Ezek 2:1

“(Chapter 2, Verse 1) And I saw, and fell on my face, and heard the voice of the one speaking. The greatness of the visions did not lift me up, but the awareness of human frailty caused me to fall on my face. Therefore, even the Apostle Paul, after the ascent to heaven and paradise, and the hearing of ineffable words, says that a messenger of Satan was given to him, who would buffet him so that he would not be exalted (1 Corinthians 12). And Abraham fell on his face after hearing the words of God. And yet, because he had fallen not through sin, but through humility, he is lifted up by the Lord, and he is commanded to hear His words (Gen. 17). It must also be known that to fall on one's face is one thing, and to fall backwards is another. Abraham, after he heard of the birth of Isaac, fell on his face and laughed (1 Sam. 4). But Eli, who had sinned, fell backwards. And it is written about Dan in Genesis: Let Dan be a serpent in the way, biting the horse's heel, and let the horseman fall backwards, waiting for the salvation of God (Gen. 49:17-18). For because he had fallen from the horse by the snake's bite, therefore he awaits the coming of the Savior. And in the Gospel according to John, those who had come to apprehend the Lord, after he answered: I am, fell backward to the ground (John XVIII, 6); his words, who had said to Moses: Go, tell the children of Israel: The One who is, has sent me to you (Exodus III, 14), they could not bear. And he said to me: Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you ((Vulg. with you)). He could not hear the word of God while lying down, but he hears with Moses: But you stand here with me (Exodus XXXIV, 2). Which Daniel also recounts happening to him (Daniel X).”

“"Son of man, stand upon your feet, and I will speak with you." The order of speech and work must be noted by us, because first the likeness of the glory of the Lord appears in order to cast down, afterward He addresses in order to raise up, then He sends the spirit of superabundant grace and lifts up, and sets upon the feet. For unless we saw something of eternity in our mind, we would never fall upon our face in repentance. But already as we lie prostrate the voice of the Lord consoles us so that we may rise in work, which nevertheless we cannot do by our own power. Therefore His spirit fills and lifts us, and sets us upon our feet, so that we who lay prone in penitence for our fault may afterward stand upright in good work.”

“"Stand upon your feet, and I will speak with you." So the prophet describes his own experiences in order to signify ours. For what does it mean that it is said to him while lying down: "Stand upon your feet, and I will speak with you"? For He who was speaking to the one lying down, why does He promise that He will speak only to one standing? But we must know that there are some things we should hear while lying down, and other things while standing. For to one lying down it is said that he should rise; but to one standing it is commanded that he should go forth to preach. For to those still lying in the confusion of weakness, the authority of preaching ought not to be given. But when we now rise up in good work, when we have begun to stand upright, it is fitting that we should be sent forth to preach for the winning of others. Therefore the prophet standing saw a spiritual vision, and he fell; but falling, he then received the word of admonition that he should rise, and rising, he heard the command that he should preach. For we who still stand on the height of pride, when we have begun to feel something of the fear of eternity, it is fitting that we should fall to repentance. And when, subtly recognizing our weakness, we lie down humbly, we are commanded through the consolation of the divine word to rise up to strong works. And when we now persist in the solidity of good works, it is necessary that from the same source by which we have corrected ourselves, we should now also lift up others by preaching. Therefore to one lying down it is not commanded that he should go forth to preach, lest anyone who is weak should destroy by his conduct what he can build up by his word.”

“Hence it is also rightly said through the Psalmist concerning "Stand upon your feet": "He brought me up out of the pit of misery, and out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock and directed my steps; and He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God." For first he is brought out of the mire of wickedness, so that his feet may be made solid upon the rock through faith. But because right action should follow right faith, his steps were directed, so that after the directing of his steps, that is, after the perfection of good work, he might receive in his mouth also the new song of preaching. Thus Saul, while he was going proudly to Damascus, lay prostrate, struck down by the voice of the Redeemer. And he who was to be a future preacher did not immediately hear that he should preach what he had seen, but to him lying there it is said: "Enter into the city, and it will be told you what you must do." Therefore lying down he could only hear this: that rising he should learn what he would hear; but rising he learned this: that he should preach what he had come to know.”

“But we must ask why Ezekiel and Paul fall on their face, while of the horseman, that is, of him who is exalted in the glory of this world, it is said: "That his rider may fall backward." And again of the persecutors of the Lord it is written: "They went backward and fell to the ground." What does this mean, that the elect fall forward and the reprobate fall backward, except that everyone who falls behind himself doubtless falls where he does not see, while he who falls before himself falls where he sees? Therefore the wicked, because they fall into invisible things, are said to fall backward, because they collapse where they cannot now see what will then follow them. But the just, because they willingly cast themselves down in these visible things so that they may be raised up in invisible things, fall as it were on their face, because, pierced with fear, they are humbled while seeing.”