Sermon of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
Homily of Pope Saint Gregory the Great for feasts of the Evangelists: Our Lord and Savior, dearest brethren, admonishes us at one time by his words, but at another by His works. For his very deeds are precepts; for, though He utters no word, he shows us clearly what we ought to do. Behold, He sends His disciples forth to preach, two by two; for the precepts of charity are two, namely, love of God, and love of our neighbor, cannot be said to exist at all unless there be two parties. No one can properly be said to have charity towards himself; for the name of charity can be applied only to love which tends towards another. Behold, the Lord sends forth His disciples to preach, two by two; and in so doing teaches us, that he who has not charity towards his neighbor, ought by no9 means to undertake the office of preaching. It is rightly said that He sent them before His face into every city and place whither He Himself was to come. For he Lord follows His preachers. First comes preaching, afterwards the Lord comes to the dwelling-place of our soul; the words of exhortation go before, and by them truth is taken into the mind.Hence therefore Isaias says to the same preachers: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Hence the Psalmist cries to his children: Make a way for him who ascendeth upon the west. The Lord does indeed ascend upon the west; for whereas He west, as it were, in His Passion, on the other hand He rose with greater glory in His resurrection. He ascends upon the west evidently; in that, by rising from the dead, He tramples upon the death which He has suffered. So we make a way for Him Who ascends upon the west, when we set forth His glory, before the eyes of your minds, in order that He, following after us, may enlighten you by the presence of His love. 
