This is a fairly late feast, going back only to the 13th or 14th century. It was established widely throughout the Church to pray for unity. The present date of celebration was set in 1969 in order to follow the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25) and precede the Nativity of John the Baptist (June 24).
Like most feasts of Mary, it is closely connected with Jesus and his saving work. The more visible actors in the visitation drama (see Luke 1:39-45) are Mary and Elizabeth. However, Jesus and John the Baptist steal the scene in a hidden way. Jesus makes John leap with joy—the joy of messianic salvation. Elizabeth, in turn, is filled with the Holy Spirit and addresses words of praise to Mary—words that echo down through the ages.
It is helpful to recall that we do not have a journalist’s account of this meeting. Rather, Luke, speaking for the Church, gives a prayerful poet’s rendition of the scene. Elizabeth’s praise of Mary as “the mother of my Lord” can be viewed as the earliest Church’s devotion to Mary. As with all authentic devotion to Mary, Elizabeth’s (the Church’s) words first praise God for what God has done to Mary. Only secondly does she praise Mary for trusting God’s words.
Then comes the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Here Mary herself (like the Church) traces all her greatness to God.
Comment:
One of the invocations in Mary’s litany is “Ark of the Covenant.” Like the Ark of the Covenant of old, Mary brings God’s presence into the lives of other people. As David danced before the Ark, John the Baptist leaps for joy. As the Ark helped to unite the 12 tribes of Israel by being placed in David’s capital, so Mary has the power to unite all Christians in her Son. At times, devotion to Mary may have occasioned some divisiveness, but we can hope that authentic devotion will lead all to Christ and therefore to one another.
Quote:
“Moved by charity, therefore, Mary goes to the house of her kinswoman.... While every word of Elizabeth’s is filled with meaning, her final words would seem to have a fundamental importance: ‘And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her from the Lord’ (Luke 1:45). These words can be linked with the title ‘full of grace’ of the angel’s greeting. Both of these texts reveal an essential Mariological content, namely the truth about Mary, who has become really present in the mystery of Christ precisely because she ‘has believed.’ The fullness of grace announced by the angel means the gift of God himself. Mary’s faith, proclaimed by Elizabeth at the visitation, indicates how the Virgin of Nazareth responded to this gift” (Pope John Paul II, The Mother of the Redeemer, 12).
Showing posts with label Visitation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Visitation. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
May 31,The Visitation: A pro-life feast day
The Visitation relates how the unborn John the Baptist was the first to recognize the Savior in utero
OSV Newsweekly by Greg Erlandson
The feast of the Visitation, which we are about to celebrate May 31, has been one of the great Catholic feasts for the last 800 years. I think it should become a great Catholic pro-life feast as well.
One might ask why Catholics need a pro-life feast day. In this country, the pro-life movement marks its calendar every Jan. 22, the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision known as Roe v. Wade, which led to abortion-on-demand.
While the pro-life movement preceded that ruling — with abortion legal in New York and California — it was that court decision that gave it real momentum. What looked like the definitive triumph of those who wanted to legalize abortion instead spawned one of the great social-justice movements of the last 50 years.
Now that may sound like an exaggerated claim, but one must remember that this movement sprang up with almost no institutional support of any kind save from the Catholic Church. Today, a majority of Americans — including young people — tell pollsters they consider themselves “pro-life.”
Politically, we have made significant incremental progress. While the body count of aborted children still tallies in the millions annually, successes have been significant, and a cultural tide is slowly shifting. It has been a strength of the pro-life movement that it has sought to be prayerful in its presence and consistent in its actions. Quiet, prayerful witness has a tremendous power, as Abby Johnson, an ex-abortion clinic operator who converted, has described in her book “Unplanned.” There is much outreach to mothers-to-be in need of support, such as the Women’s Care Centers that began in South Bend, Ind. There are also long-standing efforts to help women who have to live with the guilt of their own abortions, such as Project Rachel.
Much of this success also comes from the fact that extremism, by and large, has been avoided. This is not to say that extremism is not a constant temptation. Purists who will brook no compromise — who consign all those who disagree with them to hell, or who seek to conjoin opposition to abortion with partisan political agendas like opposition to immigration — do more damage these days than the weak counterthrusts of abortion supporters.
Which is why a spiritual feast day could be so potent. Here in Huntington, Ind., parish priests and Secular Franciscans, including one of our own editors here at Our Sunday Visitor, have been waging a campaign to make the feast of the Visitation a pro-life feast day, citing Luke 1:44, with the babe leaping in Elizabeth’s womb at the approach of the pregnant Mary. The unborn John was the first person to recognize the Savior.
What makes this feast so attractive is that it focuses on women, the mothers-to-be. In the iconic embrace of Mary and Elizabeth, expectant mothers reaching out in mutual assistance, we are reminded that there are always two lives, two souls at stake: mother and child.
The Visitation is also the occasion for Mary’s great prayer, the Magnificat. This prayer is treasured by a wide variety of Catholics because it is an eloquent articulation of the Catholic belief in the dignity of all people and the Gospel injunction to help the weakest among us, uniting the pro-life and social-justice wings of our sometimes divided Church.
This May 31, pray for all women who are struggling with pregnancies. Pray that God gives them strength to protect the life they bear in their wombs. And while you are at it, make a donation to an aid organization that provides assistance to unwed mothers.
The feast of the Visitation, which we are about to celebrate May 31, has been one of the great Catholic feasts for the last 800 years. I think it should become a great Catholic pro-life feast as well.
One might ask why Catholics need a pro-life feast day. In this country, the pro-life movement marks its calendar every Jan. 22, the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision known as Roe v. Wade, which led to abortion-on-demand.While the pro-life movement preceded that ruling — with abortion legal in New York and California — it was that court decision that gave it real momentum. What looked like the definitive triumph of those who wanted to legalize abortion instead spawned one of the great social-justice movements of the last 50 years.
Now that may sound like an exaggerated claim, but one must remember that this movement sprang up with almost no institutional support of any kind save from the Catholic Church. Today, a majority of Americans — including young people — tell pollsters they consider themselves “pro-life.”
Politically, we have made significant incremental progress. While the body count of aborted children still tallies in the millions annually, successes have been significant, and a cultural tide is slowly shifting. It has been a strength of the pro-life movement that it has sought to be prayerful in its presence and consistent in its actions. Quiet, prayerful witness has a tremendous power, as Abby Johnson, an ex-abortion clinic operator who converted, has described in her book “Unplanned.” There is much outreach to mothers-to-be in need of support, such as the Women’s Care Centers that began in South Bend, Ind. There are also long-standing efforts to help women who have to live with the guilt of their own abortions, such as Project Rachel.
Much of this success also comes from the fact that extremism, by and large, has been avoided. This is not to say that extremism is not a constant temptation. Purists who will brook no compromise — who consign all those who disagree with them to hell, or who seek to conjoin opposition to abortion with partisan political agendas like opposition to immigration — do more damage these days than the weak counterthrusts of abortion supporters.
Which is why a spiritual feast day could be so potent. Here in Huntington, Ind., parish priests and Secular Franciscans, including one of our own editors here at Our Sunday Visitor, have been waging a campaign to make the feast of the Visitation a pro-life feast day, citing Luke 1:44, with the babe leaping in Elizabeth’s womb at the approach of the pregnant Mary. The unborn John was the first person to recognize the Savior.
What makes this feast so attractive is that it focuses on women, the mothers-to-be. In the iconic embrace of Mary and Elizabeth, expectant mothers reaching out in mutual assistance, we are reminded that there are always two lives, two souls at stake: mother and child.
The Visitation is also the occasion for Mary’s great prayer, the Magnificat. This prayer is treasured by a wide variety of Catholics because it is an eloquent articulation of the Catholic belief in the dignity of all people and the Gospel injunction to help the weakest among us, uniting the pro-life and social-justice wings of our sometimes divided Church.
This May 31, pray for all women who are struggling with pregnancies. Pray that God gives them strength to protect the life they bear in their wombs. And while you are at it, make a donation to an aid organization that provides assistance to unwed mothers.
Greg Erlandson is OSV president and publisher.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Bringing Life to Others
By Joyce Rupp
Created Aug 13, 2010
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. Luke 1:39-40
We know the story well. Young Mary, pregnant with Jesus, hastened over the Judean hills and valleys to be with Elizabeth, pregnant in her old age. Mary had a good excuse not to go on the journey: her own health and preparations for birth. But she risked the road. She took the time. She spent the energy. All of Mary’s life was guided by the Spirit of God. Mary knew Elizabeth needed her, and so she went.
Mary’s Assumption, a triumph over death, celebrates a woman who lived her life bringing goodness to others. Mary is a wonderful model of faith for us. In our world of hurry and worry, we can very legitimately have plenty to do just to care for ourselves and our families. But there are Elizabeth’s everywhere who need our visits. What a difference a phone call, a letter, a “stopping by” can make to a lonely, ill or aged person. What joy we can bring to children by paying full attention to them. What happiness we offer friends and colleagues when we affirm their successes and celebrations. We need only to look and we will easily find an Elizabeth today.
Mary, delight of God’s heart,
may the joy your visit brought to Elizabeth
be the joy that my presence brings
to those whom I take time to “visit” today.
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