vKR.31— 34. ST. LUKE. 715 of the world; he is commanded to strengthen his own brethren,who said,Master, we have leftall,and followedMatt. Thee. 19'27' BEDE. Because the Lord said He had prayed for Peter's faith,Peterconsciousof present affectionand ferventfaith, butunconsciousof hiscoming fall,does not believehe could . inany way fallfrom Christ. As itfollows,And he saidunto Him, Lord, I am ready to go with Thee to prison and to death.THEOPHYL. He burns forth indeed with too much love,and promises what is impossibleto him. But it be hovedhim as soon as he heard from the Truth thathe was to be tempted,to be no longer confident. Now the Lord, seeingthatPeter spoke boastfully,revealsthe nature of his temptation,namely, that he would deny Him ; / tellthee, Peter,the cock shall not crow thisday, before that thou thricedeny,fyc. AMBROSE. Now Peter although earnestin spirit,yet stillweak in bodilyinclination,is declaredabout to deny his Lord ; forhe could not equal the constancyof theDivinewill. Our Lord's Passionhas rivalsbut no equal. THEOPHYL. From hence we draw a great doctrine,that human resolveis not sufficientwithout the Divine support. For Peter with allhis zeal,neverthelesswhen forsakenof God was overthrown by the enemy. BASIL.We must know then, that God sometimes allowsBasil. therash to receivea fall,as a remedy to previousself-con-ijrev^',1 Science.But althoughthe rashman seems to have committed int.8. thesame offencewith othermen, thereisno slightdifference. For the one has sinned by reason of certainsecretassaults and almost against his will,but the others,having no careeitherfor themselvesor God, knowing no distinction between sin and virtuousactions. For the rash needing some assistance,in regardto thisvery thing in which he has sinned ought to sufferreproof. But the others,having destroyedall the good of their soul, must be afflicted, warned,rebuked,or made subjectto punishment,untilthey acknowledgethatGod isa justJudge, and tremble. AUG. Now what is here said concerning the foregoingAug.de denialof Peter is containedin allthe Evangelists,but they i"£ 0 do not allhappen to relateitupon the same occasionin the discourse.Matthew and Mark subjoinitafterour Lord had