The Visitation - Meditation

2nd Joyful Mystery - The visitation of Mary to Saint Elizabeth

Just found this on the Internet and had to use it somewhere.

 St Ambrose (a fourth century bishop of Milan) described the meeting between Mary and her cousin: “Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice, but John the first to experience grace; whereas the natural sound of words rang in his mother’s ears, John rejoiced in the mystery of what they meant. Elizabeth felt Mary’s presence at her side; John, the closeness of the Lord. Elizabeth hears her cousin’s greeting; John felt the presence of her Son. The two women spoke of grace, but their two sons experienced grace and communicated that gift to their mothers in such a way that, in a double miracle, both women began to prophesy, inspired by their sons.” (Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam).

Meditating on this Mystery, one has to go back to the time Mary was growing up in Israel, as I mentioned in the meditation on The Annunciation. The whole nation was in  expectation of the imminent birth of the Promised Messiah. Every Jewish maiden of the line of David would have been wondering and hoping that she was "The One" to be the mother.

Now, here is Mary, newly aware that She has the Christ Child in her womb, travelling several days journey to be of assistance to her elder kinswoman. Israel, at that time was a country occupied by the Romans. Although the Pax Romana would have given a certain amount of Law and Order, I imagine there would have been pockets of rebels living no better than brigands, at large in the countryside. So it was hardly a small undertaking. Joseph would have made the arrangements and either accompanied Her, or found a large group of travellers for Her to join.

As St Ambrose notes above, Mary was greeted both by Elizabeth and the "child of her womb." 

Some time ago I remember reading where some "scholar" had decided that the Magnificat had to have been added at a later time as it was unlikely that a simple, unlettered Jewish girl could have come up with something so "scriptural". Without judging this particular scholar, I have seen and heard people who, puffed up by their own self-importance, are not only unwilling to listen to a differing point of view, but even get annoyed at anything they regard a contradiction. "I'm right, you're wrong. End of discussion."

To me, this is flawed reasoning. Some of these scholarly theologians drive me nuts, to put it mildly. People couldn't have been better educated at a younger age back in those days, especially girls, and they couldn't possibly have understood complex theological matters.  Well, DUH!!! 

Is it so hard to believe that children were not so different back 2000 years ago? Is it so hard to believe that a little girl, who was "Full of Grace" preserved from original sin, just might have had a superior understanding. After all, the dulling of the intellect is one of the effects of Original Sin. Without that effect, Mary would have been able to understand the things of God better than others Her age, then or now.

I can easily see the child Mary, sitting quietly in the synagogue, listening to those who read the Scriptures and taught what they meant. Before the invention of the printing press, people used to have deep theological and philosophical discussions in the evenings after work, and the children of the household would sit quietly and listen to the adults speaking. I remember this from my own childhood before a TV at the age of 12 brought these evenings to an end.

So, when I read the Magnificat, I have no trouble hearing the words coming from Mary's heart, through Her lips. Like Her ancestor David, I believe She was a "woman after God's own Heart."

The household Mary journeyed to must have been a troubled one. Elizabeth and Zachery were "both were well advanced in years" when God ended their childlessness. Zachery had been struck dumb and Elizabeth had hidden herself away for five months. In my work as a crisis pregnancy counsellor I have talked with young women who managed to conceal their pregnancy from others (specifically their parents) well into their third trimester, so they couldn't be pressured into having an abortion.

Poor Elizabeth had spent her entire married life pitied and gossiped about because she had not given birth, a big thing back then. Given human nature, there would have been some who said hurtful things to her face, wondering what hidden sins had caused God to stop her womb, so to speak. Barrenness was regarded as a curse in those days. So I can quite understand her desire to avoid people talking about her miraculous conception, especially as they would be already saying more than they should about why God had stricken her husband dumb while he was undertaking his priestly duty. I can imagine the gossips having a field day over that!

What a joy it must have been when Mary arrived. A beautiful, cheerful, holy young maiden, full of God's Grace, bringing light and joy into that household. Like a beloved daughter to them. I can see Her helping out with the household chores, in the garden, at the loom. Cooking, sewing and talking about the wonder of what had happened. When Elizabeth greeted Mary as the mother of the Saviour, it freed Mary to speak about what was in Her heart at last, as she couldn't to Joseph. What a consolation they must have been to each other.

When John was born three months later, the neighbours and kinsfolk would have pushed their way in and taken over. After all, Mary was only a young girl, and surely what Elizabeth now needed was the assistance of older, more experienced women. For Mary, it was time to return to Joseph and Her pending nuptials. I imagine there was a heart-rending farewell between the three of them, but Elizabeth and Zachary would have understood that the time for parting had come.

The Return to Nazareth
This could almost be a separate Mystery. Mary's return to Her home, Joseph becoming aware of the pregnancy, and his reaction. Followed by the revelation of the angel.

What I get most from this is Mary's quiet acceptance of God's Will and Her silence when almost anybody would have spoken up to declare their innocence.

As I said before, Mary's understanding was vastly superior to other people's and She could not have been ignorant of Joseph's suspicions. Despite that, She kept Her silence even though Her tender heart must have agonised over the hurt and confusion Joseph must have been experiencing. Such a loving person could only have kept silence because She knew it to be God's Will. There it is again: "Not my will, but Thine be done."