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Translation
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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
Cyprian
And let not the worshipper, beloved brethren, be ignorant in what manner the publican prayed with the Pharisee in the temple. Not with eyes lifted up boldly to heaven, nor with hands proudly raised; but beating his breast, and testifying to the sins shut up within, he implored the help of the divine mercy. …
Irenaeus
Then, in the case of the publican, who excelled the Pharisee in prayer, [we find] that it was not because he worshipped another Father that he received testimony from the Lord that he was justified rather [than the other]; but because with great humility, apart from all boasting and pride, he made confession to the same God.
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
How useful and necessary a medicine is repentance! People who remember that they are only human will readily understand this. It is written, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." … The Pharisee was not rejoicing so much in his own clean bill of health as in comparing it with the diseases of others. He came to the doctor. It would have been more worthwhile to inform him by confession of the things that were wrong with himself instead of keeping his wounds secret and having the nerve to crow over the scars of others. …
Bede
Two men went up to the temple to pray. One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The tax collector, praying humbly, belongs to those members of the mentioned widow, that is, the Church, of whom it is said above: "But will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him?" The Pharisee, however, boasting of his merits, pertains to those about whom the terrible closing statement is made: "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"
Bonaventure
Second, as to the conditions of the persons about whom he speaks, he adds: Two men went up to the temple to pray, with a conformable and indeed laudable intention. For we ought to ascend to the temple for this purpose, that we may pray, according to that passage in Matthew twenty-one: "My house shall be called the house of prayer." Whence Augustine says: "Let no one do anything in a place of prayer except that for which it was made, from which it also received its name." Whence also the Lord cast out those who were not praying in the …
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