Meditate on the Mystery of the Visitation in the Prayer of the Rosary
The visit of Mary, pregnant, to her cousin Elisabeth, herself pregnant with John the Baptist, is recounted in the first chapter of the Gospel according to Luke (Luke 1:39-56). This beautiful passage, from which the beautiful prayer of the Magnificat is drawn, is the second of the 5 joyful mysteries of the rosary. Meditation on it opens us to receive grace.
What is the Mystery of the Visitation?
Mary's visitation to Elizabeth in the Bible, Luke 1:39-56
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Mary’s Song
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
When and how to meditate on the mystery of the visitation in the prayer of the rosary?
The visit of Mary to her cousin Elisabeth is the second of the 5 joyful mysteries. This series of mysteries begins the prayer of the Rosary and brings together the events surrounding the birth of Jesus and his early years. In addition to the visitation, the joyful mysteries include the annunciation by the angel Gabriel, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the presentation of Jesus in the Temple and his Finding in the Temple after his disappearance.
These mysteries are the subject of an entire rosary traditionally recited on Monday and Saturday. We can especially pray and meditate on it on the day of the feast of the visitation, celebrated on May 31 among Catholics and March 30 among the Orthodox.
The spiritual fruits associated with prayer and meditation of the mystery of visitation are:
- fraternal charity, illustrated by Mary's visit to her older and more advanced cousin in her pregnancy
- as well as praise with the beautiful words of Mary who gave us the prayer of magnificat
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Meditations and Quotes on the Mystery of Visitation
Let yourself be touched
God visits us in the womb of a woman, touching the womb of another woman through a song of blessing and praise, with a song of joy. The evangelical scene carries within itself all the dynamism of God's visit: when God comes to meet us, He touches our wombs, He sets in motion who we are, to the point of transforming our entire life into praise and blessing. When God visits us, He leaves us restless, with the healthy concern of those who feel invited to announce that He lives and that He is in the midst of His people. This is what we see in Mary, the first disciple and missionary, the new ark of the covenant who, far from remaining in a reserved place in our temples, goes out to visit accompanies by her presence the birth of John. (Pope Francis)
An interiority that opens up to others
"It seems to me that the attitude of the Virgin, during the months that elapsed between the Annunciation and the Nativity, is the model of interior souls, beings that God chose to live "within," at the bottom of the bottomless abyss. In what peace, in what recollection, Mary surrendered and lent herself to all things! As those who were the most banal were deified by her because throughout everything, the Virgin remained the adorer of the gift of God! This did not prevent him from spending himself outside when it came to exercising charity. The Gospel tells us that Mary hastily traveled to the mountains of Judea to go to her cousin Elisabeth (Luke 1:39).” (Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity)
Exalting the Lord …
“My soul magnifies - that is, exalts - the Lord. Exalting God means giving him a place in the world, in our own life, letting him enter into our time and in our action: this is the deepest essence of true prayer. Where God becomes great, man does not become small: there, man also becomes great and the world bright. When the Virgin Mary gives thanks to the Lord, she calls us to witness. Mary shares, as if in anticipation, with her future children that we are, the joy that inhabits her heart, so that it becomes ours. Each recitation of the Magnificat makes us witnesses of his smile. We must not only carry Christ in our heart, but we must carry Him to the world, so that we can also beget Christ for our time.”
(Benedict XVI)
... and bring Christ to the world
"What the Virgin will do in her Visitation is not a visit to her cousin to console each other with the story of the wonders of God in them. It is even less a material charity visit to help her cousin in the last months of her pregnancy and in her diapers. It's much more than that. Mary leaves to sanctify Saint John, to announce the Good News to him, to evangelize and sanctify him, not by his words, but by bringing Jesus in silence, to him, in the middle of his home. So do the religious who are dedicated to contemplation.”." (Saint Charles de Foucauld)
Meditate on the different mysteries of the rosary with Hozana and Rosario
To accompany you in the recitation of the rosary and the meditation of its mysteries, Hozana offers different communities of prayers around the rosary:
- every Monday, find the podcast offered by the pontifical missionary works to support you in the daily prayer of the rosary
- discover everything you want to know about the prayer of the rosary with this online training course, accessible to all!
You can also practice the rosary live with Rosario, the application developed by Hozana: discover this principle initiated by Pauline Jaricot by downloading the application for free.
