Rabanus Maurus : So it follows that Scripture demonstrates through the figure of Mordecai the cleverness of the leaders, when it says: "He would stroll every day in front of the forecourt of the house where the chosen virgins were serving, expressing his concern for Esther's welfare and wanting to know what was happening to her." Because every day the sacred teachers take care to keep watch, venturing out to teach the Gospel so that they might examine the faith and the works of the people entrusted to them, to see if they are following with attentive concern the rule of proper faith through which we obtain eternal salvation; or if they are diligent about worshipping God and doing good works, which is how we may win the reward of the heavenly kingdom in the life to come. For those whose hearts burn incessantly with the heat of proper faith and the fire of divine love cannot be free of this concern for even an hour. Hence when the teacher of the nations glories in his labors and in the persecutions which he suffered for Christ, he adds as follows: "And in addition to any secondary concerns, I am faced every day with my concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is offended without my being disturbed?" (2 Corinthians 11) And to the Romans: "God, whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of his Son, is my witness that I remember you in my prayers always, and without interruption" (1 Romans). — Commentary on Esther