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Prayer of Manasseh
1

Isaiah 1:3

The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib: but Israel does not know, my people do not consider.
Read Chapter 1

Ambrose of Milan

AD 397
[The righteous person] does not say, “My portion consists of herds of oxen, donkeys or sheep,” except, perhaps, he counts himself among those herds which know their owner and wishes to consort with that donkey which does not shun the crib of Christ … [For this person] that sheep is his portion which was led to the slaughter and the “Lamb which was dumb before his shearer and did not open his mouth.” In [Christ’s] humiliation, judgment has been exalted. - "Letter 59 (14.93)"
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Ambrose of Milan

AD 397
What is more evident than that it is said of the passion of the Lord: “The ox knows his owner and the donkey his master’s crib.” Let us, then, know the Lord’s crib where we are nourished, fed and refreshed. - "Letter 36 (13.6)"
< 1 min2/20
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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430
But, in fact, there were even in that people those that understood, having the faith which was afterwards revealed, not pertaining to the letter of the law but the grace of the Spirit. For they cannot have been without the same faith, who were able to foresee and foretell the revelation that would be in Christ, inasmuch as even those old sacraments were signs of those that should be. - "Explanations of the Psalms 78 (77).2"
< 1 min3/20
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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430
Therefore those oxen magnified the Lord, not themselves. See the ox magnifying his Lord because the ox has acknowledged his owner; observe the ox fearing that the ox’s owner may be deserted and confidence be placed in the ox. How he is terrified of those who want to put hope in him! - "Tractates on the Gospel of John 10.7.3"
< 1 min4/20
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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430
The ox from the Jews, the donkey from the Gentiles; both came to the one manger and found the fodder of the Word. - "Sermon 375.1"
< 1 min5/20
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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430
In the persons of the shepherds and the magi, the ox began to recognize his owner and the donkey his Master’s crib. From the Jews came the horned ox, since among them the horns of the cross were prepared for Christ; from the Gentiles came the long-eared donkey, since it was concerning them that the prophecy had been made: “A people, which I knew not, has served me: at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me.” For the Owner of the ox and the Master of the donkey lay in a manger, yet he was furnishing common sustenance to both creatures. - "Sermon 204.2"
1 min6/20
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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430
The Leader and Shepherd of shepherds is announced to shepherds, and the food of the faithful lies in the manger of dumb beasts.… For that reason he sat upon the colt of a donkey when he entered Jerusalem amid the praises of the multitude surging around him. Let us understand; let us draw near to the manger; let us eat of this food; let us bear the Lord, our Guide and Leader, so that under his direction we may come to the heavenly Jerusalem. - "Sermon 190.3"
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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430
He who fills the world found no room in an inn. Placed in a manger, he became our food. Let the two animals, symbolic of two races, approach the manger, for “the ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib.” Do not be ashamed to be God’s beast of burden. Carrying Christ, you will not go astray; with him burdening you, you make your way through devious paths. May the Lord rest upon us; may he direct us where he wishes; may we be his beast of burden and thus may we come to Jerusalem. Though he presses upon us, we are not crushed but lifted up; when he leads us, we shall not go astray. Through the Lord may we come to the child so that we may rejoice forever with the child who was born today. - "Sermon 189.4"
1 min8/20
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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430
Therefore “Jesus found a donkey and sat upon it.” … The donkey’s colt upon which no one had sat (for this fact is found in the other Evangelists) we understand as the people of the nations which had not received the Lord’s law. However, the donkey (because both beasts were led to the Lord) is his community which came from the people of Israel, clearly not unbroken, but which recognized the Master’s manger. - "Tractates on the Gospel of John 51.5.2"
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Basil the Great

AD 379
If even among the barbarians harmony is maintained through subjection to a single leader, what should we think of the disharmony among us and our failure to be subject to the Lord’s commands? We should realize that our good God gives us examples to teach us and lead us to conversion. On the great and awesome day of judgment he will use them as a demonstration of the shame and condemnation of those who have not heeded his instruction. He has already said, and he continues to say, “The ox knows his owner and the donkey his master’s manger; but Israel has not known me, and my people have not understood.” - "Preface on the Judgment of God 7"
1 min10/20
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Basil the Great

AD 379
If the love of children for their parents is a natural endowment and if this love is noticeable in the behavior even of brute beasts, as well as in the affection of human beings in early infancy for their mothers, let us not appear to be less rational than infants or more savage than wild beasts by alienating ourselves from him who made us by being unloving toward him.… This gratitude is characteristic not only of humans, but it is also felt by almost all animals, so that they attach themselves to those who have conferred some good upon them. - "The Long Rules 2"
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Bede

AD 735
By the ox he designates the people of the Jews, who were accustomed to carry the yoke of the law and to ruminate upon its words; by the donkey he represents the people of the nations, who remained always unclean with the stains of idolatry. From both peoples a great many turned to the grace of the gospel and recognized the owner by whom they were created. [They] were seeking by means of his heavenly nourishing fare to grow toward perpetual salvation. - "Homilies on the Gospels 1.6"
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Caesarius of Arles

AD 542
If the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, we are his servants and farmers, and I do not know how we can fail to recognize him as the owner. - "Sermon 33.1"
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Gregory the Theologian

AD 390
Isaiah calls to you to know your owner, like the ox, and to know the manger of your Lord, like the donkey. - "On the Birth of Christ, Oration 38.17"
< 1 min14/20
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Jerome

AD 420
Like other Hebrews, Israel does not know its owner, nor does this people understand the cradle of its Lord. Here is the clear meaning: I adopted them as sons and made them a people peculiar to myself, the portion of my inheritance, and I called them my firstborn, but they did not cooperate, because they became dumb beasts to be conquered by favors and to recognize their shepherd and guardian. It does not compare them to dogs because a dog is the most clever kind of animal, which defends the dwelling of its owner for a little food. But the mind of the ox or ass is slower, animals that turn hard clumps of soil while pulling a plow behind some carriages and alleviate the workload of men by bearing heavy loads behind other carriages. Hence they are called beasts of burden, because they assist men. Although this verse can be understood as referring to God the Father, it seems instead to refer to the Son inasmuch as the people of Israel did not recognize him, nor did they receive him whose d...
1 min15/20
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Jerome

AD 420
His mother laid him in a manger. Joseph did not dare to touch him, for he knew he had not been begotten of him. In awe, he rejoiced at a son, but he did not dare to touch the Son.… Why in a manger? That the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled. - "Homily 88 (On the Nativity)"
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John Chrysostom

AD 407
Before the cross not even the Jews knew him … while after the cross the whole world flocked to him. - "Homilies on the Gospel of John 80"
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Peter Chrysologus

AD 450
If you did not recognize him soon along with the angels, do acknowledge him now, even though very late, in company with the beasts. Otherwise, while you loiter, you may be deemed less than those very animals with whom you were previously compared.… Yet you argue and quibble with the Jews who turned away from their inns their Master whom the beasts welcomed in their cribs. - "Sermon 141"
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Peter Chrysologus

AD 450
Why does the king of the Jews lie in a manger and not repose in the temple? Why is he not resplendent in purple rather than poorly clad rags? Why does he lie hidden in a cave and not on display in the sanctuary? The beasts have received in a manger him whom you have disdained to receive in his house. As it has been written.… But you, O Israel, have not sought out your Master. - "Sermon 156"
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Salvian the Presbyter

AD 429
They who have long since put aside the worship of God cannot be called the people of God. Neither can that people be said to see God who have denied the Son of God. - "The Governance of God 4"
< 1 min20/20
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Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation - 2 Peter 1:20

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