Reprint of the original, first published in 1871. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

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The latter twentieth century and early twenty-first century has seen a revival of interest in the biblical commentary of the church fathers. Noteworthy evidence is supplied by the ongoing publication of two major patristic commentaries by Eerdmans and InterVarsity Press. During the thirteenth century the western church experienced a similar revival of interest in the church fathers, with many Eastern texts being translated from Greek to Latin for the first time, and thereby becoming available to a wider public. There was also an increasing hunger for access to the original message of Scripture as understood by early Christians, and to this, it was felt, the church fathers held the key. It was Pope Urban IV who commissioned St. Thomas to compile the 'Catena' in a bid to make readily available to the academic public an orthodox patristic commentary on the Gospels. The Oxford Movement was the catalyst for this English translation by John Henry Newman in 1841. The 'Catena' is not as original as Thomas's other writings, but manifests an intimate acquaintance with the fathers of the church and provides an excellent compliment to the modern attempts to understand how the fathers read scripture.

As the Son of God came down from heaven, not only to be our Redeemer, but our teacher; not only to ransom us with the effusion of His precious blood, but to enlighten us with these saving truths, the knowledge of which, joined to firm and unhesitating faith, He has made an indispensable condition of salvation, it must be ever a subject of the deepest spiritual interest, to place these truths in as clear a light as possible. Whether this Commentary may serve in any way to advance this end, must be left to others to decide. Aeterna Press

This antiquarian book contains Thomas Aquinas's "Catena Aurea". It is a comprehensive discussion and analysis of the four Gospels, by some of the greatest theologians to have ever graced the Catholic Church. Aquinas compiled this opus from sermons and commentaries on the Gospels written by the early Church Fathers. He arranged their thoughts in such a way that they form a continuous commentary on each Gospel, verse-by-verse. This book will prove invaluable for serious students of Catholicism, and is not to be missed by the discerning collector. Many vintage texts such as this - particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before - are increasingly hard to come by and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this book now, in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.