4 things to ponder on the feast of the Visitation

Lorenzo and Jacopo Salimbeni, “The Visitation,” 1416. Oratio of St. John the Baptist, Urbino, Italy. / Credit: Public Domain

CNA Staff, May 31, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

The feast of the Visitation was established for the entire Church by Pope Urban VI in 1389, just months before his death, in the hopes of bringing the Great Western Schism to an end through the intercession of Mary.

The feast actually originated in Byzantium when the Gospel account of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth was read on the feast of the “Deposition in the Basilica of the Holy Garment of the Theotokos,” according to Vatican News. The Franciscans then adopted it as a Marian feast day in 1263, calling it the “Visitation of Mary.” After the Second Vatican Council, the date for the feast was fixed on May 31, the end of the month dedicated to Mary.

The Visitation is also the second joyful mystery of the rosary. So to help you contemplate that mystery on today’s feast, here are four ideas to ponder.

Mary went ‘in haste’

We are told in the first chapter of Luke that “during those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.”

Not long after she is visited by the angel Gabriel, Mary went “in haste” to see her cousin Elizabeth, who she has learned is also pregnant even though she is past childbearing age. Mary’s haste speaks first of all to her charity. While there were surely many things to do to prepare for what was coming, she thinks immediately of her older cousin, wanting to be of support at this momentous time for them both.

Mary also demonstrates courage and fortitude. The road from Nazareth to Ein Karem, where Elizabeth and Zechariah lived, was dangerous for anyone to travel, let alone a young woman — it was notorious for harboring bandits and thieves. The distance was about 100 miles and it was all uphill, as Ein Karem is about 1,336 feet higher above sea level than Nazareth. No easy feat, even if traveling by donkey.

Mary’s decision to make haste and travel to see Elizabeth is an invitation to all of us to prioritize the needs of others and to make sacrifices to serve them, even when big things are going on in our own lives. Mary is a model of this kind of selflessness. 

Two mothers and two sons met that day

“And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy,” Elizabeth says to Mary in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 1:43-44).

Elizabeth’s unborn child, John the Baptist, recognizes Jesus as soon as he hears Mary’s voice. John’s entire life will be dedicated to preparing a way for the Lord and his salvific ministry. This early moment between them invites us to ponder the mission of John and the hidden work of Jesus, already in action from his earliest days of life.

This encounter also speaks to a culture today that perpetuates the belief that there is only one body, one person, involved in a pregnancy, when in fact there are two. The meeting of Jesus and John in their mothers’ wombs is a testament to the unique personhood of every child from the moment of his or her conception.

Blessed are those who believe the Lord’s promises

“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:45). These words by Elizabeth to Mary remind us not only of Mary’s complete trust in the Lord’s love and plan for her, but also of our own — do we really trust God? Do we entrust our lives to him?

God makes promises throughout the Scriptures, and we are indeed blessed when we take him at his word and believe what he has promised to those who accept his invitation — like Mary did. 

May our souls magnify the Lord and our spirits rejoice  

Mary’s response to Elizabeth and to God has become one of the most beautiful prayers of all time: the Magnificat.

“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.” Mary begins the canticle, from Luke 1:46-55, which is also known as the Song of Mary. The very first thing she does is praise the Lord for what he has done for her. And she recognizes that in this great act of love, the incarnation, God has just turned the world upside down — or more accurately, right side up. 

The Gospel remains a countercultural message, and God’s love still breaks in and converts even the hardest hearts. Mary’s great prayer of praise during her visitation to Elizabeth is an invitation for each of us to always begin our “yes” to God by praising and thanking him for all he is and does.

The Magnificat

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.