From “Homily 30 for Pentecost” (591)
“What does this miracle [of tongues] signify, but that the church, filled with the same Spirit, was going to speak with the voice of all Nations… since a word is produced by a tongue, the Spirit appeared in tongues because whoever is touched by the Holy Spirit confesses the Word of God, his only-begotten Son; one who possesses the tongue of the Holy Spirit cannot deny the Word of God…
We see the light of the sun on the mountains. And thus because we cannot see the Sun of righteousness himself, let us see the “mountains” bathed in his brightness, I mean the holy apostles. They shine with virtues and gleam with miracles… [God] has made himself visible to us through them.”
St. Gregory the Great (ca. 540-604) served as Bishop of Rome from 586-604, during a series of invasions and political turmoils. He was a skilled administrator and diplomat, as well as a gifted preacher and writer on the spiritual life. He preached Homily 30 for Pentecost in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome on the Day of Pentecost, 591. His feast is celebrated on March 12. This translation is from David Hurst’s Forty Gospel Homilies, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1990).
