Nothing but you Lord

Non nisi te Domine
July 20th 2014
Pyrography
5 inches by 2 feet
About 11 Hours

This was a commission by a seminarian as a gift for another seminarian who is going to be studying in Rome. The story behind this quote is that one day towards the end of his life, St. Thomas Aquinas was praying alone in a chapel before the Blessed Sacrament. A fellow Dominican friar walked in after him but stopped when he heard St. Thomas speaking to someone. He realized that the saint was talking to the Lord, and he heard the Lord say: "You have written well of me, Thomas. What is it that you wish to have as a reward?" And St. Thomas replied, "Non nisi te, Domine" ("Nothing else but you, O Lord"). On the side I made a little triptych of St. Thomas Aquinas. The middle panel shows the great saint seated on a chair holding a pen in one hand and a book with the words "Veritas" in the other. The two side panels relate the story of St. Thomas' reply. On the left, Thomas is praying before the Holy Eucharist and Christ in a cloud above him is placing a crown on his head. On the right panel, there's an image of the Dominican brother pulling back a curtain and seeing this take place before his eyes.