vER. 9—14. ST. LUKE. C05
ThePublican,on the otherhand, drivenby his stricken
conscienceafaroff,isby hispietybroughtnear. THEOPHYL.
Althoughreportedto have stood,thePublicanyet differed
fromthePharisee,bothinhismanner and hiswords,aswell
asinhishavinga contriteheart. For he fearedto liftup
hiseyestoheaven,thinkingunworthyoftheheavenlyvision
thosewhichhad lovedtogazeupon and wanderafterearthly
things.He alsosmote hisbreast,strikingitas itwerebe
causeof the evilthoughts,and moreoverrousingit as if
asleep.And thushe soughtonlythatGod would be recon
ciledtohim,asitfollows,saying,God,bemerciful.
CHRYS.He heardthewords,thatI am not as the Publi
can. He was notangry,butprickedtotheheart. The one
uncoveredthe wound,the otherseeksforitsremedy. Let
noonetheneverputforthsocoldan excuseas,I darenot,
Iam ashamed,I cannotopen my mouth. The devilshave
thatkindof fear. The devilwould faincloseagainstthee
everydoorofaccesstoGod.
AUG. Why then marvelye, whetherGod pardons,sinceAug.
He himselfacknowledgesitP The Publicanstoodafaroff,
yetdrewneartoGod. And theLord was nigh unto him,
andheardhim,For theLord ison high,yethathHe regard
tothelowly.He liftednotsomuch as hiseyes to heaven,
thathe might be lookedupon,he lookednothimself.Con
scienceweighedhim down, hope raisedhim up, he smote
hisown breast,he exactedjudgmentupon himself.There
foredidtheLord sparethe penitent.Thou hastheardthe
accusationof the proud,thou hastheardthe humble con
fessionoftheaccused.Hear now thesentenceoftheJudge;
Verily1 sayuntoyou,Thisman wentdown to hishousejus
tifiedratherthantheother.
CHRYS.This parablerepresentstous two chariotson theChrys.
race-course,eachwithtwo charioteersin it. In one ofthepe?Nat
chariotsitplacesrighteousnesswithpride,in the othersinHom.5.
and humility.You seethe chariotof sinoutstripthatof
righteousness,notby itsown strengthbutby theexcellence
ofhumilitycombinedwithit,but the otherisdefeatednot
byrighteousness,but by the weightand swellingof pride.
Forashumilityby itsown elasticityrisesabovetheweight
ofpride,and leapingup reachesto God, so prideby its