Gregory the Great, on Acts 2:4

“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak.”

“Let us consider what kind of men our holy preachers were when this day found them, and what kind it made them. Certainly those who were sitting in one room out of fear of the Jews knew each one the language of their birth, and yet they did not presume to speak openly of Christ even in that language which they knew. The Spirit came, and in their mouths taught them through the diversity of tongues, while in their minds he strengthened them with authority. They began to speak of Christ in foreign tongues, who before were afraid to speak of him even in their own language. For the inflamed heart despised the torments of the body which it had feared before; it conquered the force of carnal dread through love of the Creator. And those who before had succumbed to their adversaries through fear now surpassed them in authority. He who raised them to the height of such eminence, what else should I say, except that he made the minds of earthly men into heavens?”

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

This page is the stable address of one quotation — verbatim, dated, attributed, with its edition. Cite it freely.