Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
I don’t recall previously knowing that my grandmother’s birthday is on the Feast of the Visitation, although there’s a good chance I did know it when younger and forgot. Now that I’m older and reflecting more on family and faith, especially those who “have gone before us,” this seems important to me. My mother’s mother whose middle name was Elizabeth and named her youngest daughter (my mother) Elizabeth, who gave her middle daughter (that’s me) the middle name of Mary, who gave her (my) only daughter the middle name of Elizabeth. This feast of the visitation of Mary to her kinswoman Elizabeth has a greater significance for me in this year of my mom’s passing.
What a gift that the Gospel of Luke (1:39-56) gives us, this encounter of two holy women pregnant with new life, neither expecting their pregnancies (Elizabeth thought barren in her old age, and Mary, a virgin). Sharing their joy and faith and encouraging each other. The old and the young with a shared experience. Not yet knowing the struggles that lie ahead yet trusting in God and supporting one another in love.
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, ‘Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb….Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.’” And what follows in this passage is Mary’s response – the beautiful hymn of praise, the Magnificat, also known as The Canticle of Mary, which has been set to music by many composers (including our own dear pastor, Fr. Satish Joseph).
Let us pray today for the same openness to the Spirit as these two remarkable women of faith, Saints Mary and Elizabeth, pregnant with new life and supportive of each other. May we offer a similar gift of “visitation” and encouragement to those we encounter this week. Perhaps we’ll be surprised by joy.
—Eileen Miller