"I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many favors and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity. For after chastisement from God, and recognizing Him, our way to repay Him is to exalt Him and confess His wonders before every nation under heaven." ~ Saint Patrick The Confessions of St. Patrick



Salvete all!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! As a friend of mine said on Facebook: Happy St. Patrick's Day! This is of course the day when everybody suddenly is a fan of "bigoted Catholic bishops imposing their religious beliefs on people" (as St. Patrick did so spectacularly with Ireland). Celebratin' how one bishop, with the power of the Holy Spirit, pretty much single-highhandedly converted an entire nation. Which is probably more interesting than the color green. Ireland Forever!

And also: HABEMUS PAPAM!!!!

Let us pray for our Sovereign Pontiff, Francis I. The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

I'm very excited to start on this journey with our new Papa. Being a Catholic is an awesome adventure. I love it. Deo gratias!

And let me just say, there were three things that basically sum up my feelings on the secular media's coverage of both Benedict XVI's resignation and the Papal Conclave, but perhaps this sums it up the most succinctly (well, for the Papal Conclave particularly, though a lot of these are brought up in literally EVERY single article that so much as mentions the word "Catholic"): [link]  and also this: [link] Good ol' Catholic memes.

Though Bad Catholic is, of course, always one: [link]

And finally this:

"The conclave hasn't even started, and I'm already submerged by a sea of stupid articles, idiotic commentary and boneheaded op-eds about the Catholic Church, by people who have no clue what they're talking about. I'm not talking about people with whom I disagree, or who challenge me with new ways of thinking about the church, but writers who seem completely clueless about the most basic concepts. Some of this is to be expected: the church is a highly complex institution with 2,000 of history behind it.

But the number of misinformed articles I've read about celibacy, the priesthood, the papacy, the church in this country, the causes of the sexual abuse crisis, church authority, papal infallibility, the role of the magisterium, life in a religious order, the vow of chastity, and Benedict XVI, just boggles the mind. Or at least my mind, which perhaps is too easily boggled. Needless to say, I don't expect commentators to know everything about the church. (I sure don't.) But I think it's a reasonable to expect that people should refrain from commenting (especially publicly) on stuff that they clearly don't know much about.

In response, I'm going to start writing pieces and submitting op-eds about the most recent developments in quantum physics, the challenges of the last three months of pregnancy, the most efficient way to install a dishwasher and what it's like to be the following: a single mother working in a low-paying job, an elementary-school teacher working in a wealthy suburb, and an African-American living in the inner city.

I know nothing about any these topics, or about the lived experiences of these people, but hey, I have an opinion." - Fr. James Martin SJ

And it made me laugh. Which is probably a good thing, or else I'd be crying instead. Maybe the American secular media is just rusty on actually writing real news.

Besides all that, how has everyone been?! Easter is coming up pretty soon! This Lent seems to be racing on by,  and I can't believe next week is Palm Sunday! Then it'll be Easter! Only two weeks! GAH! I had my Spring Break last week (the first week of March…so maybe that's considered two weeks ago?) which was absolutely lovely, even though I was working on my Photoshop project for a good chunk of the time (but that was fun, so no complaints about that). I finished reading the The Chronicles of Narnia, and now I'm reading a book about the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 called The Dark Angel by Mika Waltari (the subject of course, is very interesting, however…the book itself is kind of…meh). After that I think I might try and tackle War and Peace, which is something I've been wanting to do ever since my 7th grade teacher mentioned it as he was lightly poking fun at how I always had my nose in a book.

I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but if anyone is interested in downloading Photoshop for free (and legally!), Adobe is offering Photoshop CS 2 as a free download (and bunch of other programs as well) on their website. Once Easter hits, I'll probably be a bit more active on here, but school has also been killing a lot of my free time as well, so I hope April will see some clear-up in terms of making more art.



New art e-mail address: theophilia.art@gmail.com
Please contact me at this address if you'd like to request a commission or if you'd like to order prints. Or you can note me.

How to Order Prints:
Send me a note/e-mail that:
Indicates exactly what picture(s) you want (preferably a link to the picture that I made, since, for example, saying that you'd like "Our Lady of Guadalupe" when I have four different versions could lead to rather embarrassing mix-ups).
Indicates the size and number of the print(s) you want.
Sends me your address (or whatever address you want me to send it to).
(And if applicable) gives me the date when you need it by so I can make it a priority.

Then I will reply with my address and the amount owed for the purchase of the requested prints. Then you can send me a check for the amount, and once I have received the check and it has cleared, I will send the prints your way. If you decide to cancel an order, let me know as soon as possible. I usually take a long time about cashing my checks anyway, so you'd probably be fine.  

Print Prices:
Shipping: $3.00 (except for Wallet, I can fit those in an envelope, so only $0.50 for postage)

2.5 x 3.5 (Wallet) - $2.00
4x6 - $5.00
5x7 - $8.00
8x10 - $20.00

POSTERS
Shipping: $6.00

11x14  - $35.00
12x18  - $50.00
8x20  - $50.00
16x20  - $65.00
18x20  - $90.00
20x30  - $110.00
24x36  - $150.00

Shipping covers the costs of my driving to and fro (gas money), my purchasing of the container (shipping tubes for the bigger ones) in which to ship your item, and the actual postage.

I can also do mugs, calendars, mousepads and magnets, but those get a bit pricey for me to ever order, much less for someone else to purchase. But if you're super keen on getting a mug or something, let me know.




Pax Vobiscum!
Valete!
~Omnes ad Iesum per Mariam~

Your Sister in Christ,

* ~ Lord Theophilia Shadowblade ~ *



Art for Other Deviants:

1.) St. Sebastian for ~ZhaneAugustine
2.) Pope Gregory the Great for !alcuin18
3.) Arthur and Morgaine for ~Alois-Noette
5.) Ballad of the White Horse Project with ~FireFiriel



My Book List

1. On the Field of Glory– Henryk Sienkiewicz
2. The Deluge – Henryk Sienkiewicz
3. Fire in the Steppe/Pan Wołodyjowski – Henryk Sienkiewicz
4. Edmund Campion – Evelyn Waugh
5. Titus Andronicus - Shakespeare
6. The Man on a Donkey - H.F.M. Prescott
7. King Lear - Shakespeare
8. The Decameron– Boccaccio
9. Doctor Zhivago– Boris Pasternak
10. Collected Works– Anton Chekov
11. The Crusades - Reginé Pernoud
12. Chronicles of the Crusades - Joinville and Villehardouin
13. Two Lives of Charlemagne– Einhard
14. Democracy in America - Alexis de Tocqueville
15. Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths - Reginé Pernoud
16. The Chronographia– Michael Psellus
17. Seven Pillars of Wisdom - T.E. Lawrence
18. Chronicles– Jean Froissart
19. The Histories– Herodotus
20. The Gallic Wars– Julius Caesar
21. The Rise of the Roman Empire– Polybius
22. The Letters of the Younger Pliny– Pliny the Younger
23. The Annals of Imperial Rome– Tacitus
24. City of God – St. Augustine
25. Practice of the Presence of God – Brother Lawrence
26. Reflections on the Song of Songs– St. Bernard of Clairvaux
27. Summa Theologica– St. Thomas Aquinas
28. The Spirit of Thomism– Étienne Gilson
29. The Philosopher and Theology– Étienne Gilson
30. The History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages– Étienne Gilson
31. Ascent to Mount Carmel– St. John of the Cross
32. Introduction to the Devout Life - St. Francis de Sales
33. Theology of the Body– John Paul II
34. Woman - Edith Stein
35. Happiness and Contemplation – Josef Pieper
36. Art and Contemplation– Josef Pieper
37. Pensées– Blaise Pascal
38. Wisdom and Innocence - Joseph Pearce
39. Poetic Diction - Owen Barfield
40. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
41. Lost in the Cosmos– Walker Percy
42. The Problem of Pain– C.S. Lewis
43. A Grief Observed– C.S. Lewis
44. Why Catholics Can't Sing– Thomas Day
45. The Dark Angel - Mika Waltari
46. Where did you go Michelangelo?– Thomas Day





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