Speaking And Works

Et ingressus est in me spiritus postquam locutus est mihi, et statuit me supra pedes meos... Notandus nobis est ordo locutionis et operis, quia prius similitudo gloriae Domini apparet ut dejiciat, postmodum alloquitur ut elevet, deinde superabundantis gratiae spiritum mittit et levat, ac supra pedes statuit. Nisi enim aliquid de aeternitate in mente videremus, nunquam in faciem nostram poenitendo caderemus. Sed jam jacentes vox Domini consolatur ut in opere surgamus, quod tamen nos facere nostra virtute non possumus. Ipsius ergo non spiritus implet et levat, et super pedes nostros statuit, ut qui proni in poenitentia pro culpa jacuimus, recti postmodum in bono opere stemus. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia IX Source: Migne PL 76.871a-b

And the spirit came into me after He spoke to me, and He stood me on my feet... 1 We should note the order of speaking and works, because first the likeness of the glory of the Lord appears so that he is cast down, then after that he is spoken to so that he might rise, and then He sends the spirit of superabundant grace and lifts him up and stands him on his feet. For unless we see something of the eternal in our minds, never shall we fall on to our face in penance. But now with the voice of the Lord sent forth there is consolation so that we might rise in works, which by our own strength we would not be able to do. Therefore His spirit does not fill us, nor raises and stands us on our feet, unless we have cast ourselves down prone in penance for fault, that after we may stand erect in good works. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 9 1 Ezekiel 2.2