Ezekiel 40:2

(Chapter XL - Verses 1 onwards) 'In the twenty-fifth year of our exile (or captivity), at the beginning of the year (or in the first month), on the tenth day of the month, fourteen years after the city was struck down (or captured): on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me there. In visions (or in a vision) of God, He brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was like a city-building, facing southward (or from the south).' And he brought me there: and behold a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass (or shining brass); and a line of flax (or masons' line) was in his hand, and a measuring reed in his hand. And he stood in the gate: and he said to me, Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you (or set in your heart all that I shall show you): for you have been brought (or entered) here for this purpose, and declare (or show) to the house of Israel all that you see. If, in the fifth year of captivity or exile of King Joachin, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, the heavens were opened to the prophet Ezekiel by the river Chebar, and he saw visions of God; and now it is said that in the twenty-fifth year of the same captivity or exile of Jehoiachin, at the beginning of the year, in the tenth month, the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he was brought to the land of Israel and placed on a very high mountain, where he could see the city under construction, facing south; then there is no doubt that his entire prophecy was composed over a period of nineteen years, nine months, and five days of the twentieth year. […]

And he set me upon a mountain exceedingly high. What then does the high mountain signify except the Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus? Who is indeed from the earth, but beyond the earth, because the flesh of our same Redeemer has its matter from below, but excels in the heights by his power. It would have been insufficient to call him high unless he added exceedingly, because he is not only man, but from that same conception of humanity which was assumed by him, God-man, not only man beyond men, but man made even above the angels. For concerning him it is said through Isaiah: In that day the fruit of the earth shall be sublime. For our Creator, because he was incarnate for us, was made the fruit of the earth for us. But now the fruit of the earth is sublime, because man born on earth reigns above the angels in heaven, because according to the voice of David and Paul, He has subjected all things under his feet. For in that he subjected all things to him, he left nothing not subject to him. Therefore this mountain is both high and exceedingly so, because even if he is from earth through the substance of humanity, nevertheless he is incomprehensible from the height of divinity. For hence it is that when the prophet Isaiah foresaw that the same Lord was to come in the flesh, raised up by the spirit of prophecy, he said: And it shall be in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the summit of the mountains. For the house of the Lord was the Israelite people. Therefore he was called the mountain of the house of the Lord, who deigned to become incarnate from the Israelite people. Moreover there were in that same people holy men who might rightly be called mountains, because through the merit of their life they drew near to heavenly things. […]

Upon which there was as it were the building of a city facing toward the South. It should be noted that it does not say, "Upon which there was a building," but "as it were a building," so that it might clearly be shown that all these things were said not of a corporeal but of a spiritual city's building. For he who declares that he saw not a building but as it were a building directs the hearts of his hearers to a spiritual construction, as is said through the Psalmist: "Jerusalem which is built as a city." For since that vision of inner peace is constructed from the congregation of holy citizens, the heavenly Jerusalem is built as a city. Yet while in this land of pilgrimage she is struck with scourges, beaten with tribulations, her stones are daily squared. And this is the city, namely the holy Church, which though destined to reign in heaven still labors on earth. To whose citizens Peter says: "And you as living stones are built up." And Paul says: "You are God's field, God's building." Which city indeed already has here in the conduct of the saints its great building. For in a building stone bears stone, because stone is placed upon stone; and he who bears another is borne by another. So therefore, so in holy Church each one both bears another and is borne by another. For neighbors mutually tolerate one another, so that through them the building of charity may rise. Hence Paul admonishes, saying: "Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ." Declaring the power of which law, he says: "Love is the fulfillment of the law." For if I neglect to bear you in your conduct, and you disdain to tolerate me in my conduct, whence does the building of charity rise between us, whom mutual love does not join together through patience? […]

And it should be noted that the prophet saw that same city which he beheld inclining toward the South. For those who are devoted to sacred eloquence recognize that the south wind is customarily placed as a type of the Holy Spirit; just as, on the contrary, the devil is often designated by the North wind, because the former relaxes with heat, and the latter constricts with cold. And the Truth says: Iniquity shall abound, and the charity of many shall grow cold. The prophet also asserts concerning Judea, saying: As a cistern makes its water cold, so has she made her malice cold. Hence the devil, as the same prophet attests, is reported to have said: I will sit upon the mountain of the Testament, in the sides of the North. But on the contrary, this city inclines toward the Southern part, because the grace of the Holy Spirit relaxes the torpor of the mind. Hence the Psalmist says: Turn again, O Lord, our captivity, as a torrent in the South. For our captivity, which had remained sluggish in following God due to the coldness of torpor, is relaxed through the heat of the Holy Spirit, so that it may run into the love of God. Whence it is also now said that the city which is established on the mountain inclines toward the South, because the Church of the elect opens her thoughts in the breath of the Holy Spirit, and, descending from every summit of her pride, conceives the warmth of love in God, in whom she believes, so that nothing pleases her except to be submitted to His grace, to be warmed by His love, to be always filled by the gift of His breath. Whence also the contemplator, inflamed with mighty love, was saying: My soul shall exult in the Lord, and shall delight in His salvation. For He who in Latin is called "the Savior," the same in Hebrew is called Jesus. […]

Ezekiel was caught away supranaturally by the action of revelation, and he came to Jerusalem; and in a divine revelation he was a beholder the renewal that was to come. It is likewise with purity of soul. Some, going by the well-trodden road of the …