The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1914-06-27
FACTS ABOUT THE BIBLE.

day of Gospels and Epistles Of the
New Testament were written, the
Catholic church treasured them and
multiplied copies of them. It is true
that the originals are all lost, but
that is not to be wondered at, con-
sidering that the first Christians
were few and had to endure many
prosecutions before they and their
goods were safe from destruction.
The originals, too. were probably
written on papyrus and SO quickly
decayed.
Especially after the council Of
Catholic Bishops held at Carthage in
the year 397 decided what books are
inspired. the Church multiplied cop
les of those scriptures. Every mon
astery had it's scriptorium. or writ
ing room, where skilled penmen
laboriously wrote. day after day.
month after month, year after year.
to furnish copies of Holy Writ Of
the Greek and Latin classics and of
their precious works.
OF manuscript copies Of the Bible,
so preserved by the Catholic church.
there are about 900 copies in exist
ence. Most Of these were made after
the fourth century. None are later
than the sixteenth century, for then
printing was invented. Many of these
are in the Vatican library in Rome.
Some are in Russia, some in England
some in other countries of Europe.
Some of these old manuscript
Bibles are perfect marvels Of work
manship. They are on parchment or
vellum. A number of them are
beautifully illustrated. The leaves
are yellow with age. but the ink is
still black, and lettering clear and
regular, the headings are capitals
exquisitively colored and inscribed
with silver and gold. Evidently the
old monks who made them loved and
honored those sacred writings.
These manuscript copies of the
Bible were very dear. It took a man
years to write one. It took many
skins of sheep and goats and calves.
There are 1900 chapters and $4,000
verses in the Bible. It was slow
laborious process, with the means
then used, vellum or parchment for
paper, a stylus for pen. and lamp
black and alum for ink, to make a
copy. The cost of a Bible was, there
fore, in value about the worth of
$1,000 now.
It is not to be wondered at, there
fore, that the people did not have
the bible in their homes. Only
schools, colleges, seminaries, monas-
teries, the clergy and rich folks
could have copies. These copies
were scarce and dear. One could not
always be Immediately obtained,
even when the price in hand.
Education, too, in the sense of
book learning, was limited. Only a
portion Of the common people could
read and write. Almost every mon
astery had it's free school. But not
all children could or would attend
them, even when they lived near
onouph IN fhom
Consequently the Christian people
Of Europe between the first and the
sixteenth century. when printing was
invented (by Catholics, it may be
said, by the way) and books became
fairly cheap, had practically no
Bibles in their homes.
But they had the Bible in their
hearts. for they were taught it in
their prayers, in their catechisms, in
their homes, in the monasteries, and
in their churches. They had it read
out to them at Mass every day. They
had it preached to them on Sunday.
They saw it in statue and paintings
and stained glass windows.
But as God did not intend the
Bible to be their rule Of faith, they
had the Catholic church to teach
them the religion of Jesus Christ and
to train them in virtue. How faith
fully the church did its work is seen
in their Catholic life, in the perse-
cutting they endured, in the virtues
they practiced. in the number of
saints, men and women, who adore
the history of the church in the first
sixteen hundred years Of its exist
ence, in the virgins, the martyrs, the
confessors. the doctors. the mission
aries it brought forth, in the Cru
sades, in the Cathedrals the Catho-
lies Of those ages of faith constructed
as tabernacles for God in the blessed
Sacrament. and in the history of
European civilization that is part and
parcel of the development.
The church was before the bible,
and progress of the Catholic church.
The first gospel was written about
ten years after the church was estab-
lished. The church was Independent
of the Bible, and would have gotten