Wonderful are shewn the faith, patience, and humility of this woman; faith, that she believed that her daughter could be healed; patience, that so many times overlooked, she yet perseveres in her prayers; humility, that she compares herself not to the dogs, but to the whelps.
I know, she says, that I do not deserve the children’s bread, and that I cannot have whole meat, nor sit at the table with the master of the house, but I am content with that which is left for the whelps, that through humble fragments I may come to the amplitude of the perfect bread.
Chrys.:. This was the cause why Christ was so backward, that He knew what she would say, and would not have her so great excellence hid; whence it follows, “Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee according to thy will.”
Observe how the woman herself had contributed not a little to her daughter’s healing; and therefore Christ said not unto her, ‘Let thy daughter be healed,’ but, “Be it unto thee according to thy will;” that you may perceive that she had spoken in sincerity, and that her words were not words of flattery, but of abundant faith.
And this word of Christ is like that word which said, “Let there be a firmament.” [Gen 1:6] and it was made; so here, “And her daughter was made whole from that hour.”
Observe how she obtains what the Apostles could not obtain for her; so great a thing is the earnestness of prayer. He would rather that we should pray for our own offences ourselves, than that others should pray for us.
Reproduced in full. Translation: Oxford 1841 (Newman), public domain (Public domain).