The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lives of the Saints

by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. edition

[1894]

—THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.

THE angel Gabriel, in the mystery of the Annunciation, informed the Mother of God that her cousin Elizabeth had miraculously conceived, and was then pregnant with a son who was to be the precursor of the Messias.

The Blessed Virgin out of humility concealed the wonderful dignity to which she was raised by the incarnation of the Son of God in her womb, but, in the transport of her holy joy and gratitude, determined she would go to congratulate the mother of the Baptist.

“Mary therefore arose,” saith St. Luke, “and with haste went into the hilly country into a city of Judea, and entering into the house of Zachary, saluted Elizabeth.” What a blessing did the presence of the God-man bring to this house, the first which He honored in His humanity with His visit! But Mary is the instrument and means by which He imparts to it His divine benediction, to show us that she is a channel through which He delights to communicate to us His graces, and to encourage us to ask them of Him through her intercession.

At the voice of the Mother of God, but by the power and grace of her divine Son in her womb, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and the Infant in her womb conceived so great a joy as to leap and exult. At the same time Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and by His infused light she understood the great mystery of the Incarnation which God had wrought in Mary, whom humility prevented from disclosing it even to a Saint, and an intimate friend.

In raptures of astonishment Elizabeth pronounced her blessed above all other women, and cried out, “Whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Mary, hearing her own praise, sunk the lower in the abyss of her nothingness, and in the transport of her humility, and melting in an ecstasy of love and gratitude, burst into that admirable canticle, the Magnificat. Mary stayed with her cousin almost three months, after which she returned to Nazareth.

Reflection.—Whilst with the Church we praise God for the mercies and wonders which He wrought in this mystery, we ought to apply ourselves to the imitation of the virtues of which Mary sets us a perfect example. From her we ought particularly to learn the lessons by which we shall sanctify our visits and conversation, actions which are to so many Christians the sources of innumerable dangers and sins.

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Feast Zep 3:14-18a or Rom 12:9-16/Lk 1:39-56 (572) Pss Prop.

*Visitation – Albertinelli.

The Virgin Mary and Saint Elizabeth lovingly embrace. Artwork by M. Albertinelli.

The meeting between Mary and her relative Elizabeth, future mother of John the Baptist, is taking place in the still, ultra-clear atmosphere of a sunny morning. The two women are embracing on a flowery lawn against the backdrop of a wide pietra serena arcade which follows the profile of the panel and rests on pilasters decorated with elegant panoplies amongst which the date 1503 is visible, the year the work was painted.

**In Christianity, the Visitation is the visit of Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, to Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, in the Gospel of Luke, Luke 1:39–56.

It is also the name of a Christian feast day commemorating this visit, celebrated on 31 May in the feast-celebrating branches of Western Christianity (most and mainstream calendars of Catholics and High Church Anglicans (or as 2 July in calendars of 1263–1969, retained in the modern calendar of some countries whose bishops’ conferences wanted to retain this, notably Germany and Slovakia) and 30 March in Eastern Christianity.

The episode is one of the standard scenes shown in cycles of the Life of the Virgin in art, and sometimes in larger cycles of the Life of Christ in art.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visitation_(Christianity)

***Visitation, the visit, described in the Gospel According to Luke (1:39–56), made by the Virgin Mary, pregnant with the infant Jesus, to her cousin Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, the pregnant Elizabeth felt the infant St. John the Baptist leap in her womb, which, according to later doctrine, signified that he had become sanctified and cleansed of original sin. Mary then said the Magnificat (q.v.).

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Visitation

As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us – eternal life.  

1 Jn 2:24–25