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Holy Scripture  is  a letter  written  by  God  to  man. St. Antony  the  Hermit  (+ 356),  who  lived  in  the Thebaid desert  in  Egypt,  one  day  received  a letter from the  Emperor  Constantine  the  Great. His disciples were  much  struck  by  the  honor  conferred upon him  by  the  fact  that  the  emperor  should  send him an  autograph  letter. But the  saint  said: “ You should rather  be  astonished  that  Our  Lord  God,  the King of  kings,  has  sent  a letter  to  us  poor  mortals  — I mean Holy  Scripture.”

If it  were  not  for  tradition  we  should  not  know which books  of  the  Scripture  are  canonical. A Catholic and  a Protestant  were  engaged  in  a disputation  concerning  the  necessity  of  tradition. The Protestant  maintained  that  the  whole  of  divinely revealed  truth  was  contained  in  Holy  Scripture; thus  tradition  was  superfluous  and  valueless. “Give me  your  Bible,”  the  Catholic  said,  “and  I will  prove  to  you  that  tradition  cannot  be  dispensed with.” Thereupon  the  Protestant  brought  his  Bible. The Catholic  turned  over  the  pages  awhile,  then  he said:  “I  meant  Holy  Scripture,  if  you  please,  not this book  of  fables.”  “ Fables! ” the Protestant  indignantly exclaimed; “ why,  that  is  the  Scripture! ” “ How do  you  know  that  it  really  is  Holy  Scripture? ” the other  inquired. “I know  it  from  my  father,” the Protestant  replied,  “ and  all  my  forefathers,  who for eighteen  centuries  have  venerated  it  as  divinely