come to Thee, and let them learn of Thee to They are wholly chaste both in spirit and in
aes THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
Heike under his roof.4 Let him hear, Zaccheus, chief of publicans, restoring fourfold the gains of damnable sins.' Let her hear, the woman in the city a sinner, by so much the more full of tears at Thy feet, the more alien she had been from Thy steps.° Let them hear, the harlots and publicans, who enter into the kingdom of heaven before the Scribes and Pharisees.? Let them hear, every kind of such ones, feastings with whom were cast in Thy teeth as a charge, forsooth, as though by whole persons who sought not a physician, whereas Thou camest not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.® All these, when they are converted unto Thee, easily grow meek, and are humbled before Thee, mindful of their own most unrighteous life, and of Thy most indulgent mercy, in that, "' where sin hath abounded, grace hath abounded more.' 9 little He had been made for our sakes, saith,
''I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, in that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto little children. Even so, O Father, in that so it hath been pleasing before Thee. All things have been delivered unto Me of My Father: and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; and no one knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son shall have willed to reveal Him. Come unto Me, all ye who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, in that I am meek and lowly of heart.''* He, He, unto Whom the Father hath delivered all things, and Whom no one knoweth but the Father, and Who alone, (and he, unto whom He shall have willed to reveal Him), knoweth the Father, saith not, '* Learn of Me" to make the world, or to raise the dead, but, *' in that
37. But regard the troops of virgins, holy boys and girls: this kind hath been trained up in Thy Church: there for Thee it hath been budding from its mother's breasts; for Thy Name it hath loosed its tongue to speak, Thy Name, as through the milk of its infancy, it hath had poured in and hath sucked, no one of this number can say, °' I, who before was a blasphemer, and persecutor, and injurious, but I obtained mercy, in that I did it being ignorant, in unbelief." *° Yea more, that, which Thou commandedst not, but only didst set forth, for such as would, to seize, saying, **Whoso can receive, let him receive;'? they have seized, they have vowed, and, fer the sake of the kingdom of heaven, not for that Thou threatenedst, but for that Thou exhortedst, they have made themselves eunuchs.** To these cry out, let these hear Thee, in that Thou art '' meek and lowly of heart.'' Let these, by how much they are great, by so much humble themselves in all things, that they may find grace before Thee. They are just: but they are not, are they, such as Thou, justifying the ungodly? They are chaste: but them in sins their mothers nurtured in their wombs." They are holy, but Thou art also Holy of Holies. They are virgins, but they are not also born of virgins. They are wholly chaste both in spirit and in flesh: but they are not the Word made flesh.*3 And yet let them learn, not from those unto whom Thou forgivest sins, but from Thee Thyself, The Lamb of God Who takest away the sins of the world,™ in that Thou art
I am meek and lowly of heart." O saving teaching? O Teacher and Lord of mortals, unto whom death was pledged and passed on in the cup of pride, He would not teach what
Himself was not, He would not bid what Himself did not. I see Thee, O good Jesu, with the eyes of faith, which Thou hast opened for me, as in an assembly of the human race, crying out and saying, '' Come unto Me, and learn of Me.'' What, I beseech Thee, through Whom all things were made, O Son of God, and the Same Who was made among all things, O Son of Man: to learn what of Thee, come we to Thee? '' For that I am meek," saith He, '*and lowly of heart.'' Is it to this that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Thee? are brought, that we learn this of Thee as a great thing, that Thou art '* meek and lowly of heart?" Is it so great a thing to be little, that it could not at all be learned unless it were brought to pass by Thee, Who art so great? So indeed it is. For by no other way is there found out rest for the soul, save when the unquiet swelling hath been dispersed, whereby it was great unto itself, when it was not sound unto Thee.
36. Let. them hear" Thee, 'and: let' them come to Thee, and let them learn of Thee to be meek and lowly, who seek Thy Mercy and Truth, by living unto Thee, unto Thee, not unto themselves. Let him hear this, laboring and laden, who is weighed down by his burthen, so as not to dare to lift up his eyes to heaven, that sinner beating his breast, and drawing near from afar.3 Let him hear, the centurion, not worthy that Thou shouldest
meek and lowly of heart."
5 Luke xix. 2-8. 6 Luke vii. 37, 38. 8 Matt. ix. 11-13. [SeeR.V.] 10 y Tim, i. 13. 11 Matt. xix. 12. 13 John i. 14. 14 John i. 29.
4 Matt. viii. 8. 7 Matt, xxi. 31. 9 Rom. v. 20. 12 Ps, li. 5.
t Matt. xi. 25-29. 2 Col. ii. 3. 3 Luke xviii. 13