The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

112 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.God forbid that any of my readers should betempted to conclude, from what I have said, thatthe Catholic Church isopposed to the reading of theScriptures, or that she is the enemy of the Bible.The Catholic Church the enemy of the Bible IGood God, what monstrous ingratitude, what basecalumnyis contained in that assertion! As wellmight you accuse the Virgin Mother of trying tocrush the Infant Saviour at her breast, as to accusethe Church, our Mother, of attempting to crush outof existence the Word of God. As well might youcharge the patriotic statesman with attempting todestroy the constitution of his country, while hestrove to protect it from being mutilated by unprincipled demagogues.For fifteen centuries, the Church was the soleguardian and depository of the Bible ;and if shereally feared that sacred Book, who was to preventher, during that long period, from tearing it inshreds and scattering it to the winds ? She couldhave thrown it into the sea, as the unnatural motherwould throw away her offspring, and who wouldhave been the wiser for it ?What has become of those millions of once famousbooks which were written in past ages?They havenearly all perished. But amid this wreck ofancient literature the Bible stands almost a solitarymonument, like the Pyramids of Egypt amid thesurrounding wastes. That venerable Volume hassurvived the wars and revolutions and the barbaric