Imagine a college where young people can live out their Catholic Faith by learning from a faculty and staff who practice what they preach. Picture a small, personable school where prayer is at the heart of study, and fellow students call one another on to a life of holiness and virtue. What if this school was nestled in a beautiful valley filled with lakes, hills and trails, in an area conducive not only to study, but also outdoor recreation and prayer? There is such a school: Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy in a rural region of Canada known as the Ottawa Valley (the locals call it “Our Lady’s Valley”). The area is home to Madonna House Apostolate and is becoming known for its faith-filled rural parishes and large homeschooling families.
There is truly a crise de foi in Canada at present. Many young people have not been properly educated in the Catholic faith, so as to understand the depths and riches that our Church offers, and have subsequently abandoned the practice of it. This should not surprise anyone though, since one cannot love what one does not understand. Unfortunately – in Canada especially – secularism has become widespread and faithful young Catholics are seen as intolerant. Where can they go to study their Faith when even so-called “Catholic” universities have ignored the exhortations of Ex Corde Ecclesiae?
Young Catholics must be formed not only intellectually, but also morally and spiritually. Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy (OLSWA), in response to our Holy Father’s call for a new evangelization, is doing just that and more. At present, the Academy offers a university-level foundational year program rooted in the Catholic vision of the liberal arts, loyal to the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas and emphasizing the writings of Pope John Paul II. As time goes on, OLSWA hopes to develop the program into both a two and four year course of studies.
Franciscan University of Steubenville has recently agreed to allow students transferring from the Academy to apply the credits earned at OLSWA towards their Bachelor Degrees, thus allowing Academy alumni to complete a four year degree with only three additional years of study (and with a substantial savings). In the very near future, the Academy’s classes should be transferable to other orthodox Catholic universities.
Classes at the Academy range from Christian Doctrine, Philosophy, and Church History, to Logic, Latin, Scripture, Magisterial Thought and Ecclesiastical Music. They are complemented by a series of guest lecturers presenting on Catholic literature, art and spirituality. Derived from a variety of backgrounds, the entire faculty shares an unwavering commitment to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and has included both lay people and clergy, including Rev. Leonard Kennedy, C.S.B. of Toronto.
Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy began simply as an answer to a very great need. Now, in its second full year of operation, some of the fruits have begun to become evident. The Academy accepts no government aid, and relies solely on the students’ modest tuition, as well as the generosity of benefactors and a staff who work for small monthly stipends. The student body has doubled in size and former students have gone on to study at both Thomas Aquinas College and Ave Maria College in the U.S. Christ is at the center of all that is done, both in study and recreation, and opportunities for prayer and the Sacraments are woven into daily life. The added blessing of the neighboring St. Hedwig’s Parish in Barry’s Bay is tremendous.
Why do students flourish at this little Academy? “I find the environment conducive to spiritual growth,” said 18-year-old Angela Hardy, of Saint John, New Brunswick. “It’s the kind of formation I think every young Catholic needs before going out into the world.”
For more information, or to receive an application package, please contact Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy toll-free at (877) 369-6520, or at academy@seatofwisdom.org, or visit our website at www.seatofwisdom.org. All donations are tax deductible.
