541. May 31, Visitation of Our Lady
Meditations no. 472 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
The Visitation, when Mary went to her cousin Elizabeth, is an example of service to others.
In Nazareth, the Archangel Gabriel revealed the purpose of his embassy: See, moreover, how it fares with thy cousin Elizabeth; she is old, yet she too has conceived a son; she who was reproached with barrenness is now in her sixth month, to prove that nothing can be impossible with God.
With these words, the divine Messenger revealed to Mary the mystery of the motherhood of St Elizabeth: the Lord had chosen her to be the mother of the Precursor. God wanted to heap joy upon joy. To the infinite happiness of knowing that she was the Mother of the Redeemer was added more good news - her cousin had also been blessed. And the heart of the Blessed Virgin overflowed with happiness.
In the days that followed, Mary rose up and went with all haste to a town of Juda, in the hill country. In her womb she bore him who was desired by all nations, the Messiah whom all Israel had awaited for centuries. Break into song, fair Sion, all Israel cry aloud; here is joy and triumph, Jerusalem, for thy royal heart. Thy doom the Lord has revoked, thy enemy repulsed; the Lord, there in the midst of thee, Israelâs king! Peril for thee henceforth is none.
In the feast which we are celebrating today, we can admire firstly the concern of the Blessed Virgin for St Elizabeth. She knows that her cousin, well on in years, needs the care of a young person and she therefore goes cum festinatione, with haste, to bring her help and affection. This availability to serve is the immediate consequence of having found Jesus Christ.
In our lives, too, intimacy with Jesus and with Mary is necessarily shown in the help we give others. As our founder wrote: If we have this filial contact with Mary, we wonât be able to think just about ourselves and our problems. Selfish personal problems will find no place in our mind. Mary brings us to Jesus, and Jesus is âthe firstborn among many brothersâ (Rom 8: 29). And so, if we know Jesus, we realise that we can live only by giving ourselves to the service of others. A Christian canât be caught up in personal problems; he must be concerned about the universal Church and the salvation of all souls.
Concern for oneâs own spiritual improvement is not really a personal thing, for sanctification is completely bound up with apostolate. We must, therefore, develop our interior life and the Christian virtues with our eyes upon the good of the whole Church. We cannot do good and make Christ known, if weâre not making a sincere effort to live the teachings of the Gospel.
If we are imbued with this spirit, our âconversationsâ with God eventually help other men, even though they may have begun on an apparently personal level. And if we take our Ladyâs hand, she will make us realise more fully that all men are our brothers - because we are all sons of that God whose daughter, spouse and mother she is.
The first meeting of Christ and the Precursor.
The Blessed Virgin has arrived in the small village where John the Baptist will be born. And there, entering in, she gave Elizabeth greeting. No sooner had Elizabeth heard Maryâs greeting than the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit.
The first miracle of the life of Jesus happens through Mary. We must reflect, comments St Ambrose, that the superior went to the inferior to give her help: Mary went to Elizabeth, Christ to John⌠And, as soon as Mary has arrived, the benefits of the divine presence are made manifest. See how differently this occurs in each of them. Elizabeth hears the voice first, but John is the first to feel the grace. Her perception was according to the natural order; he rejoiced with the supernatural mystery. She saw the arrival of Mary; he, of the Lord⌠And when the son was full of the Holy Spirit, the mother was then filled as well.
This is a first sign of the mediation of the Blessed Virgin in her close association with her Son in the redemption of souls. Her presence in the house of Zachary is a channel for divine grace. The unborn Baptist quivers and leaps in his motherâs womb, full of the joy of the Holy Spirit. And we, too, if we become identified with Mary and imitate her virtues, we will be able to bring Christ to life, through grace, in the souls of many who will in turn become identified with him through the action of the Holy Spirit. If we imitate Mary, we will share in some way in her spiritual motherhood. And all this silently, like our Lady; without being noticed, almost without words, through the true and genuine witness of our lives as Christians, and the generosity of ceaselessly repeating her fiat, which we renew as an intimate link between ourselves and God.
Leading the chorus of voices in generations to come, Elizabeth breaks out in praise of the Virgin: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. How have I deserved to be thus visited by the mother of my Lord?⌠Blessed art thou for thy believing; the message that was brought to thee from the Lord shall have fulfilment.
No faith has ever equalled the faith of Mary. In her we have a perfect model of how a creature ought to act before the Creator: with complete surrender, with the greatest awe. And therefore, as a prolongation of the words of St Elizabeth, echoing down the centuries, we too tell her: âBlessed art thou amongst womenâ (Luke 1: 42), the only one who healed the sorrow of Eve, the only one who dried her tears, the only one who bore the redemption of the world, the only one to whom the treasure of the precious Pearl was entrusted, the only one who conceived without pleasure and gave birth without pain, the only one who bore the Emmanuel as he wished. âBlessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy wombâ: the fruit, not the seed; the flower, not the passion; the splendour, not the creature; he who sits enthroned, not the servant; the Sun, not the sand; he who is adored, not he who is created; the redemption, not the debt. âBlessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!â
Maryâs feelings overflow in the Magnificat.
Once again we contemplate the scene of the Visitation, with words from our Father: The unborn Baptist quivers⌠(Luke 1: 41). Maryâs humility pours forth in the Magnificat⌠And you and I, who are proud - who were proud - promise to be humble. Only a deep and sincere humility has the power of attracting the gaze of God toward a creature; only the complete recognition of our nothingness can make us precious in the eyes of the Creator.
For one thing is certain: everything good in us comes from God. In the case of Mary, the divine favour surpasses every grace ever granted to any other creature. She, the humble Virgin from Nazareth is going to be the Mother of God; never has the divine omnipotence manifested itself so completely. And the heart of our Lady breaks forth into an uncontainable song of thankfulness and joy: Magnificat anima mea DominumâŚ
The humble and joyful song of Mary reminds us of the generosity of our Lord towards men, and especially towards those whom he chooses with a divine vocation. God is interested even in the smallest events in the lives of his creatures - in your affairs and mine - and he calls each of us by our name (cf. Is 43: 1). This certainty, which the faith gives, enables us to look at everything in a new light. And everything, while remaining exactly the same, becomes different, because it is an expression of Godâs love. Our life is turned into a continuous prayer; we find ourselves with good humour and a peace which never ends; and everything we do is an act of thanksgiving running through all our day. My soul magnifies the Lord, Mary sang, and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour; because he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid; for, behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed; because he who is mighty has done great things for me (Luke1: 46-49).
Our prayer can accompany and imitate this prayer of Mary. Like her, we feel the desire to sing, to acclaim the wonders of God, so that all mankind and all creation may share our joy.
We have considered the example of the Visitation of our Lady helping her cousin St Elizabeth. Now, with the grace of God, we can make a resolution: to take great pains in details of service towards others; to take better care of a specific detail of humility, of dedication, of cheerfulness; to put more affection into our dealings with the Blessed Virgin, especially while we pray and contemplate the mysteries of the Rosary, because there we remind Mary of those momentous events which mark her grace-filled life.