Catena Aurea: Commentary of the Four Gospels Collected Out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 1, Part 2This commentary on the Four Gospels - the Catena Aurea, or 'Chain of Gold' - is a useful and insightful today as it was when Thomas Aquinas compiled it in the mid-thirteenth century. For each segment of the Gospels he lined up a sequence (the chain of the title), of paragraph-length comments from the writers of the Early Church. This relatively unknown treasure trove is a gift to the preacher, or to anyone who wants to reflect on the Gospels in the company of the church fathers. The way Aquinas arranges his material, following sections in the Gospel text (what a biblical scholar might call a 'pericope'), usually aligns with lectionary portions even today. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) is revered by Roman Catholics as their 'universal' doctor or teacher, and is also highly studies and respected today by Protestants and Anglicans, as one of the greatest of all Christian thinkers. He is well known for his skill in synthesizing theological and philosophical insights, but his greatness also rests on his knowledge of patristic sources, which was remarkably wide for his time: he knew a good many early Greek Christian traditions, as well as to the Latin traditions that might be more obviously for a Western European of his time. He brought his capacious knowledge of those sources to bear in compiling this work, collecting what he saw to be the most illuminating and spiritually productive comments on the Gospels. Unusually, Aquinas goes out of his way to attribute his sources (although more recent scholarship occasionally has to put him right on that score). Recent decades have seen a revival of interest in the biblical commentary of the church fathers, reflected for instance in the ongoing publication of two major patristic commentaries by Eerdmans and InterVarsity Press. They too present a chain of excerpts for each section of the scriptural text, as contemporary witnesses to the value of this approach. Aquinas's Catena, dating from the mid-twentieth century, stands out in the history of the church as a perennially useful example of this kind of commentary. Compiled by the greatest son of the Order of Preachers, no preacher today could fail to be aided and enlightened by it. |
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Page 575
... Mark say , And it was the third hour , and they crucified Him ? Because on the third hour our Lord was crucified Mark by the tongues of the Jews , on the sixth by the hands of the soldiers . So that we must understand that the fifth ...
... Mark say , And it was the third hour , and they crucified Him ? Because on the third hour our Lord was crucified Mark by the tongues of the Jews , on the sixth by the hands of the soldiers . So that we must understand that the fifth ...
Page 584
... Mark and Matthew is called the mother of James and Joses , was the wife of Alpheus , and sister of Mary the mother of our Lord : which Mary John here designates of Cleophas , either from her father , or family , or for some other reason ...
... Mark and Matthew is called the mother of James and Joses , was the wife of Alpheus , and sister of Mary the mother of our Lord : which Mary John here designates of Cleophas , either from her father , or family , or for some other reason ...
Page 595
... Mark says , Aug. Very early in the morning , at the rising of the sun , does not Evang . contradict John's words , when it was yet dark . At the iii . 24 . dawn of day , there are yet remains of darkness , which dis- appear as the light ...
... Mark says , Aug. Very early in the morning , at the rising of the sun , does not Evang . contradict John's words , when it was yet dark . At the iii . 24 . dawn of day , there are yet remains of darkness , which dis- appear as the light ...
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Common terms and phrases
abide adds ALCUIN Apostle BEDE behold believe believeth body Caiaphas called chief priests Christ CHRYS cometh commandments crucified dead death deny disciples Divine eternal Evang Evangelist faith fear feet flesh follows fruit Gentiles give glorified glory grace GREG hate hear heard heart heaven high priest Hilar Holy Ghost Holy Spirit hour Jesus answered Jesus saith unto Jews John Judas Judas Iscariot King kingdom knew known Lazarus Lord Lord's Luke lxxxiii lxxxvi Mary Mary Magdalene means miracles nature Orig ORIGEN passover Pharisees Pilate pray prophecy receive receiveth resurrection sake say unto Scripture seen sepulchre servant shew signifies Simon Peter Son of God sorrow soul spake speak spoken suffer thee THEOPHYL things Thou hast given thou shalt Tr.cxxi Tr.xlix Tract Trin truth understand Verily wash Wherefore whither wicked wished words xxxii ye shall ask