The Book of the Holy Rosary: Part I, Chapter IV. The Visitation of St Elizabeth
THE HOLY SCRIPTURE NARRATIVE. “And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: and she cried out with aloud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord” (Luke i. 39–45).
“The highest in rank,” writes Origen, “come to those lower than themselves, that by their coming they may impart some blessing to them. Thus Jesus came to John that He might sanctify John’s baptism. And no sooner had Mary heard the words of the angel announcing to her that she had been chosen to be the mother of the long-expected Messias, and that her kinswoman Elizabeth also was with child, than she rose up and went with haste into the hill country, and entering into the house of Zacharias, saluted Elizabeth. Jesus, who was in her womb, hastens to sanctify John, who was in like manner in his mother’s womb. Before Mary came and saluted Elizabeth the babe had shown no signs of joy, but no sooner had Mary spoken than the babe leaped for joy, and then for the first time, Jesus made John His forerunner” (Origen, Homily on St Luke i.)
Thus it was the tie of family affection, and the charity of Mary, which prompted this speedy visit to her kinswoman. But God in it had His own designs also which were to be duly accomplished. “No man lighteth a candle,” says our Lord, “and hideth it, or putteth it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that all who enter may see the light” (Luke xi. 33); and as it had now pleased the Eternal Wisdom to make Mary the vessel of election bearing the Light of the whole world, it became an appropriate part of the divine counsels both that fitting witnesses should be found to bear their testimony to the marvellous wonder that was accomplished in Mary, and that an occasion should be placed in Mary’s way to utter her own solemn testimony and acknowledgment of the great things which God had done for her, for the comfort and confirmation of the faith of the countless generations yet unborn, who were to participate in the salvation of which she was the bearer.
The witnesses, it must be observed, have here no ordinary event to attest. “God would not,” writes the Patriarch of Nicomedia, “confide to His angels the business of human salvation, but He condescended in His mercy to lower Himself to our degraded condition. He was not satisfied with merely repairing, but He would Himself assume our nature, and place it on the throne given to Him by the Father. How shall I worthily reflect on this unspeakable goodness of the Godhead—this intensity of the divine love for the race of man? With what kind of praises shall I endeavour to celebrate His abasement of Himself to our infirmities? How shall I find words wherewith to extol the Holy Virgin, through whom these things have come to pass—the Virgin, I say, by whom our ruin has been repaired? Where can brightness be found equal to the purity of her in whom, captivated by her love, her own Creator built for Himself a tabernacle in which He abhorred not to dwell, in which the counsels of the Eternal Father have been accomplished, and in which the Holy Ghost hath found a resting-place? What glory is there that may compare with the excellence of her whom her Creator hath exalted high above all other beings, Himself alone excepted? O priceless gift! O treasure of inestimable value! O thou among countless beautiful things the most surpassingly beautiful! O Mother of God! Oh! of all lovely things the loveliest! Through thee the banished race of man returns to its lost post of honour. Through thee we have regained the undying pleasures of Paradise. Through thee the flaming sword that turned on all sides is withdrawn, and the barred doors that stopped our way to true joys have been thrown open. Through thee the longings of the prophets have been satisfied, and their testimony hath in thee received its fulfilment. Through thee we have gained the tokens of our future resurrection, and through thee we have received our hope of one day obtaining the kingdom of heaven. In thee we have the patroness of our salvation, and the advocate of our cause; and in thee we make a boast of our boldness and confidence” (Sermon on the Presentation in the Temple).
Such was Mary now become, in virtue of her words, “Behold the handmaiden of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word;” but the mystery as yet is known to no one beside herself on the entire earth, although the whole world has in due time to be brought to the knowledge of it, and to glorify God for the salvation which He has sent. Though, therefore, nothing can stay the completion of the counsels of the Almighty, all events must, notwithstanding, move towards their accomplishment in the order that He has prescribed. In the same manner, then, as it has been the divine will, that the whole world should know the resurrection of Jesus from the dead in no other way than from the testimony of His apostles and other witnesses chosen for this end, so it is likewise here from the witnesses whom God has chosen that we first learn to know what great things are accomplished in Mary, and to read a just lesson to human pride; these first witnesses are an elderly female and an unborn babe.
“Mary, then,” to cite the words of St Bernard, “enters the house of Zacharias and salutes Elizabeth, and immediately the singular glory of the Blessed Virgin is revealed to Elizabeth by the Holy Ghost. Elizabeth cries out with a loud voice—“Blessed art thou among women, and BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF THY WOMB!” She is lost in wonder at the person of her visitor, and says: “Whence is it that THE MOTHER OF MY LORD SHOULD COME TO ME?” Then she praises the voice of her visitor, and declares the wonder that has been effected by its very sound. “It CAME TO PASS THAT AS THE VOICE OF THY SALUTATION SOUNDED IN MINE EARS, THE INFANT IN MY WOMB LEAPED FOR JOY.” Then she congratulates with her on her promptitude in believing, saying—“Blessed art thou that hast believed, BECAUSE THOSE THINGS SHALL BE ACCOMPLISHED WHICH WERE SPOKEN TO THEE by the Lord” (Sermon on the Twelve Prerogatives of Mary).
St Elizabeth’s testimony has by no means been given in vain, for it is now re-echoed over the world by the millions of every clime and language who ceaselessly repeat the words—“Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!” But the first to bear testimony to the mystery accomplished in Mary was the unborn babe—the future prophet, whom Jesus, at Mary’s approach, now sanctifies in his mother’s womb.
“Tell us, O John,” writes St Chrysostom, “when thou wast hidden in the womb, how earnest thou to see and hear? How couldest thou contemplate the things divine? How couldest thou exult? That which is come to pass is a great mystery, and far exceeds human comprehension. It is fitting that I should outstep the power of nature on account of Him who, Himself above nature, is about to renovate all things. True though it be that I am enclosed in the womb, I can still see the Sun of Justice borne in the womb. I hear, for I am about to be born as the Voice proclaiming the presence of the Eternal Word. I cry out, for I behold the Only-begotten of the Father clothed in flesh. I rejoice in spirit, for I see the Maker of the universe assume the form of man. I leap for joy, for I have present to my mind the Redeemer of the world in a body of flesh and blood. I, as it were, run before you to greet His coming, and am the first to give Him glory.”
And next, Mary herself completes the chain of testimony by her own solemn thanksgiving. “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me; and holy is His name. And His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him. He hath showed might in His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever” (Luke i. 46–55).
Thus all is accomplished according to the inspired rule of the law of Moses: “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established” (Deut. xix. 15). The unborn prophet, the venerable and aged Elizabeth, and Mary herself, bear their testimony. And Zacharias the priest, where is he? He is not admitted to give testimony. He had shown a disposition to doubt the announcement made by the holy Archangel Gabriel to himself, and he is in consequence become speechless, and can give no testimony until the words of the angel which he hesitated to believe, shall have received their full accomplishment. Then indeed his lips will be loosed, and he will join in the testimony in words which all generations to the end of the world will ceaselessly repeat, but at present his lips are sealed. Oh! blessed prerogative of faith, which endows men with the “wisdom that hath opened the mouth of the dumb, and given eloquence of the tongues of babes.” (Wisd. x. 21).