1 Samuel 2:9

Are these words going to be regarded as simply the words of one mere woman giving thanks for the birth of her son? Are people's minds so turned away from the light of truth that they do not feel that the words poured out by this woman transcend the limit of her own thoughts? Surely, anyone who is appropriately moved by the events whose fulfillment has already begun, even in this earthly pilgrimage, must listen to these words and observe and recognize that through this woman (whose very name, Hannah, means "God's grace"), there speaks, by the spirit of prophecy, the Christian religion itself, the City of God itself, whose king and founder is Christ. There speaks, in fact, the grace of God itself, from which the proud are estranged so that they fall, with which the humble are filled so that they rise up, which was in fact the chief theme that rang out in her hymn of praise. Now it may be that someone will be ready to say that the woman didn't utter a prophecy but merely praised God in an outburst of exultation for the son who was granted in answer to her prayer. If so, what is the meaning of this passage, "He has made weak the bow of the mighty ones, and the weak have girded themselves with strength. Those who were full of bread have been reduced to want, and the hungry have passed over the earth. Because the barren woman has given birth to seven, while she who has many children has become weak." Had Hannah herself really borne seven children, although she was barren? She had only one son when she spoke these words; and even afterwards she did not give birth to seven, or to six, which would have made Samuel the seventh. She had in fact three male and two female children. […]

23. By these words indeed the help of divine protection and propitiation is shown in such a way that the grave dangers of temptations are indicated. For it is as if she were saying: They endure such great trials from the world to which they had clung, that only He suffices to help who cannot be absent from His faithful ones in tribulation. For to preserve the feet of His saints is to strengthen by grace the shaken affections of the elect in temptation, lest they fall. Hence also the prophet, who had wavered toward falling and yet had been preserved by the Lord, said: "But my feet were almost moved, my steps were nearly poured out" (Psalm 72:2). Hence again: "I was pushed and overturned so that I might fall, and the Lord upheld me. The Lord is my strength and my praise, and He has become my salvation" (Psalm 117:13, 14). And concerning the weakness of the enemies she added, saying: "And the wicked shall be silent in darkness." 24. But what does it mean that when the Lord is said to guard the feet of the saints, the silence of the wicked is mentioned, unless that we are never driven to the fall of sin except when the perverse temptations of malign spirits are suggested to us? When therefore the Lord guards our feet, the wicked are silent in darkness, because while we are protected by divine grace, the unclean spirits are utterly unable to give us the voice by which they might cast us down. Indeed they are silent in darkness, because they possess the darkened hearts of the reprobate, from whose obscurity they dare not advance toward us. Moreover, he explains why he guards the feet of the saints, saying: "For a man shall not be strengthened by his own might." 25. As if to say: Therefore He holds them, because without Him they could not stand. […]

He has kept the feet of His saints, etc. He has defended the actions and minds of the pious, by which they advance towards perfection as though by steps, from the snares of the impious; and these same impious people, in the dark devices which …

For a man will not be strengthened by his own strength. He looks up. Therefore, the impious who, trusting in their own strength, despise seeking divine help, should finally be silent in darkness, that is, condemned at last to cease from blind impiety; because whoever …

As if to say: Under such immense burdens they would collapse, if the Lord did not preserve their feet. The feet of His saints are indeed the affections of their minds. These are truly preserved by the Lord, because through Him the grace of wondrous devotion is poured in, by which they bear so great a burden willingly. The Lord is said to preserve the feet of His saints because they would flee the mass of so great a weight, if charity infused from above did not lighten what would otherwise be intolerably heavy for them.