VER. 9— 14. ST. LUKE. G03
clothedwithpride,castshim down to hell. GREEK Ex. To Asterius.
bediligentin prayerwas the lessontaughtby our Lord in
theparableofthewidow and thejudge,He now instructsus
howwe shoulddirectourprayersto Him, in orderthatour
prayersmay notbe fruitless.The Phariseewas condemned
becausehe prayedheedlessly.As itfollows,The Pharisee
stoodandprayedwithhimself.THEOPHYL. Itissaid"stand
ing,"to denotehishaughtytemper. For hisveryposture
betokenshisextremepride.BASIL." He prayedwithhim- Basil.inself,"thatis,not with God, hissinofpridesenthim back 8ai'c' "
intohimself.It follows,God, I thank Thee. AUG. His Aug.faultwas not thathe gave God thanks,but thathe askedn]jm'
fornothingfurther.Becausethou artfulland aboundest,
thouhastno needto say,Forgiveus ourdebts.What then
mustbe hisguiltwho impiouslyfightsagainstgrace,when
he is condemned who proudlygivesthanks? Let those
hearwho say," God has made me man, I made myself
righteous."O worseand more hatefulthan the Pharisee,
who proudlycalledhimselfrighteous,yet gave thanks to
Godthathe was so.
THEOPHYL.Observethe orderof the Pharisee'sprayer.
He firstspeaksofthatwhich he had not,and then ofthat
whichhe had. As itfollows,That I am not as othermen
are.AUG. He might at leasthave said,"as many men;" Aug.
forwhatdoeshe mean by " othermen,"but allbesideshim
self?"I am righteous,"he says,"the restare sinners."
GREG. There are differentshapesin which the prideofGreg.23.
self-confidentmen presentsitself;when theyimaginethat
eitherthegood inthem isof themselves; orwhen believing
itisgiventhem from above,thattheyhave receiveditfor
theirown merits; or at any ratewhen theyboastthatthey
havethatwhich theyhave not. Or lastly,when despising
otherstheyaim at appearingsingularin the possessionof
thatwhich they have. And in thisrespectthe Pharisee
awardstohimselfespeciallythe meritof goodworks. AUG. Aug.Seehow he derivesfrom the Publicannearhim a freshoc-ut8up'
casionforpride. It follows,Or evenas thisPublican; as
ifhe says," I standalone,he isone oftheothers."
CHRYS.To despisethewholeraceof man was notenough Chrys.
forhim; he must yetattackthePublican.He would have