Thursday 31 May concluded with the Marian feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth. Many fruitful lessons can be drawn from this happy occasion which Catholic piety promotes in the 2nd Joyful Mystery of the Rosary.
A quote which made me appreciate the deep significance of Mary’s visit is the following: “When angels visit us, we do not hear the rustle of wings, nor feel the feathery touch of the breast of a dove; but we know their presence by the love they create in our hearts.” Mary’s visit to her kinswoman Elizabeth bears all the latter characteristics.
It is a visit which brings to light Mary’s hidden virtue of availability. To God’s mysterious design of redemption Mary simply replied: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1, 38). When I visit someone do I visit him/her with an open heart to serve him/her genuinely?
As the first tabernacle, Mary was generous enough to go in haste to share the ‘Gift’ she was carrying inside her with others. She travelled some 80 kilometres, travelling uphill to Ain Karim to visit her cousin Elizabeth who greatly needed her help. In Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI said that “the more ardent the love for the Eucharist in the hearts of the Christian people, the more clearly will they recognise the goal of all mission: To bring Christ to others” (§ 86). Do I bring the living Christ to the people I meet thanks to the way I behave with them?
The American journalist and critic of American life and culture, Henry Louis Mencken, wrote: “Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends.” Upon hearing that her kinswoman Elizabeth was in her sixth month of her pregnancy (see Luke 1, 36), “Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth” (Luke 1, 39-40). The phrase “with haste” overtly shows that Mary’s visit to her relative was done out of total solidarity with her. She could not wait to serve Elizabeth’s needs. Do I rapidly respond to other people’s needs during my visits? Do I keep in mind that I am God’s compassionate representative in the sense that I do not give in to what people want but rather serving them in what they truly need?
Mary’s visit to Elizabeth is deeply marked by joy. In the living tabernacle’s presence both her cousin and baby John are captivated by joy. Elizabeth confessed: “For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1, 44). And Mary wisely recognised that joy is to be returned by joy! Thus, she grabs the opportunity to magnify the Lord, the eternal source of her everlasting joy! “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour” (Luke 1, 46-47). In my visits to others am I humble enough of letting God’s joy penetrate my heart and, consequently, those of others to experience my joy?
Finally, Mary’s visit is a wonderful testimony of the preciousness of human life, since its conception. Jesus told us that he came so that we may have life and have it abundantly (see John 10, 10). When opportunity calls for, am I an ardent defender of the unborn child? Do I ruminate on Blessed John Paul II’s words that “to be actively pro-life is to contribute to the renewal of society through the promotion of the common good?” Done with Mary’s spirit, can a visit ever fail from being sacred?
■ Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap