The Book

The Bible I will be using for this undertaking is the Haydock version of the Douay-Rheims. The Douay-Rheims is of course one of the oldest English translations of the Bible (and my personal preference -- though I readily admit it is not the only good translation in existence). In the early 19th century, an English priest by the name of George Leo Haydock decided to compile an extensive number of renowned Biblical commentators and assemble an edition of the Douay-Rheims that would be an invaluable resource to all English-speaking Christians. His work is quite laudable. He went directly to the writings of the early Church Fathers, as well as Christianity's best Biblical scholars over the centuries (and even some non-Christian historians and commentators) and painstakingly compiled his comprehensive commentary. The Haydock version was further enhanced in later years by other Biblical scholars. The copy I own happens to be an exact replica of an 1852 edition.
In all, Father Haydock referenced over 200 commentators. It's quite an impressive assembly, too. The diverse company of scholars includes (and this is a minute sampling) Richard Bristow, Epiphanius of Salamis, John Ernest Grabe, Juda Hakkad, Thomas Aquinas, Jacobus Pamelius, Louis-Sebastien Le Nain de Tillemont, Michael Servetus, Bernard of Clairvaux, Theodore Beza, Augustine of Hippo, Antoine Augustin Calmet, Desiderius Erasmus, Pierre Daniel Huet, Denis Petau, Anselm of Canterbury, Isidore of Seville, Cyril of Alexandria, John of Damascus, Charles Francois Houbigant, Pope Leo I, John Chrysostom, etc., etc., etc.

The commentary often takes up more space on the page than the actual Biblical text. It will make for laborious reading, but the constant edification I'll be receiving will likely be motivation enough. Reading what such learned minds throughout the centuries had to say about Sacred Scripture will doubtless prove to be an enlightening endeavor.

I now embark!