The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Feast Day: July 2 (traditional calendar)
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary commemorates the journey of Our Lady from Nazareth to the hill country of Judaea to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was six months with child with John the Baptist. The event is narrated in the first chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke with a beauty and theological depth that has made it one of the most beloved passages of the New Testament.
Mary had just received the Annunciation from the Angel Gabriel, who had told her not only that she would conceive and bear the Son of God, but also that her elderly cousin Elizabeth had conceived in her old age and was already six months pregnant. Mary rose and went in haste, as Saint Luke writes, a detail that speaks of her charity and her eagerness to be of service. She undertook the long journey from Galilee to the hill country of Judaea, a distance of perhaps eighty miles, to spend time with her cousin and assist her in the final months of her pregnancy.
At the moment of Mary's arrival and greeting, the infant John leapt in his mother's womb, filled with the Holy Spirit. This leap of the Forerunner in the womb is interpreted by the Fathers of the Church as the first act of recognition and worship offered to the incarnate Son of God. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out, Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? These words of Elizabeth form part of the great prayer of the Hail Mary, which the Church has prayed in every age.
Mary responded to this greeting with the great canticle known as the Magnificat, My soul magnifies the Lord, the most beautiful and theologically rich prayer to come from human lips since the Psalms. In this canticle Mary praises God for what He has done for her in her lowliness, and she looks forward with prophetic joy to what He will do for all humanity through the child she carries. The Magnificat is the Church's evening canticle, sung or recited every day at Vespers, the Church's evening prayer, and thus Mary's voice is heard in the prayer of the Church at the close of every single day.
Mary remained with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned to Nazareth. The feast of the Visitation was established in the Western Church and celebrated on July 2nd in the traditional Roman Calendar. In the revised calendar it is observed on May 31st, at the end of the month of Mary. Both dates invite the faithful to contemplate Mary's charity, humility, and joy, and to learn from her how to carry Christ to others.