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| The Visitation by Evelyn Pickering De Morgan , 1883 |
by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.
While the feast of Mary’s Visitation
to Elizabeth has been celebrated on other dates, the liturgical calendar
revision authorized by Pope Paul VI placed it on May 31 -- after the
Annunciation (March 25) and before the Birthday of St. John the Baptist (June
24).
Most likely the feast of the
Visitation originated with the Franciscans in 1263. However, there is lack of certainty about the
origin and the various dates that have been assigned to the feast. By the late 14th century the celebration of
the feast was well established.
Theme
of the feast
The theme of the Visitation feast
centers on Mary responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to set out on a
mission of charity. This is reflected in
the opening prayer and the prayer over the gifts, and in the canticle antiphons
for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer.
With John the Baptist we recognize joyfully the presence of Christ. The feast clearly celebrates the first
chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel.
Church documents attest to the
importance of the feast.
In its Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church (Lumen Gentium) , #57, the Second Vatican Council states:
“This union of the mother with
the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s
virginal conception up to his death; first when Mary, arising in haste to go to
visit Elizabeth, is greeted by her as blessed because of her belief in the
promise of salvation and the precursor leaped with joy in the womb of his
mother.” (cf. Lk 1:41-45)
Venerable Pope Paul VI in Marialis
Cultus, #7, observes that in the “celebrations that commemorate salvific
events in which the Blessed Virgin Mary was closely associated with her son” .
. . “the liturgy [of the Visitation] recalls the Blessed Virgin carrying her
Son within her and visiting Elizabeth to offer charitable assistance and to
proclaim the mercy of God.”
In Redemptoris Mater, #12,
Pope St. John Paul II wrote:
“Moved with charity, therefore,
Mary goes to the house of her kinswoman....
While every word of Elizabeth is filled with meaning, her final words
would seem to have a fundamental importance: ‘And blessed is she who believed
that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her from the Lord’
(Lk 1:45). These words can be linked
with the title ‘full of grace’ of the angel’s greeting. Both of these texts reveal an essential
Mariological content, namely, the truth about Mary who has become really
present in the mystery of Christ because she ‘has believed,’ the fullness of
grace announced by the angel means the gift of God himself. Mary’s faith proclaimed by Elizabeth
indicated how the Virgin of Nazareth responded to this gift.
Meaning
of the feast
The thrust of chapters one and two
of Luke’s Gospel is not simply a family event between Elizabeth and Mary. The Visitation is an event of salvation
history. Elizabeth, a model of the Old
Testament, meets the New Testament in Mary’s faith in the mystery of her own
destiny. But what is most significant is
the meeting of their unborn children.
John, who leaps in his mother’s womb, is already anticipating his role
as precursor of the Messiah.
In the Visitation narrative we look
to Mary as model of the apostolate of the Church. She brings Jesus and a blessing on the house
of Zechariah. The experience of the
primitive Church was that the power of the Lord was the greatest gift it had to
offer. To bring Jesus will always be the
supreme norm of any genuine apostolate.
The Church’s mission is to show Jesus as wisdom and power in each
situation of human need.
While the prayer after communion
invites us to recognize the presence of Christ among us in the Eucharist, we
must remember that the presence of Christ is discovered not only in the
Eucharist. He is met in others, and he
asks us to serve him in others. Mary’s
service for Elizabeth by her visit remains a model for the Christian who wishes
to meet Christ in daily life.
Liturgy
and life nourish faith
Like us, Mary had to walk by faith. One writer likens faith to darkness and
light. It is dark because we cannot
fully grasp divine truth. It is light
since faith brings us to truths we cannot know otherwise. Mary walked in the light of faith. God told her enough about his plan for her to
make each new step. Faith is not only
intellectual, that is, belief. Faith is
also trust and action.
Pope St. John Paul II in Redemptoris
Mater, #14, offers an inspiring account of Mary’s faith.
“To believe means to abandon
oneself to the truth of the word of the living God, knowing and humbly
recognizing ‘how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways’
(Rm 11:33).
Mary, who by the eternal will of the Most High stands, one may say, at
the very center of those inscrutable judgments of God, conforms herself to them
in the dim light of faith, accepting fully and with a ready heart everything
that is decreed in the divine plan.”
Faith means to say “amen” (so be it)
to the word, the command, and the promises of God.
An important element of Mary’s faith
is also common to ours. God speaks to us
through others. We come to know God and
his saving plan through people in the Christian community; for example,
parents, teachers, preachers, and others.
Revelation is not made directly to us.
Except for the special experience of the Annunciation, Mary came to know
God’s will through others.
Mary’s faith, which is praised by
Elizabeth, draws her to the dignity of being the Mother of Jesus and still
greater to being a true disciple of the Lord.
Faith was not easier for her than for us. The contrary is true. For Mary it was more difficult to believe
than for the apostles. She understood
more of God’s plan. Pope St. John Paul
II commented that the expression, “blessed is she who believed,” is a key
unlocking the innermost reality of Mary.
Being aware that this faith was difficult, involving deep struggle,
gives us an insight into Mary’s life and evidence of her likeness to us,
sharing completely in the human condition, but without sin.
