Catena Aurea

Holy Thursday Catena

2008-03-27T02:25:00.000-07:00

This is an extended meditation of the Fathers on our Lord's example of humility and Peter's pivotal role in clarifying the lesson.

The PDF file may be found here.

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent: "Not one iota or dot"

2008-03-02T23:42:00.000-08:00

This weekday's Gospel includes our Lord's teaching that He has come to fulfill the Law and Prophets, not to annul them. Of course, the objection arises, "Why then don't Christians follow the Judaic observances?" What's particularly interesting is that St. Thomas introduces a Manichaean to propose this question. What follows in this part of the Catena Aurea is a very enlightening dialogue between Faustus the Manichaean and St. Augustine about scriptural exegesis and the essence of both old and new laws. It makes for fascinating and edifying reading.

Here is the PDF file. Enjoy!

First Sunday in Lent, Year A: Temptations of the Lord

2008-02-16T10:26:00.000-08:00

The PDF file for this Sunday's Catena can be downloaded here.

As always, St. Thomas arranges the Fathers' insights into sections of literal, moral, allegorical and anagogical (eschatological) interpretations.

I have retained the traditional usage of pinnacle to translate the Greek ptereugion, which after all means the same thing as pinnaculum: little wing. It seems to refer to a smaller tower that juts above the main roof. There was one of these on the southeast corner of the temple's outer wall, where, tradition claims, the Apostle James (the less), Jerusalem's first bishop, was thrown to his death. Remigius and the Gloss both describe this as the place where the teachers sat and thus was a status symbol.

Ash Wednesday

2008-02-06T23:19:00.000-08:00

The Catena for this day may be found in PDF format by clicking here.

This is an excellent example of St. Thomas's genius for selecting from a great variety of Fathers from both East and West and then stringing them together in one running commentary. There is, however, an interesting section where St. Augustine notes a difference between Latin and Greek editions of St. Matthew's Gospel. I haven't checked this yet myself, but according to Augustine the Greek editions are missing a phrase contained in the Latin editions. But right along St. Augustine's comments, St. Thomas brings in a Greek Father commenting on the phrase!

Baptism of the Lord

2008-01-13T15:48:00.000-08:00

A beautiful catena for this feast of our Lord. It includes, as it were, a discussion among the Fathers about the need for Christ to be baptized, not of course on account of any sin of His. As Ambrose puts it: "Like a wise master teaching His doctrines as much by His own deeds as by His words, He Himself did what He commanded all His disciples to do." And the Fathers, both of the East and West, are all of one mind that Christ in hearing "You are my Son, the beloved," did not learn of His divinity then. As Augustine puts it, "Not that Christ was taught what He knew before, but they who stood by heard it, for whose sake the voice came."

Epiphany

2008-01-06T22:35:00.000-08:00

This Catena is the longest yet by far and probably the richest in literal exegesis. Questions raised in the course of the commentary include, Were there only three in the Magis' company or is that a symbolic number? Where were they from? How did they get to Bethlehem so quickly if they were from far away? And many more.

3rd Sunday of Advent

2007-12-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

In this Sunday's Catena St. Thomas shows us what first appear to be contradictory interpretations of the Fathers on the passage about John the Baptist wanting to know if Christ was "the one who was to come". The apparent argument is over whether John was asking out of ignorance or a kind of Petrine disbelief or from some hidden purpose, or even whether John was referring to Christ's descent into hell. Through the confusion of interpretation Chrysostom shines consistently.

There is a story that when St. Thomas and some companions were approaching Paris and came to an overlook, one of the companions asked him if he too admired the obvious wealth and beauty of the city. St. Thomas replied that while Paris was indeed beautiful, he'd give it all away for a volume of Chrysostom on Matthew's Gospel.

Today we share a glimpse with St. Thomas of that grander view St. John Chrysostom offers us into the heavenly city.

2nd Sunday of Advent

2007-12-09T17:29:00.000-08:00

The catena for this Sunday's Gospel is by far the longest I've posted. One reason for this is the length the Fathers go to in meditating on and explaining the details of John the Baptist's life and character.

The translation of the Catena on Matthew seems better than the one on Luke. I've had to correct only a few egregious errors (e.g., fight for the correct flight) and revise fewer passages into smoother, dare I say, more felicitous English.

First Sunday in Advent

2007-12-02T10:32:00.000-08:00

In this Sunday's Catena we are introduced to two relatively late Fathers, namely, Rabanus Maurus, a 9th century Benedictine theologian, and Remigius of Auxerre, a 10th century Benedictine teacher. Although St. Thomas uses them only once each in today's Catena, unlike the frequently appearing Chrysostom or Augustine, nevertheless he certainly relied heavily upon their pioneering work of establishing the study of theology as a kind of science.

Christ the King

2007-11-25T15:49:00.000-08:00

The Catena for this Sunday's Gospel includes several Fathers discussing the correct interpretation of the passage about the good thief entering into Paradise. Some, according to St. John Chrysostom, argued that the passage proves there is no resurrection.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

2007-11-18T09:36:00.000-08:00

The Fathers wax eloquent on the end times in this Catena for today's Gospel.

Once again I've had to make several important corrections in the Newman-team translation. For example, denuntiat gets translated as "denounces", when the clear (and ordinary) translation is "announces". Perhaps a 19th century denunciation was less derogatory than today's, but be that as it may, we have certainly lost the sense of the original when the translation reads:

"God denounces the woes that shall forerun the destruction of the world...."

Here is the original:

Perituri mundi praecurrentia mala denuntiat Dominus....

Here is my translation:

"The Lord makes known the evils that will come before the end of the world...."

This is just one of many corrections I've had to make in today's selection.

The Catena Aurea is a work of incredible genius that can be of invaluable help in reconnecting us orphans with our Fathers in faith--if they're allowed to speak to us in our language.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

2007-11-11T10:54:00.000-08:00

This week's Catena is supplemented with an excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the resurrection. Not to take away at all from the depth of the Father's comments on this Gospel. Just the opposite. The juxtaposition demonstrates how much of our catechesis is an echo of the Fathers.

I was surprised by the number of errors in the Newman-team translation this week. There are always a couple in any given selection, not to mention several infelicitous turns of phrase (by today's standards), but this week's sets a record. Castitas, for example, gets translated as charity. The term "faculty" gets inserted into a sentence, rendering it impossible to understand. What is "faculty discourse"? And so on. I sincerely hope that those who are republishing Newman's translation go over it with a fine toothed comb. Actually, we should, with all due respect to the great work of Newman's team, re-translate the entire Catena.

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

2007-11-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

A classic Catena for this Sunday's Gospel, complete with literal, allegorical, anagogical and moral interpretations.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2007-10-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

This Sunday's Catena is longer than the last few weeks' since the Fathers wax eloquent on the apparent similarities and real differences between pride and humility, as exemplified by the Pharisee and the Publican.

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2007-10-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Once again, the Catena for this Sunday's Gospel is so brief (yet still profound) that I have added another excerpt from one of St. John Chrysostom's homilies on Second Timothy.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2007-10-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

This week's short catena is again supplemented with an excerpt from one of St. John Chrysostom's homilies on Second Timothy.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2007-10-07T23:36:00.000-07:00

The Catena for today's Gospel is brief, though profound, and so I've added an excerpt from St. John Chrysostom's first homily on St. Paul's second epistle to Timothy. St. John's marvelous ability to describe the human condition as it is shines right through.

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2007-09-30T21:10:00.000-07:00

You can find the pdf version of today's Catena here. It's large print so you can use Adobe Reader's booklet option without the text becoming minuscule.

The Fathers are keen on the recurring theme of the afterlife's finality, which is not a limitation but rather a necessary result of all limitations being removed.

Classes Resume

2007-09-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, September 23, our course resumes its study of the Church Fathers commenting on the day's Gospel.

Here is a PDF of Sunday's Catena.

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2007-07-08T19:38:00.001-07:00

PDF Catena.

Pentecost

2007-05-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

Catena PDF.

A new Father makes an appearance for Pentecost, namely, Didymus the Blind, a contemporary of Athanasius and great defender of orthodoxy against Arianism. His comments offer profound theological insight into the workings of the different Persons of the Holy Trinity. Here is a sample:

But the Holy Ghost was another Comforter: differing not in nature, but in operation. For whereas our Savior in His office of Mediator, and of Messenger, and as High Priest, made supplication for our sins; the Holy Ghost is a Comforter in another sense, i.e. as consoling our griefs. But do not infer from the different operations of the Son and the Spirit, a difference of nature. For in other places we find the Holy Spirit performing the office of intercessor with the Father, as, The Spirit Himself intercedes for us (Romans 8:26). And the Savior, on the other hand, pours consolation into those hearts that need it: as in Maccabees, He strengthened those of the people that were brought low (1 Maccabees 14:15).

The Fathers wax eloquent today on the relation of love and the Holy Spirit. Here is St. Augustine in typically excellent dialectical form:

But when the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Romans 5:5), how shall we love and keep the commandments of Christ, so as to receive the Spirit, when we are not able to love or to keep them, unless we have received the Spirit? Does love in us go first, i.e. do we love Christ and keep His commandments so as to deserve to receive the Holy Spirit, and to have the love of God the Father shed abroad in our hearts? This is a perverse opinion. For he who does not love the Father, does not love the Son, however he may think he does. It remains for us to understand, that he who loves has the Holy Spirit, and by having Him, attains to having more of Him, and by having more of Him, to loving more. The disciples had already the Spirit which our Lord promised; but they were to be given more of Him: they had Him secretly; they were to receive Him openly. The promise is made both to him who has the Spirit, and to him who has Him not: to the former, that he shall have Him; to the latter, that He shall have more of Him.

Fifth Sunday of Easter

2007-05-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

Although our class is on its summer break until the fall, I will continue to post the Catenas for the Sunday Gospels (and more besides).

This Sunday's Gospel from St. John hides a profundity of theological wisdom in its brevity. Only four verses long, this passage receives one of the lengthiest chain of commentaries. One can imagine St. Thomas reveling in the depths which just a few chosen Fathers reach in their reflections.

Much of the discussion is about the Son being glorified in the Father and the Father in the Son. Although Origen discusses guides us away from a mistaken sense of glory and toward a correct sense of the glory we hope to receive, there is no definition of the divine glory itself. So, here for your consideration is St. Thomas's definition as given in his Commentary on John's Gospel:

To be glorified is to be made illustrious. For glory is said to be a kind of brilliance. Thus, according to Ambrose, "glory is clear and manifest recognition with praise". This is why the Greek word for "make famous" is translated "glorify", and vice versa.

The divine glory therefore is that blessed, eternal and infinitely joyful recognition of divinity within the Holy Trinity.

Today's Catena: PDF for single-sided printing; for double-sided booklet printing.

Paternal Presentations

2007-04-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

For those who have been attending the course, I'm gradually uploading copies of my slide shows on various fathers. They'll be somewhat unintelligible for those who missed those particular classes, but perhaps not altogether so.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

2007-04-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

The brief Gospel passage from St. John 10:27-30 provides the Fathers with ample reflection on the mystery of the Trinity and the heresies devised to confuse the faithful about it.

A PDF version of today's Catena may be found here.

Third Sunday of Easter

2007-04-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

John 21:1-19 is so vividly full of Christ's tenderness and love toward Peter that we can expect the Fathers to resonate with an uncommon depth. Here is St. Augustine:

Let us love therefore, not ourselves, but Him, and in feeding His sheep, seek not our own, but the things which are His. For whoever loves himself, not God, loves not himself. Man, who cannot live of himself, must die by loving himself; and he cannot love himself, who loves himself to his own destruction. Whereas when He by Whom we live is loved, we love ourselves the more.

And with typical (though unfortunately much overlooked) fervor for the rule of St. Peter, St. John Chrysostom says:

That which most of all attracts the Divine love is care and love for our neighbor. Our Lord passing by the rest, addresses this command to Peter: he being the chief of the Apostles, the mouth of the disciples, and head of the college. Our Lord remembers no more his sin in denying Him, or brings that as a charge against him, but commits to him at once the superintendence over his brethren. If you love Me, have rule over your brethren, show forth that love which you have evidenced throughout, and that life which you said you would lay down for Me, lay down for the sheep.

PDF files:
Booklet (for double-sided printing)
Letter sized (for single-sided printing)

The Holy Father and Our Holy Fathers

2007-04-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

Vatican City, Apr 17, 2007 / 10:58 am (CNA).- On the occasion of Pope Benedict XVI's 80th birthday, the director of the Holy See's Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, said this week there are two issues of profound concern to Pope Benedict XVI: the continual reference to the fathers of the Church and the constant explication and living of the Sacred Liturgy.

"Two particular aspects call come to mind. First of all, the richness and the nature of the references to the Fathers of the Church. There hasn't been a break in the two thousand years since the Scriptures until today. One can see the continuity in the reflections and in the deepening of the faith throughout time from Jesus to today. The Fathers were somewhat eclipsed in the common culture of the believer, and now they have become more familiar," Father Lombardi said.

Second Sunday of Easter

2007-04-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Reflections from the Fathers this week emphasize the wonder-filled events of the resurrected Christ visiting his Apostles.

Full page Catena PDF
Booklet Catena PDF (for two-sided printers)

And He Answered Him Nothing

2007-04-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

Luke 23:9

Then Herod questioned with him in many words; but He answered him nothing.Gregory the Great Now Herod wished to make proof of Christ's fame, desiring to witness His miracles; for it follows, And when Herod saw Jesus, he was glad, &c. Theophylactus Not as though he was about to gain any benefit from the sight, but, seized with curiosity, he thought he should see that extraordinary man, of whose wisdom and wonderful works he had heard so much. He also wished to hear from His mouth what He could say. Accordingly he asks Him questions, making a sport of Him, and ridiculing Him. But Jesus, who performed all things prudently, and who, as David testifies, orders His words with discretion, thought it right in such a case to be silent. For a word uttered to one whom it profits nothing becomes the cause of his condemnation. Therefore it follows, But he answered him nothing. Ambrose He was silent and did nothing, for Herod's unbelief deserved not to see Him, and the Lord shunned display. And perhaps Herod is also meant to represent all the ungodly, who, if they have not believed the Law and the Prophets, cannot see Christ's wonderful works in the Gospel. Gregory the Great From these words we ought to derive a lesson, that whenever our hearers wish as if by praising us to gain knowledge from us, but not to change their own wicked course, we must be altogether silent, lest if from love of ostentation we speak God's word, both they who were guilty cease not to be so, and we who were not become so. And there are many things which betray the motive of a hearer, but one in particular, when they always praise what they hear, yet never follow what they praise. Gregory the Great The Redeemer therefore though questioned held His peace, and though expected to work miracles disdained to do so. And keeping Himself secretly within Himself, He left standing empty handed at the door those who wanted only an outward show, preferring to be openly regarded as insignificant by the proud, than be praised by the hollow voices of unbelievers. Hence it follows, And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him.

Holy Week and Easter Notice

2007-03-31T22:58:00.000-07:00

Classes will resume the Sunday after Easter.

In the meantime, here's an astoundingly clear proclamation of Christ's divinity from St. Ignatius of Antioch's letter to St. Polycarp, both Apostolic Fathers, both students of the Apostle John:

Look for Him who is beyond all time, the Eternal, the Invisible who became visible for our sake, the Impalpable, the Impassible who suffered for our sake, who endured every outrage for our sake. [from Willis, The Teachings of the Church Fathers]

The passage astounds in part because it teaches with precision the same truth that Nestorianism obstinately denied over two hundred years later. In other words, the Church in an important way did not need a heresy to develop the doctrine that the person of Christ is divine and yet suffered through His adopted human nature.

Pope Benedict on the Apostolic Fathers

2007-03-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

It certainly was pleasant to discover that the Holy Father has also been offering a course on the Fathers, particularly those who directly inherited the teachings of the Apostles. But that's as far as I'm willing to push the comparison! His brief speeches, delivered during the Wednesday Angelus at St. Peter's Square, are full of insight and profitable reflections on the lives of these great teachers.

Here's the menu so far (as of 5/02/07):

Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A (Catechumenate)

2007-03-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

This week's Gospel is of Lazarus's resurrection. You can find a PDF version of the Catena here. St. Thomas gives us a curious coupling of Chrysostom and Augustine on the identity of Mary in this part of St. John's Gospel, curious because of their very apparent incompatibility:

Chrysostom. First we are to observe that this was not the harlot mentioned in Luke, but an honest woman, who treated our Lord with marked reverence.

Augustine. John here confirms the passage in Luke, where this is said to have taken place in the house of one Simon a Pharisee: Mary had done this act therefore on a former occasion [Luke 7:38]. That she did it again at Bethany is not mentioned in the narrative of Luke, but it is in the other three Gospels.

But the woman in Luke 7 is the "sinful woman" whom Our Lord forgives. Is she not then the harlot? Why would St. Thomas offer us two selections so at odd, one right after the other?

A Catena for St. Joseph

2007-03-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

Matthew 1:16. And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Gloss. In the last place, after all the patriarchs, he sets down Joseph the husband of Mary, for whose sake all the rest are introduced, saying, But Jacob begat Joseph. Jerome. The Emperor Julian in his Discrepancy of the Evangelists poses the following problem with this passage: Matthew calls Joseph the son of Jacob, but Luke makes him the son of Heli. The Emperor did not know the custom of Scripture: one was his father by nature, the other by law. For we know that God commanded through Moses, that if a brother or near kinsman died without children, another should take his wife to raise up seed to his brother or kinsman. But of this matter Africanus the chronologist and Eusebius of Caesarea, have disputed more fully. Eusebius. For Matthan and Melchi at different periods had each a son by one and the same wife Jesca. Matthan, who traced through Solomon, first had her, and died leaving one son, Jacob by name. As the Law did not forbid a widow, either dismissed from her husband, or after the death of her husband, to be married to another, so Melchi, who traced through Matthan, being of the same tribe but of another race, took this widow to his wife, and begat Heli his son. Thus we shall find Jacob and Heli, though of a different race, yet by the same mother, to have been brethren. One of whom, namely Jacob, after Heli his brother was deceased without issue, married his wife, and begat on her the third, Joseph, by nature indeed and reason his own son, where also it is written, And Jacob begat Joseph. But by the Law, he was the son of Heli; for Jacob, being his brother, raised up seed to him. Thus the genealogy, both as recited by Matthew, and by Luke, stands right and true: Matthew saying, And Jacob begot Joseph; Luke saying, Which was the son, as it was supposed, (for he adds this) of Joseph, who was the son of Heli, who was the son of Melchi. Nor could he have more significantly or properly expressed that way of generation according to the Law, which was made by a certain adoption that had respect to the dead, by carefully leaving out the word begetting throughout even to the end. Augustine. He is more properly called the son of the one who adopted him, than he is said to have been begotten of him of whose flesh he was not born. Therefore Matthew, in saying Abraham begot Isaac, and continuing the same phrase throughout down to Jacob begot Joseph, sufficiently declared that he identifies the father according to the order of nature, so as that we must hold Joseph to have been begotten, not adopted, by Jacob. Though, even if Luke had used the word begotten, we need not have thought it a serious objection. For it is not absurd to say of an adopted son that he is begotten, not after the flesh, but by affection. Eusebius. Neither does this lack good authority; nor is it something we concocted simply to solve a problem. For the kinsmen of our Savior according to the flesh, either out of desire to show forth their great nobility of stock, or simply for the truth's sake, have delivered it to us. Augustine. And suitably does Luke, who relates Christ's ancestry not in the opening of his Gospel, but at his baptism, follow the line of adoption, thus more clearly pointing Him out as the Priest who should make atonement for sin. For by adoption we are made the sons of God, by believing in the Son of God. But by that descent according to the flesh which Matthew follows, we rather see that the Son of God was for us made man. Luke sufficiently shows that he called Joseph the son of Heli because he was adopted by Heli, by his calling Adam the son of God, which he was by grace, as he was set in Paradise, though he lost it afterwards by sinning. Chrysostom. Having gone through all the ancestry, and ended in Joseph, he adds, The husband of Mary, thereby declaring that it was for her sake that he was included in the genealogy. Jerome. When you hear this word husband, do not immediately think of marriage, but remember the Scripture custom, which calls persons husband and wife even if they are only betrothed….
Augustine. It was not lawful that he should think to separate himself from Mary for this, that she brought forth Christ as yet a Virgin. And here the faithful may gather, that if they be married, and preserve strict continence on both sides, yet may their wedlock hold with union of love only, without carnal; for here they see that it is possible that a son be born without carnal embrace. Augustine. In Christ's parents was accomplished every good benefit of marriage: fidelity, progeny, and a sacrament. The progeny we see in the Lord Himself; fidelity, for there was no adultery; sacrament, for there was no divorce. Jerome. The attentive reader may ask: Seeing Joseph was not the father of the Lord and Savior, how does his genealogy traced down to him in order pertain to the Lord? We will answer, first, that it is not the practice of Scripture to follow the female line in its genealogies; secondly, that Joseph and Mary were of the same tribe, and that he was thence compelled to take her to wife as a kinsman, and they were enrolled together at Bethlehem, as being come of one stock. Augustine. Also, the line of descent ought to be brought down to Joseph, that in marriage no slight might be made to the male sex, as the more worthy, provided only nothing was taken away from the truth; because Mary was of the seed of David.