“And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.”
They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them — the fish are a secondary provision, added to the loaves. The separate thanksgiving for the fish may reflect Jewish blessing practice (separate blessings for different food types). The few small fish echoes the two fish of the first feeding — another parallel in the pair of feeding miracles.
Church Fathers on Mark 8:7
After the Lord had performed the former miracle concerning the multiplication of the loaves, now again, a fitting occasion presents itself, and He takes the opportunity of working a similar miracle.
Why they who came from afar hold out for three days, Matthew says more fully: 'And He went up into a mountain, and sat down there, and great multitudes came unto Him, having with them many sick persons, and cast them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.' [Matt. 15:29-30]
Or else, the seven loaves are the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the fragments of the loaves are the mystical understanding of the first week.
Read all 15 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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