The Catena Aurea (Golden Chain) presents the commentaries of the greatest theologians (e.g. St. John Chrysostom, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, etc.) of the Church as if they were having a discussion on each verse of the Bible. St. Thomas Aquinas put this opus together from sermons and commentaries on the Gospels composed by over eighty early Church Fathers, providing their insights into each passage. The work shows his intimate acquaintance with the Early Fathers. The work was commissioned by Pope Urban IV, so that everyone could understand the established meaning of the Gospels from the teaching of the early Fathers. (ancientchristian)