Jesus, the very thought of Thee
with sweetness fills my breast!
Yet sweeter far Thy face to see,
and in Thy Presence rest.
No voice can sing, no heart can frame,
nor can the memory find,
a sweeter sound than Jesus' Name,
the Savior of mankind.
O hope of every contrite heart!
O joy of all the meek!
to those who fall, how kind Thou art!
how good to those who seek!
But what to those who find? Ah! this
no tongue nor pen can show;
the love of Jesus, what it is,
none but His loved ones know.
Jesus! our only hope be Thou,
as Thou our prize shalt be;
in Thee be all our glory now,
and through eternity. Amen.
- Jesu Dulcis Memoria by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7fhC7…
Salvete all! Happy Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus! And Merry Christmas! Hah, the Christmas season lasts until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, so liturgically I can still say that.
Happy New Year as well! I'm excited about this 2014.
Do you guys have any New Year's resolutions? I think I'm still coming up with some. Hah, I probably should have given them more thought before the year ended.
It also happens to be J.R.R. Tolkien's 122nd birthday. So happy birthday Professor Tolkien!
“O Lord, our God, how majestic is your Name in all the earth!” - Psalm 8:1
“At the end of eight days when He was circumcised, He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived” (Luke 2:21?. This name was not chosen on earth, but in heaven, and was made known, by God’s will, to both Mary and Joseph. To Mary, the angel had said: “You will conceive…and bear a son and you shall call His Name Jesus” (Luke 1:31); and to Joseph: “He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). No name so expresses the deep reality of Him who bears it as the name which was given to the Son of the Most High. Jesus, as His Name declares, is by His nature the Lord who saves.
“There is no other Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), declares St. Peter after healing, in the name of Jesus, the cripple who sought alms at the gate of the temple. It is “by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth…(that) this man is standing before you well—His Name, by faith in His Name, has made this man strong…” (Acts 4:10; 3:16). Peter, the foundation stone of the Church, is the first to proclaim the saving powers of the Name of Jesus: the Church is built upon Jesus in whose Name we are baptized, redeemed from sin, made children of God and brought to eternal life. “There is salvation in no one else” (Acts 4:12)
Jesus Himself said: “If you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in my Name; ask and you will receive” (John 16:23-24). The Father never rejects anyone who prays to Him in the Name of His Son. It is not the name itself that is of special value, but what it stands for; the Name of Jesus is all-powerful because it designates the mystery, the power and the mission of the Son of God who became man precisely in order to be the Savior of the world. To call upon His Holy Name with trust is to appeal to His Incarnation, His Passion, and Death, His Resurrection; such a call is always heard because it rises up to God supported by the infinite merits of Jesus the Savior.
St. Paul indicates that the glory of the Name of Jesus is a reward of His immense abasement: “He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave…He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every other Name; that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Philippians 2:2, 7-10). Here again the Name represents the supreme dignity of Christ, infinitely superior to every created dignity, in whose presence all creatures must pay adoring homage, recognizing that “Jesus Christ is Lord” and God. All in heaven and on earth, angels, men and the entire universe are called to proclaim and adore the divinity of Jesus, and to praise His Holy Name. The whole world seems to keep silence and stop for a moment in its course to hear and glorify that most Holy Name in which is found the greatest glory of God and the greatest good of man: Let “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father”
“The Lord”—affirms the Council—“is the focal point of the longings of history and of civilization, the center of the human race, the joy of every heart, and the answer to all its yearnings”. Mankind finds in Jesus all that it needs and all that it thirsts for: peace, pardon, love, liberty, joy, eternal salvation.
St. Bernard never tires of singing of the glories of the Name of Jesus: “it is light when it is preached, it is food in meditation, it is balm and healing when it is invoked for aid…Is it not by the light of this Name that God has called us into His marvelous light?...Do you not feel strengthened as often as you recall it to mind?...The name of Jesus is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, gladness in the heart. But it is also a remedy. Are any of you sad? Let Jesus come into the heart. Is anyone falling into sin? Or is he rushing in desperation into the snare of death? If he calls upon this life-giving Name will he not straightaway breathe again the breath of life?” On the Canticle of Canticles 15:5-6).
* * * * * * *
“Looking for the blessed hope and coming of Our Savior Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13
Time passes and does not return. God has assigned to each of us a definite time in which to fulfill His divine plan for our soul, the time of our life on earth. For each of us this is “the acceptable time…the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2), in which we must work diligently to cooperate with the grace given us for our sanctification; we have only this time and shall have no more. Time ill-spent is lost forever. Our life is made up of uninterrupted, continual flow of time, which never returns. In eternity, on the contrary, time will be no more; we shall be established forever in the degree of love which we have reached now, in time. If we have attained a high degree of love, we shall be fixed forever in that degree of love and glory; if we possess only a slight degree, that is all we shall have throughout eternity. No further progress will be possible when time has ended. St. Paul urges: “Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. So then as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men.” (Galatians 6:9-10) Each passing year is a warning to treasure each present moment and to sanctify it with charity. “We must give each moment its full amount of love, and make each passing moment eternal, by giving it value in love.” (Sister Carmela of the Holy Spirit)
Charity sanctifies every action, even the most trivial and indifferent, and confers upon it a value for eternal life. In fact, “love urges us to live more intensely for Him who died for us and rose again. We strive, therefore, to please the Lord in all things…Thus when we have finished the one and only course of our earthly life, we may merit to enter into the marriage feast with Him and to be numbered among the blessed.” By living in this manner we carry out the divine plan for our soul, and reach that level of love that God expects of us, and with which we shall love and glorify Him for eternity.
We have only the short day of this earthly life to grow in love and if we wish to derive from it the greatest possible benefit we must apply ourselves not only to doing good works, but to doing them with our whole heart, and with all the generosity of which we are capable, overcoming the inertia and pettiness which always make us inclined to the least effort. Then love will grow immeasurably and we shall be able to give the Lord the beautiful witness of St. Therese of the Child Jesus: “Your love…has grown within me and now it is an abyss, the depths of which I cannot fathom” (Autobiography of St. Therese)
But what are these good works we must each accomplish? Those which are pointed out to us through the will of God; only these can sanctify. Jesus used to say: I “must work the works of Him who sent me, while it is day. Night comes when no one can work” (John 9:4). This is why He became man: “I have come to do your will, O God.” (Hebrews 10:7); this is why He lived: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house” (Luke 2:49). Life has one single purpose for Jesus, one single obligation: the will of His Father, the interests of His Father, the glory of His Father.
To be one of Jesus’ followers means trying to relive his conduct fully, realizing that only one thing matters: “attending to the Father’s business.” Instead of this, how many times our lives are dispersed in all directions and in so many useless activities, in passing things that disappear with time and only reflect the vanity of the world. Only the time that is dedicated to God and to fulfilling His Will will endure; being fixed in God makes man participate in His immutability. Then the passage of time will not cast a shadow of sadness on our lives, but rather fill our hearts with joy because it brings our eternal meeting with God the closer. May each passing year be a step forward toward our true home, and each day be marked with yearning for the Lord: “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelations 22:20).
- meditations by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.
Pax Vobiscum! Valete! ~Omnes ad Iesum per Mariam~ Your Sister in Christ, * ~ Theophilia ~ * 
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. 
Art for Other Deviants:1.) St. Sebastian for
ZhaneAugustine2.) Pope Gregory the Great for
alcuin183.) Ballad of the White Horse Project with
FireFiriel
Reading List1.
The Man on a Donkey - H.F.M. Prescott
2.
The Deluge – Henryk Sienkiewicz
3.
Titus Andronicus - Shakespeare
4.
Chronicles of the Crusades - Joinville and Villehardouin
5.
King Lear - Shakespeare
6.
The Decameron– Boccaccio
7.
The Knight’s own book of Chivalry– Geoffrey de Charny
8.
A Grief Observed– C.S. Lewis
9.
The Problem of Pain– C.S. Lewis
10.
Democracy in America - Alexis de Tocqueville
11.
Lost in the Cosmos– Walker Percy
12.
Woman - Edith Stein
13.
Poetic Diction - Owen Barfield
14.
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien 
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