Our Lady, "Seat of Wisdom"

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today’s Gospel speaks of the wise and foolish virgins and the First Reading is a beautiful excerpt from the Book of Wisdom. In reasearching Our Lady’s title: “Seat of Wisdom” I found a good article. Below are a few points made by the author (Marian Therese Horvat, Ph.D.):

…The Internet Revolution has drowned modern man in facts and knowledge in order to achieve wealth. It is the century of books, facts, science, and information. It is an age sadly in lack of Wisdom…

…the truly intelligent man is the man who seeks Wisdom. Whoever wishes to acquire the great treasure of Wisdom, must, after the example of Solomon seek for that treasure: “I have loved and sought out Wisdom from my youth, and have desired to take her for my spouse.”…

St. Louis de Montfort… gives the means to attain divine wisdom:

1. Ardent desire, fostered by keeping of the Commandments;
2. Persevering prayer;
3. Universal mortification;
   The last and greatest means of all, the most wonderful of all secrets for obtaining and keeping of Divine Wisdom: a tender and true devotion to the Blessed Mary.

Our Lady is the Seat of Wisdom because She was the creature who knew and loved God most, contemplating Him in the universe. The Gospel tells us: She observed all things and kept them in Her Heart. Our Lady is the Seat of Wisdom because She is the Universal Mediatrix that God established between Himself and men in order to be known and loved. Here, then, is the admirable secret to possess Divine Wisdom: “Mary is,” St. Louis says, “the secret magnet.

“Wherever she is, she draws Eternal Wisdom so powerfully that He cannot resist. …Once we possess Mary we shall easily and in a short time possess Divine Wisdom through her intercession. Of all the means to possess Jesus Christ, Mary is the surest, the easiest, the shortest way and the holiest.

“And the best way to belong entirely to Mary is, so to speak, to take Mary into our house by consecrating ourselves unreservedly to her as her servants and slaves. To surrender into her hands all we possess. And then, this good Mistress, who never allows herself to be outdone in liberality, will give herself to us, in an incomprehensible but real manner, and then Eternal Wisdom will come to dwell in her as in His glorious throne room.”

For the only creature found worthy to conceive and give birth to Eternal Wisdom was Our Lady. And when we go to her, justly called the Seat of Wisdom, she will lead us to this Treasure. As an antidote to the false worship of knowledge so prevalent in our days, it would be an admirable practice to include this invocation often in our daily routine:

Sedes Sapientiae, Ora Pro Nobis.
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.

 

[po18guy]

I think her title is explained, encapsulated and revealed in her simple statement: “Do whatever He tells you.”

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear po18guy,

Thanks so much for your reply. Yes, Mary’s words to the servants at Cana are truly a reflection of her life of grace. Mary saw herself as the “Handmaid of the Lord” and asked that it be done to her according to the word of His Archangel Gabriel, sent to her with God’s Message. Mary’s “Fiat” (Be it done to me) echoes for all time as her example of one who, like her Son sought only to do God’s Will.

If we are to share in the Godly Wisdom we need to discern God’s Will we need to live as Mary did, pondering in her heart, everything Jesus said and did. The author of the article I posted gives us some good principles to follow from the wisdom of St. Louis de Montfort. St. Louis also wrote a book entitled “Love of Eternal Wisdom”

 

[bardegaulois]

I find myself thinking especially of Our Lady as Seat of Wisdom during Christmastide, when our minds turn to those Old Masters depicting the Infant Christ enthroned upon the knee of the Virgin. If we see Mary as the Seat of Wisdom, then these old paintings should fortify in our mind that Christ Himself indeed is Wisdom, and that Mary as Theotokos presents this Divine Wisdom to us, just as she presented Christ at the very start of His public ministry to the servants at Cana.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear bardegaulois,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I agree wholeheartedly! The images of Mary at Christmastide especially should remind us of the great dignity God has given Mary as Theotokos who presents Jesus, the Word made flesh, the Divine Wisdom to us – the same Divine Wisdom Mary presented to the servants at Cana at the beginning of His public ministry. Mary continues to present Him to us all by her example and her intercession. How blessed we are to have been given such a Mother, by Jesus!

 

[patricius79]

The readings for last Sunday about Mary were awesome too from Wisdom 6:

12
Resplendent and unfading is Wisdom,
and she is readily perceived by those who love her,
and found by those who seek her.f
13
She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her;g
14
one who watches for her at dawn will not be disappointed,
for she will be found sitting at the gate.
15
For setting your heart on her is the perfection of prudence,
and whoever keeps vigil for her is quickly free from care;
16
Because she makes her rounds, seeking those worthy of her,
and graciously appears to them on the way,
and goes to meet them with full attention.h
17

• For the first step toward Wisdom is an earnest desire for discipline;i
  18
  then, care for discipline is love of her;
  love means the keeping of her laws;
  To observe her laws is the basis for incorruptibility;
  19
  http://www.usccb.org/bible/wisdom/6

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks, brother Pat,

Yes, how rightly the Church can apply these readings from the Book of Wisdom to Mary! She was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, and conceived within her womb the Incarnate Wisdom. God’s laws are indeed her laws as they become our laws when we give ourselves to Him as totally as Mary.

Our Lady Seat of Wisdom pray for us.