"ALTHOUGH, as I told you, I felt reluctant to begin this work, yet now it is finished I am very glad to have written it, and I think my trouble has been well spent, though I confess it has cost me but little. Considering your strict enclosure, the little recreation you have, my sisters, and how many conveniences are wanting in some of your convents, I think it may console you to enjoy yourselves in this interior castle which you can enter, and walk about at will, at any hour you please, without asking leave of your superiors. It is true you cannot enter all the mansions by your own power, however great it may appear to you, unless the Lord of the castle Himself admits you…When once you have learnt how to enjoy this castle, you will always find rest, however painful your trials may be, in the hope of returning to your Lord, which no one can prevent. Although I have only mentioned seven mansions, yet each one contains many more rooms, above, below, and around it, with fair gardens, fountains, and labyrinths, besides other things so delightful that you will wish to consume yourself in praising in return the great God Who has created the soul to His own image and likeness."- From the Epilogue of St. Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle   

"Here I am in the month of May! I think...of the many blessings that my Mom [the Mother of God]  gave me in this first years of my life, and I am so ashamed...because I have not looked at that heart and that hand that would bring me so much kindness...yes, my dear dad ( Fr. Germano) -how many times in front of an image of my Mom I have confided in Her all the anxieties of my heart! And how many times my Mom comforted me! In all my afflictions I remember that I do not have my mom on earth but I do have a compassionate One in Heaven... - St. Gemma Galgani

Salvete all,

I hope you all are very well on this most lovely day! And thank you all very much for all of the very kind birthday wishes! I've officially completed my twentieth trip around the sun and have just begun my twenty-first, as it were. In the United States of course, that means I am now "legal" and can buy alcoholic drinks. I can't say I'm much of a fan of alcohol in general (I guess I'm just too much of a sweet-tooth? But I don't really like the taste very much) but I am looking forward to spending a delightful evening with friends.

In other news, I just finished The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila. I'm starting now on St. John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul which I'm rather excited about. I've heard St. John of the Cross is, like, the most BA Christian mystic EVER. Carmelites for the win! I'm afraid that's really all the update I can really give though. I'm working on some pictures (about three at a time, which has been slowing me down tremendously) but I REALLY WANT TO GET SOME PICTURES DONE FOR YOU GUYS. If the weather stays tolerable (as in, I can bear to sit at my desk without feeling like I'll pass out from the heat) then I should be able to make some good progress. But mostly I just need to make myself not be lazy.

Alrighty then! That being said, here's a lovely little gem I just discovered from King Alfonso X el Sabio's (I should do a picture of that guy sometime. He's pretty legit. ) epic compilation of hymns and songs dedicated to the Virgin Mary called the Cantigas de Santa Maria.

Branch of Jesse, who is there who can sing your praises as you deserve,
or have the understanding to tell how much you suffer for us?"

For by night and day, O Mary,
you pray to your Son that as He sternly judges,
He look not to the follies of us here on earth
who commit sins and evil deeds which you abhor.

Also, you are constantly fighting for us,
persistently defeating the devil
who cunningly tempts us with base delights.
You, ever watchful, defend and protect us.

You perform beautiful and marvelous miracles for us,
as I know full well, chastising us and having patience with us,
ever mindful of us, and struggling to defend us bravely from the devil,
whom you frighten away.

You humble the proud and reward the meek,
bestowing generously your holy bounty.
Hence I commend and surrender myself to you,
for you do not fail your own.

- "Virga de Jesse" Cantiga de Santa Maria 20

One last thing: PENTECOST IS COMING!!! KEEP PRAYING PEOPLE!!!

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.) Adoring the Blessed Sacrament for ~mariapaulina
4.) Arthur and Morgaine for ~Alois-Noette
5.) Joan of Arc for ~Juniperfern
6.) St. Francis and mouse for ~agentflapjack
7.) Ballad of the White Horse Project with ~FireFiriel

Personal Artwork:

1.) Self-Portrait Oil Painting
2.) Pater Noster
3.) Dark Night of the Soul – Daethryn
4.) Star of the County Down
5.) Fall of Constantinople Cover
6.) Templar in a Courtyard
7.) Martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket
8.) Soldier of God painting
9.) Bohemund Crosses the Adriatic
10.) Self-portrait with Saints
11.) Psalm 45
12.) Staircase Scene
13.) Rosary Series
14.) Theotokos of Kazan
15.) Our Lady of Grace
16.) Our Lady of Poland
17.) Theotokos of Jerusalem
18.) Our Lady of America
19.) Salus Populi Romani
20.) Our Lady of Perpetual Help
21.) Our Lady of All Nations
22.) Our Lady of Fatima
23.) Godfrey carrying Baldwin
24.) "With Fire and Sword" pictures
25.) How to Wear/Draw Armor Tutorial
26.) Tancred von Marienburg pictures
27.) "I am a worm and no man…"
28.) Malik and Maryam
29.) Ballad of the White Horse Title Page (Kells Style)

…and tons of others….

Comics:

1.) Crown of the World
a. The Graphic Novella of the Prologue
2.) Ivanhoe
a. Ivanhoe and BI song
b. Pirates of Penzance
c. The Knight Deliverer Argument
d. Bois-Guilbert and Rebecca Montage
3.) The Battle of Cresson

Writing:

1.) Fall of Constantinople Play
2.) Articles
3.) My Story
4.) Beaver I. Mystery
5.) Tancred von Marienburg



My Book List

1. Poetic Diction - Owen Barfield
2. Kristin Lavransdatter – Sigrid Undset
3. The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follet
4. The Confessions -  St. Augustine
5. Chronicles of the Crusades - Joinville and Villehardouin
6. Theology of the Body– John Paul II
7. Letters to a Young Catholic - George Weigel
8. Seven Pillars of Wisdom - T.E. Lawrence
9. Woman - Edith Stein
10. Wisdom and Innocence - Joseph Pearce
11. The Crusades - Reginé Pernoud
12. King Lear - Shakespeare
13. Saint Thomas Aquinas - G.K. Chesterton
14. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
15. The Templars - Reginé Pernoud
16. St. Therese of Lisieux: Spouse and Victim - Cliff Ermatinger
17. The Man on a Donkey - H.F.M. Prescott
18. Diary: Divine Mercy in my Soul - St. Maria Faustina Kowalska
19. Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths - Reginé Pernoud
20. City of God – St. Augustine
21. Titus Andronicus - Shakespeare
22. Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
23. The Deluge – Henryk Sienkiewicz
24. Fire in the Steppe/Pan Wołodyjowski – Henryk Sienkiewicz
25. The Name of the Rose– Umberto Eco
26. Collected Works– Anton Chekov
27. The Decameron– Boccaccio
28. Chronicles– Jean Froissart
29. Dark Night of the Soul – St. John of the Cross
30. Pensées– Blaise Pascal
31. The Philosophy of Aristotle
32. Doctor Zhivago– Boris Pasternak
33. The Spirit of Thomism– Étienne Gilson
34. The Philosopher and Theology– Étienne Gilson
35. Painting and Reality– Étienne Gilson
36. The History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages– Étienne Gilson
37. Notes from the Underground– Fyodor Dostoevsky
38. The Antagonists– Ernest Gann
39. Edmund Campion – Evelyn Waugh
40. Helena – Evelyn Waugh
41. Count Bohemund– Alfred Duggan
42. The Histories– Herodotus
43. The Gallic Wars– Julius Caesar
44. The Annals of Imperial Rome– Tacitus
45. The Letters of the Younger Pliny– Pliny the Younger
46. The Rise of the Roman Empire– Polybius
47. Two lives of Charlemagne– Einhard
48. The Chronographia– Michael Psellus
49. Summa Theologica– St. Thomas Aquinas
50. Ascent to Mount Carmel– St. John of the Cross

Not in any particular order…and not to mention tons of others (about Constantinople in particular).





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