"Noli me Tangere", by Fra Angelico.
I salute you! There is nothing I can give you which you have not; but there is much, that, while I cannot give, you can take.
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today.
Take Heaven.
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant.
Take Peace.
The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet, within our reach, is joy.
Take Joy.
And so . . . I greet you, with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.
************************
~ Fra Giovanni Giocondo [c.1433-1515] was an early Italian Renaissance pioneer, architect, archaeologist, Franciscan friar, and classical scholar.
*Take Joy! is an excerpt from FRA GIOVANNI's, "Letter To A Friend: A Letter to the Most Illustrious the Contessina Allagia Dela Aldobrandeschi", Written Christmas Eve Anno Domini 1513. However, there is some debate: "The British Museum stated in 1970 that it had “proved impossible” to identify Fra Giovanni, the purported author of this letter. It is possible that it was published in the 1930s, “with Christmas Greetings” from Greville MacDonald, son of novelist George MacDonald, and Mary MacDonald". [wikipedia]
Cari Ferraro, calligrapher, offers a beautiful print of Fra Giovanni's "Letter to a Friend". You can see it here.
I love this. It is truly beautiful.
Posted by: Theresa | June 25, 2008 at 03:42 PM
a friend says she has a signed poem from Fra Giovanni how would she find out if it is an original.
Posted by: Tracy Ferguson | February 03, 2014 at 01:04 PM
Thank you Theresa. And Tracy, I wish I could help. I don't know how to authenticate something like that. It would be an extraordinary thing if it is true !
Posted by: Gwendolyn | May 28, 2014 at 01:19 PM