1 Samuel 9:12

Those answering said to them: Here he is, behold before you, etc. The simple souls answering to Christ, to whom the conscience of each, whatever they think, is open: Here, they say, is John, taught to see heavenly things, made a forerunner for you, and you hasten to follow him, we ask, to save us; for you are our helper and deliverer, O Lord, do not delay (Psalm 39). For he also today, that is, the preacher of the same grace and faith bright with light as you, came into the world. Because it is the time that all the chosen people may spiritually consecrate to God the sacrifice on the high summit of new conversation; for he himself who stands among us, not yet recognized, after I have wished to manifest you to the world, you will immediately find him prepared for the services of your coming. For neither that man of such great grace, before he has deserved to see you, nor can he ascend to the summits of the highest virtues, nor be refreshed by the perfect feasts of spiritual joy.

As if they were saying: We can point out his place because he comes there where we used to see him. For if he remained in the citadel of his own loftiness, no one could show him to you. For a teacher is in the city when he lingers in the instruction of the people subject to him through the ministry of preaching. A teacher is in the city when he leaves his own affairs to arrange what is common to all. For since the people, fortified and made strong through the exhortation of a good preacher, are protected when he lingers in their ministry, he is known to be in the city. Likewise, because among the multitude of the subject people some are simple and others are wise, the young women add: "Make haste now, today he has come into the city, because there is a sacrifice of the people on the high place. As soon as you enter, you will find him immediately, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he himself will bless the offering, and then those who have been invited will eat." When Samuel came to the city, he went up to the high place: because the chosen preacher, in the instruction of his subjects, sometimes utters plain words, sometimes lofty ones. Therefore, when he commands plain and intelligible things, he is in the city; when sublime things, and those which are scarcely understood, he is in the high place. He is in the city when he sets forth examples for the simple; but he is in the high place when he utters to the perfect the lofty things of spiritual words. For he was, as it were, in the city, who said: "I judged not myself to know anything among you, except Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). Likewise, he was in the city when he showed remedies to the weak, saying: "Because of fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband" (ibid., 7). But he went up to the high place, because not long after he adds: "But concerning virgins I have no commandment, yet I give counsel. I would that all men were even as myself" (ibid., 8). He also confesses that he often ascends to the high place of words, because he says: "We speak wisdom among the perfect" (ibid., 6). What then is the meaning of what the maidens say: "Hurry now, today he comes into the city," unless that he was rarely seen in the city, namely coming late and departing quickly? By this teaching indeed the…