Thus, the Truth himself made known to us by assuming our humanity, continued in prayer on the mountain but [simultaneously] worked miracles in the cities (Luke 6:12). And so he established the way of imitation for good spiritual directors, so that in contemplation they will already desire the highest things; but they will also show compassion for the necessities of the infirm, because charity surges to great heights when it is compassionately drawn to the lowly needs of neighbors. And the more it descends to the infirm, the more valiantly it reaches to the highest things. -Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule, Book II, Chapter 5, trans. George E. Demacopoulos