Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Some thoughts about the feast of the Visitation to consider today. The Annunciation has just occurred. Mary has responded yes to the message of the angel Gabriel. The angel informs Mary that Elizabeth, her cousin who is beyond child bearing age has conceived and is almost six months pregnant. Mary would not have known this except angelic revelation. Mary moves quickly to visit her cousin but leaves before John is born.
When the two women meet, it is divine mediation between Jesus and John that informs Elizabeth that Mary, too, is pregnant. John has been filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. This causes Elizabeth to proclaim blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Mary then prays the Magnificat.
All these natural events; women becoming pregnant, visiting each other during pregnancy, reaching out to support one another, and expressing their love for their soon to be born children – they all could happen today. For the Visitation, it is the divine mediation interacting in human lives that make this event so special. Truly God can enter our lives if we are open to the Holy Spirit.
Consider praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. As a prayer petition for the decade of the Visitation, consider offering this decade for soon to be mothers.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen