Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom
(Sedes Sapientiae)
University of St. Thomas
Houston, Texas
The title Mary Seat of Wisdom, or Sedes Sapientiae, is from the Litany of Loreto and originated in the 11th century, although the relationship between Mary and Wisdom in the liturgy predates the Litany. Wisdom texts have been used in Marian Masses for over twelve centuries.
Saints Augustine and Bernard used this title for Our Lady, and in the twelfth century, the famous Benedictine Abbot Odo wrote: "Christ, who is called the power and wisdom of God, is the true Wisdom... Whoever desires to have this wisdom must direct his studies toward the Mother, for in Mary must he study who is to find Christ!" [Dollen, Msgr. Charles.
Listen, Mother of God! Reflections on the Litany of Loreto. Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 1989.] During the Middle Ages, this popular title of Mary was depicted in a multiplicity of images, both in sculpture and in painting. The traditional pose shows the Virgin seated on a chair or throne, with Wisdom Incarnate enthroned on her lap. The book of the Gospels is always part of the composition.
Wisdom and knowledge are often associated, and this title of Mary is a favorite of students throughout the world. She is frequently invoked as “help of students.”
Mary’s connection with the university community was affirmed by Pope John Paul II in September 2000 when he spoke at the closing of the University Professors Jubilee. He charged his listeners by saying, “Dear Teachers and Students, this is your vocation: make the University an environment where knowledge is cultivated, a place where the individual finds direction for the future, knowledge, and inspiration for effective service of society.” Then he gave them as advocate the Seat of Wisdom. “I entrust your journey to Mary, Sedes Sapientiae so that she may be welcomed as a teacher and a pilgrim in the university campuses of the world. Mary supported the Apostles with her prayer at the dawn of evangelization; may she also help you to invigorate the university world with a Christian spirit.”
The Chapel of St. Basil is the most prominent and striking feature of the campus of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. Dedicated to St. Basil the Great, a 4th-century Bishop and patron of Christian educators, the chapel’s unique architecture recreates the dramatic emotional power of the most historic European churches while its elegant design is contemporary. The aesthetic design of the architecture is complemented and reinforced by the interior art and furnishings, most of which are the work of the internationally respected Texas sculptor David Cargill.
On the East wall of the chapel, a cone-shaped shrine to the virgin is prominently illuminated by the skylight, usually brighter than the other areas of the chapel. Here, Cargill’s striking bronze statue shows Mary as Sedes Sapientiae. The virgin is seated on a stool which suggests the design of the chapel itself. The stark, clean lines of the image are contemporary in feel, but reflect both the traditional composition associated with this title and an ancient mode of presentation which portrays the mother seated on the throne from which her Divine Son reigns.
The child Jesus, the Word Incarnate, blesses and presents the Gospel to the world. Mary stretches forth her hands welcoming and inviting mankind to the adoration of Divine Wisdom. The composition is understated and elegant, and seems to personify the phrase “to Jesus through Mary.”
All devotions to Mary which are connected with a particular artistic image take time to become established and to grow. Some question if the contemporary images of today will call forth the devotion and popular religiosity of the older established cults. Quite possibly the popular expressions of devotion and religiosity connected with new images will not be in the same form as in the past. The offerings and ex votos to the new images may well take a different direction, but the outpouring of love remains the same.
Although there are no reported “miracles” connected with this lovely image of the Sedes Sapientiae, there is evidence that a cult is beginning. Father Janusz Ihnatowicz, professor emeritus of Theology, says that the university has had to put a protective plastic covering in the shrine to keep the flowers presented to the virgin from staining the walls. In addition to the flowers placed before the statue for weddings and special events, anonymous donors have brought offerings of flowers and candles to the image of Mary, Seat of Wisdom. The students of the University of St. Thomas seem to acknowledge that in today’s world which is so full of knowledge there is still a lack of wisdom. They ask our lady to bring this wisdom to them as she guides them to Divine Wisdom, the Word Incarnate.
What I see in the image of Mary is: Mary with her hands open, asking us to come to her, to place our needs in her hands - she is our wise and loving mother.
- Hazel Alphonse –
Hazel Alphonse is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas who lives in Castries, St. Lucia.
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