Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lk 1: 39-56
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Sharing What God Has Done for Us With Others
After the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Mary, she made a trip to spend time with her cousin Elizabeth, staying with her for three months. The church calls this event the Visitation of Mary, which includes both the journey that Mary made to get to Elizabeth and also to what happened when she and her cousin spent those months together.
They must have spent time talking about how an angel’s message had changed the course of their lives, how their experiences had affected them, how Joseph and Zechariah took the news and what plans and dreams they had for raising their sons.
As we think about the Visitation, we might pray about the people we would go out of our way to spend time with and share the significant ways God has been active in our lives. They are certainly God’s gifts to us.
—Fr. Frank Majka, SJ, is Midwest Jesuit priest praying for the world, the Church, and the Society of Jesus who lives at the St. Camillus Jesuit Community in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Prayer
Almighty ever-living God, who, while the Blessed Virgin Mary was carrying your Son in her womb, inspired her to visit Elizabeth, grant us, we pray, that, faithful to the promptings of the Spirit, we may magnify your greatness with the Virgin Mary at all times. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
—Collect prayer from today’s Mass