CATENIE, a name given to collections of ex positions culled from the writings of the Fathers, and linked together so as to form one continuous series. The application of this name to works of this sort has been attributed to Thomas Aquinas, whose collection on the Four Gospels bears the title of Catena Aurea ; but that it is of later inven tion appears from the fact that the older editions of this work bear the title of glossa continua, accord ing to what was the customary phraseology of the time, and that Thomas himself, in his dedication to Pope Urban IV., calls his work continua expositio. The early names for these among the Greeks were ear at a Trjaeow, dirt Sta0epwr iiiiiivetetp, etc., which are more justly descriptive of their contents than the later names xpixra KeckiXata and These are of different kinds. Sometimes the words of the Fathers from whom they were compiled are presented in a mutilated state, and not as they were originally written. Sometimes the bare ex position is given, without the reasons by which it is supported. Sometimes we find that the opinions of different writers are confounded ; that being assigned to one which properly belongs to another. By far the greater number appear to have been hastily and negligently made, with so many omis sions, corruptions, and errors, that they cannot be relied on ' (Davidson, Hermenent. p. 156). All are not alike in the method of their arrangement, nor are all equally skilfully or neatly arranged. They vary, also, according as the writers from whom they are drawn were attached to the gram matical, the allegorical, or the dogmatic principle of interpretation ; and sometimes the compiler's own inclination in this respect gives a character to his work. The use of these catense is, neverthe less, considerable ; as they preserve to us many fragments of Aquila and the other versions of the Hexapla ; as they contain extracts from the works of interpreters otherwise unknown to us ; and as they occasionally supply various readings.
The number of these Catenm is considerable ; many yet remain in MS. Of those that have been printed may be mentioned :—Catena Gr. Patrum beatum lob, collectore Niceta, ed. Pat. Junius, fol. Lond. 1637 ; Symbolae:in; in Matthatem tomus prior exhibens Catenanz Gr. Patrum xxi., ed. P. Possinus, fol. Tolos. 1646 ; Efiesd. tomes alter quo continetur Catena PP. Gr. xxx., interpr. Balth. Corderius, fol. Tolos. 1647 ; Catena Gr. PP. in Evang. sec. Marcum collect. atque interp. P. Possinus, etc., fol. Rom. 1673 ; Catena lxv. Gr. PP. in Lucam, qua simul Evangg. introducit ex plicatiorum, lace et latinitate donate:, etc., a B. Corderio, fol. Antw. 1628 ; Catena PP. Gr. in yoannenz ex antiquiss. Gr. codice in lucem ed. a B. Corderio, fol. Antw, 1630 ; Catena Gr. PP. in Nov. Test., ed. J. A. Cramer, 8 vols. 8vo, Oxon. 1844. To this class belong also the Com mentaries of Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus, CEcumenius, Andreas, Arethas, Bede, Aquinas, etc.
As to the origin of this class of commentaries there is much uncertainty. The introduction of them has been assigned to Olympiodorus by Wolf and others, but this cannot be substantiated ; still less can the opinion of those who would ascribe this to Procopius Gaza. It is probable that the practice of compiling from the great teachers of the Church grew up gradually in the later and less en lightened ages, partly from a feeling of veneration for these earlier and brighter luminaries, partly from inability to furnish anything original on the books of scripture. It was a season of night, when those who sought after truth felt that even reflected lights were a great blessing. (See Simon, Hist. Crit. des print. Commentateurs de N. T., C. 30, Ittigius de bibliothecis et cafes:is patrunz, Lips. 1708 ; Fabricius, Bibl. Gr., T. vii. p. 728 ; J. C. Wolfius, Exercitatio in cat. PP. Gr., reprinted in Cramer's Catena in N. T., voL i.; Noesselt, De Cat. PP. Gr. in N. T; Opusc. iii. 325, ff.; Cra mer's Praia& to his edition of the Catenae). W. L. A.