrates; He so presides that He bears; He so bears that He presides. Therefore, when the soul, lifted up to itself, understands its own measure, and recognizes that it transcends all corporeal things, and stretches from its own understanding toward the understanding of its Author, what else does it behold now but the door which is opposite the door? Whence the Prophet also says to the Author of all: Your knowledge has become wonderful from me, because however much the soul may strive, it cannot suffice to penetrate itself perfectly, how much less the magnitude of Him who was able to create the soul as well? And when he labored in understanding the knowledge of God, growing weary and failing he added: It is strengthened, and I shall not be able to reach it. But when we strive and stretch forward, desiring to perceive something of the invisible nature, we grow weary, are beaten back, are repelled; and if we cannot penetrate the interior things, nevertheless from the outer door we already see the inner door. For the very labor of contemplation is a door, because it shows something of what is within, even if there is not yet the power of entering.”

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