Mission Statement

           Seat of Wisdom is an online theological and pastoral journal published by the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, NY.  Dedicated to the patroness of the Seminary under an ancient title for the Blessed Virgin Mary, Seat of Wisdom arises out of our desire to imitate her response to the sacred events and actions of her Son, Jesus Christ as she “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19, 2:51).  The journal is the collaborative conversation of this faith community, produced by the diversity of its members—faculty (priest and lay), seminarians (local and international), lay students, alumni, and guests.  It reflects the mission of the Seminary to form men for the priesthood and deaconate, and lay students for service to the People of God.  As a theological journal, it is an effort to distill the wisdom in the truth of Jesus Christ, the revelation of the mystery of God and of the mystery of the human person.  Such wisdom, valuable for its own sake, is more than simply knowledge because it expresses the proper orientation of the human person to God as lived in a Eucharistic community of prayer, thanksgiving, worship, and service.  As pastoral, the journal is committed to the effort of advancing this wisdom in the life of the Church and its engagement with the world of today.  
        To address both these aspects, each issue of the journal will contain a variety of writings: peer-reviewed research articles, essays or lectures, homilies, book reviews, etc.   This variety captures and reflects the activity of the seminary in its teaching, liturgy, apostolate, public lectures (Bevilacqua and Denzer), student learning and faculty research.  In this way the journal strengthens the Seminary’s effort to fulfill its mission in the human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral formation of its students, as well as to help address the diverse theological and pastoral needs of the multi-cultural, local Churches it serves.  The journal appears twice a year (winter and summer), with articles in English and at least one in a foreign language (e.g., Spanish, French, Korean) to better represent the diversity of both the Seminary’s members and the peoples they are called to serve.  Indeed, as an electronic journal where each issue appears online in PDF documents, Seat of Wisdom will foster and strengthen the communication between the Seminary and these geographically diverse local churches.  Although committed to being a work of the Seminary, submissions from those outside the community who share its mission are welcome.