Maryland Women’s Conference
Opening Mass – Immaculate Conception, Towson
November 8, 2025
Mary, Seat of Wisdom
In the narthex of the beautiful chapel at St. Mary’s Seminary in Roland Park there stands a large and graceful statute of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She holds in her arms the Christ Child and on her head is a crown. This image, bearing the title “Our Lady Seat of Wisdom”, is dear to Sulpicians & to generations of seminarians & priests who studied at St. Mary’s Seminary. Time was when each seminarian’s room had a smaller version of that statue. But human nature being what it is, these statues disappeared one by one, and now can be found in rectories and chapels all over the country. I would condemn such purloining forthwith, except that I have this same statue in my home, and I’m not even an alumnus!
But Our Lady Seat of Wisdom is more than a beautiful statue. Mary’s graceful image, her title, and her tender love for Christ remind us that true wisdom comes from following Christ in faith, love, and hope. Mary further reminds us that faith, love, and hope are not abstract ideals or constructs of the mind. No, these are real gifts that the Holy Spirit has lavishes upon us in Baptism and Confirmation, and every time we gather for the Eucharist. These gifts are called “theological virtues”, because “they relate directly to God and are rooted in the divine nature.” They enable us “to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity and participate in divine grace.” These virtues, faith, love, and hope are found in Mary in concentrated form. Mary not only exemplifies these virtues, she embodies them.
Wisdom Has Built Herself a House
To see this, we need look no further than our reading from the Book of Wisdom. This passage celebrates the wisdom of God through which the world in all its wonder was created, and through which human beings were created in God’s image. At the pinnacle of creation is the human person who alone bears the very image of divine wisdom and an inbuilt desire for God.
But we know the sequel, you and I. God’s wisdom and love, playing on the face of the earth, was marred by sin. Yet, instead of abandoning what he had so wondrously created, God even more wondrously redeemed it. In his plan of redemption, Mary, the Seat of Wisdom, played a crucial role. In her Immaculate Heart would dwell the One who is Wisdom Incarnate, the 2nd Person of the Blessed Trinity, the pure reflection of the Father’s glory. As ancient Christian writers such as St. Augustine said, “Mary conceived the Word in her heart before she conceived him in her womb.”
Mary not only embodied the hopes of the Chosen People for deliverance, she was also filled with a pure and lively faith that disposed her to cooperate like no other with God’s plan for the redemption of the world. Gazing into Mary’s heart, we see the purest faith and a most ardent hope. Through faith and hope, Mary became “the handmaid of the Lord” as with love beyond all telling she conceived and brought forth the Savior. We find in her a path, not to earthly wisdom, but to Christ, ‘the Word made flesh who dwells among us.’
The Drama of Salvation
Today’s Gospel from St. Luke takes us to the heart of the drama of salvation. The Immaculate Virgin is deep in prayer when she is visited by the angel. The angel announces that she is to be the mother of the “Son of the Most High,” the One who would definitively fulfill God’s promise of redemption. Could any news be more stunning? Mary questions how this could be, not because she doubts or disbelieves, but because she wishes only to cooperate with the plan of God. The angel informs Mary that she is to conceive this Child by the power of the Holy Spirit and that he will be ‘the Son of God.’ Surely there are many more questions welling up in Mary’s mind and heart, yet she utters immortal words that echo across the centuries: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
These words capture Mary’s faith, love, and hope. Celebrating those words in this divine liturgy, we find ourselves, not praying to Mary from afar, but in a very real sense, witnessing ourselves her consent to God’s plan, a consent born of faith, love, and hope. Does not this episode from salvation history become for us a present-day reality, a source of grace, and a path to renewal – a renewal of faith, love, and hope in our lives?
The Upshot
You are here today to support one another in growing in faith, love, and hope as the path to Christ. In Mary, we see how these virtues filled her with grace, opened her God’s initiative, and enabled her to consent to her unique vocation, a vocation which led her to share fully in the sufferings of her Son. Mary’s vocation was unique yet she is so relatable, because “yes” to God led, not to a life of ease, but to hardship, and to the Cross.
Every one of us has said our “yes” to God in faith, love, and hope, not knowing what the future would hold. Inevitably, we experience worries, anxieties, and problems, as well as the weakness of our human nature wounded by sin. These things dim the luster of our faith, love, and hope. They can even alienate us from God and from loved ones and friends. So as we celebrate this Mass, let us remember that Mary is with us. She is praying with us and for us. Let us ask her, that amid the drama of our lives, Christ may dwell in us and that we might receive Christ in faith and hope, and with love beyond all telling.
Thus we pray as Fr. Jean-Jacques Olier, founder of the Sulpicians, taught us:
“O Jesus, living in Mary, come and live in your servants,
in the spirit of holiness, the fullness of your power,
the truth of your virtues, the perfection of your ways,
in the communion of your mysteries.
Rule over every adverse power,
in your Spirit, for the glory of your Father. Amen.”