The Visitation between Mary and Elizabeth is one of my favorite stories of the Bible. I’m not sure why I am drawn to it…if it’s the idea that Mary, after finding out she will be the Mother of God, forgets herself to go care for her cousin, or if it’s this idea of Mary bringing Jesus to Elizabeth knowing she is experiencing her own miracle of carrying life in her old age, or if it’s John the Baptist leaping in Elizabeth’s womb at the arrival of Jesus within Mary or maybe simply, this love between two cousins who want to acknowledge one another and care for each other. I think it’s all of these things tied up together. I love the story. I also love that the Hail Mary prayer comes from encounters: one with an angel, another, this beautiful moment between two women, and last our own encounter with Mary and Jesus.
Not too long ago I was reflecting on the repetition of the rosary…I was thinking about when kids comment on saying the Hail Mary prayer over and over how I might explain to them the benefit of praying this prayer over and over. And the Visitation came to mind. It is both a mystery of the Joyful mysteries of the rosary but also how we get the Hail Mary prayer—taken from the words of Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary:
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. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:41-43)
A sweet moment between cousins, Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cries out. Imagine that moment of joy where Elizabeth is so overcome with the Holy Spirit, she is crying out blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! Imagine if that was how we prayed the Hail Mary. Elizabeth’s greeting comes out of this deep longing and waiting for the Messiah. If only I could pray every Hail Mary like that! If only I could remember how our Lady is always wanting to come to us to carry Jesus into our lives.
So here we are praying the rosary, reliving this moment where Mary and Elizabeth are simply humbled by God’s gifts to them—by God’s very presence with them in that moment…Mary, in her humility, travels to her cousin, regardless of the fact she was just informed she is the mother of God…and Elizabeth greets her with humbleness singing out who is she that the mother of God come to her and serve her.
And so in the second half of the Hail Mary, I recognize my own opportunity to experience this visitation of Mary… I join with Elizabeth, acknowledging Mary’s special place as holy and Mother of God and ask, in humility, that she might also come to “visit” me through prayer, praying for me today and at the hour of my death.
As we pray we must remember Mary’s response in each encounter. To the Archangel Gabriel, she responds with her fiat. To her cousin, Elizabeth, she responds with her beautiful Magnificat, so I believe as we ask her to pray for us, she is responding in the most beautiful and grace-filled ways which will truly bless us. I invite you to take a moment and think of how she might respond after you have united these three encounters in one prayer.
Further, we pray this prayer over and over throughout all of the mysteries because that is what we seek–Mary, bring me Jesus through this mystery, through these events of Jesus’ life, so that I might understand whatever God wants to teach me. I want to know Him better. Pray for me to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him. We pray these ten Hail Mary prayers only after we’ve said the Our Father and ending with the Glory Be. The Our Father is THE prayer that Jesus taught us—we want to praise, love and serve the Father perfectly. We then ask Mary over and over for her help to do just that by praying for us, and we end with proclaiming all glory to the Trinity. We do this FIVE times! It is no wonder the rosary is considered such a powerful prayer in changing hearts and drawing us ever closer to Jesus.
I am so grateful for the Holy Spirit helping me draw the connection of experiencing my own visitation with Mary through the words of Elizabeth in the first Visitation so that I might look for the hidden ways Jesus is coming to me through praying the rosary.
Our Lady of the Visitation, pray for us.
Leave a Reply