THE VISITATION

The Feast of the Visitation is celebrated on the 31th of May, it is the day on which the Blessed Virgin Mary, having been told at the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel that she had been chosen to bear the Son of God, went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who herself was pregnant with John the Baptist.

...

"my soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen


MAGNIFICAT


"my soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior...". Mary's soul magnifies the Lord, in a burst of heavenly joy her soul thanks the Lord and feels one with God. She is in God and God is in her. Mary tacitly says through the prayer of the Magnificat "I am within Love and Love is within me". And Love is actually within her and is becoming flesh and blood, God's infinite Love is closed in Mary's womb, just as in a cocoon from which a butterfly will be born. Mary is concretely pregnant with the Word, she carries Him inside herself, she host's Him and takes care of Him. She gives motherly cares to the Word. What is greater than this for a woman, to take care of God's Word inside and be mother of the Word, to eternally be pregnant with the Word and then give birth to Him. Mary continues to do this now and will continue for eternity. As Mary, we can also be pregnant with the Word of God so to sing to Him the most beautiful Love song ever sung on earth: "my soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden, For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed...". That's what Mary teaches us, it is her and our mission in the whole world, to be mothers of the Word, to cradle the Word. Each one of us can be a mother to the Word of God if we guard it as a precious shrine inside of us. And so then, the song of the Magnificat will explode inside us, let's allow this to happen through the work of the Holy Spirit. Let's accept from Mary this great gift, to be mother of the Word, let's enable the Glory of God to fill us like Mary was filled. Let's ask Mary the gift that God has given her: to be mothers of the Word.

THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN TWO MOTHERS

Mary, immediately after her "fiat", anxiously leaves Nazareth and travels to the "hill country" to visit her elder cousin Elizabeth. Mary rushes to see Elizabeth in a journey full of expectation and hope as she sees herself in Elizabeth, she sees her confirmation. Mary wants to see Elizabeth. She sees herself in  Elizabeth, she sees consolation, encouragement, support, she is looking for a conniving glance. Mary, by visiting Elizabeth wants to see the anticipation of the Glory of God that has been announced to her by the Angel.

For these different reasons, Mary leaves Nazareth facing a journey full of difficulties and fatigue towards Elizabeth's house. The visit of Mary, her embrace to Elizabeth is the that of two mothers sharing the same joy in their heart, the same hopes and expectations. 

WHY SHOULD THE MOTHER OF MY LORD COME TO ME ?"

Elisabeth immediately recognizes Mary as the mother of her Lord. At once the Holy Spirit creates between them a unique bond in which they recognize one another in God.  Only the two of them intimately know the truth of what is to happen and are deeply united into one soul by God that is now in Mary's womb. Two mothers joined together by and into Eucharistic intimacy.

EUCHARISTIC UNION BETWEEN MARY AND ELIZABETH

Mary is the first tabernacle and Elizabeth is the first Eucharistic worshiper. This is what we usually do when we take part in Eucharistic worship. As Elizabeth did , we too worship our Lord in His Sanctuary, in His tabernacle. Thus is how Elizabeth worshiped her Lord, she embraced her Lord by embracing Mary who was carrying Him. Elizabeth asks Mary "Why, thou mother of my Lord comest to me? "she thinks she should be the one visiting, she thinks she should be the one going towards them. But this is only the beginning, it is the first gesture of Mary that will continue forever and ever. It is Mary who comes to us to bring us her Son as she did the first time when she went to visit Elisabeth. It is Mary who comes towards us to bring us Salvation. It is Mary who makes the same journey she did to see Elisabeth towards us to, she rushes to us without stopping and to bring us Jesus. It is Mary who visits us, who visits all her sons and daughters. It is Mary who travels across Eternity to reach us and undertakes all sorts of perils to get us, she has our name and our face in her mind and comes to visit us in a hurry to bring us the Saviour.

She leaves full of hope and expectations when she comes to us,  and she knows that each encounter with us will be another Visitation.

Mary comes to visit us: On October 13, 1917 a crowd believed to be approximately 70,000 in number, gathered at the Cova da Iria fields near Fátima, Portugal. 

Mary comes to Visit us and warn us: On a mountain in southern France, this is the La Salette apparition.

Mary comes to visit us: On December 31st 1984 in Medjugorje.