Welcoming the Incarnation with Hope: ICSST Advent Reflections to Showcase Medieval Artwork

Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology (ICSST) resumes its popular daily Advent meditation series this year with a focus on the sacred art viewed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Cloisters), located in Fort Tryon Park, New York City. The trip to the Cloisters was part of a writer's retreat and pilgrimage that included 17 members of the Seton Hall University community.

Sponsored by a generous grant from the Koch Foundation, the ICSST pilgrimage also featured a trip to the Shrine of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini as well as time at the San Alfonso Retreat House in Long Branch, New Jersey. From October 30 to November 1, 2026, representatives of Campus Ministry and ICSST, as well as religious brothers and sisters and undergraduate theology students embarked on a spiritual journey of prayerful reflection, personal growth and contemplative writing that drew on Scripture and artwork.

Rooted in prayer, meditation and community, the authors’ carefully crafted reflections highlight their chosen spiritual artwork and the hope and promise of Advent. This year’s daily meditations, titled “Welcoming the Incarnation with Hope: An Advent Visual Pilgrimage through the Cloisters,” will begin November 29, the First Sunday of Advent and continue through Christmas Day. The reflections will be shared with subscribers via email and posted on the seminary’s website.

“This year, what readers will encounter will be meditations that have emerged from prayer, silence and supportive fellowship that will enkindle in the readers the hope of the Advent season,” said Father Dominic Ciriaco, director of the retreat and pilgrimage. “This is the prayer of each author who prepared these meditations.”

We invite you to join us as we reflect on Scripture, artwork and more, as we await the joy of the Christmas season. Sign up here today.

The series is sponsored by ICSST’s Preaching as Hospitality Formation Program that seeks to form seminarians, diaconal students and religious and lay graduate students of theology to be compelling preachers who will offer a hospitality of the heart as they break open the Word of God. The initiatives help to form preachers who will understand and embrace preaching as hospitality — a ministry of inviting, welcoming and offering compassion. 

Categories: Arts and Culture, Faith and Service