The Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary commemorates her visit to her cousin, Elizabeth. The meeting of these two women was a joyful and unique event. Both found themselves pregnant in unusual circumstances – Elizabeth in her old age after suffering from infertility, and Mary by the Holy Spirit.

At their meeting, John the Baptist leaped in the womb of Elizabeth, and she blessed Mary and the Child Jesus in her womb. Mary, in turn, responded with the famous Magnificat, praising the Lord. This visit is detailed in Luke 1:39- 55.

For Mary, the trip would have been especially gruelling: She travelled to a town 80 miles away from home, likely on a donkey, without the comfort of paved roads, air conditioning, or shock absorbers.

Why did she do it? Well, think about what had happened: the angel told her that she was going to be pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. She had also learnt that her cousin Elizabeth, believed to be too old to conceive, was expecting as well. Mary must have been bursting to talk to a woman who could personally understand her excitement, her wonder, and probably her nervousness, too.

Mary’s trip also demonstrates the call of the community. Sometimes, our physical presence is the best gift that we can give to another person. Remember, too, that Mary was carrying Christ inside her, which gave another layer of meaning to her decision to offer support to her cousin. Pope John Paul II acknowledged this in a 1997 homily when he reflected on the Visitation and said, “In this act of human solidarity, Mary demonstrated that authentic charity which grows within us when Christ is present.”

As Pope Benedict XVI said, this feast day is a day to recognize Mary’s humility and willingness to be used by God, and strive to imitate it in our own lives: “Going beyond the surface, Mary “sees” the work of God in history with the eyes of faith… Her Magnificat, at the distance of centuries and millennia, remains the truest and most profound interpretation of history, while the interpretations of so many of this world’s wise have been belied by events in the course of the centuries…
Let us bring the same sentiments of praise and thanksgiving of Mary to the Lord, her faith and her hope, her docile abandonment in the hands of Divine Providence. May we imitate her example of readiness and generosity in the service of our brethren. Indeed, only by accepting God’s love and making of our existence a selfless and generous service to our neighbour, can we joyfully lift a song of praise to the Lord.”

Ultimately, the Visitation reminds us that no one is an island. We all live and thrive in relation to others. Sometimes we give in these encounters, and sometimes we receive. And often, as in the Visitation, it’s a beautiful combination of the two.

Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Camilla Battista Varano
2. Saint Petronilla of Rome
3. Saint Mechtildis of Edelstetten
4. Saint Felice of Nicosia
5. Saint Nowa Mawaggali

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