“As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”
Mark 1:2 — Greek Interlinear
Church Fathers on Mark 1:2
Being about to write his Gospel, Mark rightly puts first the testimonies of the Prophets, that he might notify to all, that what he should write was to be received without scruple of doubt, in that he shewed that these things were beforehand foretold by the Prophets. At once, by one and the same beginning of his Gospel, he prepared the Jews, who had received the Law and the Prophets, for receiving the grace of the Gospel, and those sacraments, which their own prophecies had…
Hierom. ad Pammach, Epist 57: But this is not written in Isaiah, but in Malachi, the last of the twelve prophets.
The Forerunner of Christ, therefore, is call an angel, on account of his angelic life and lofty reverence. Again, where he says, 'Before thy face,' it is as if he said, Thy messenger is near thee: whence is shewn the intimate connection of the Forerunner with Christ; for those walk next to kings who are their greatest friends.