Mary in the Gospel of Luke: Part I: The Visitation

The Visitation: Lk 1:39-56

“A nd the angel departed from her”. 

Thus Luke closes the first “Marian” narrative, the Annunciation. With the departure of Gabriel, Mary, pregnant with the God-Man is alone on the stage as the curtain falls.

The second scene of this divinely inspired play now unfolds. It will respond to the questions raised by the Annunciation. What happens to Mary? And what of Elizabeth, her kinswoman who in her old age is now with child? The Visitation narrative, 1:39-56, which follows directly on the Annunciation, beautifully describes the last event before the birth of John the Baptizer and the birth of Jesus.

The Visitation is divided into two parts: the Visitation proper with the greetings of Mary and Elizabeth (1:39-45), and the Magnificat hymn sung by Mary on this occasion (1:46-55).  The scene closes with the statement that Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then left for home (1:56).

I: The Visitation Proper

The greetings of Mary and Elizabeth to each other – the Visitation proper – can be divided into three parts: the journey of Mary to visit her kinswoman, Elizabeth; the greeting of Mary and Elizabeth, and finally, the twofold beatitude pronounced over Mary by Elizabeth as she in turn greets Mary.  The first two parts will be the subject of this article.

1. The journey Mary to her kinswoman, Elizabeth – Scripture narrates; “In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth”. 

Luke connects the Annunciation to the Visitation by saying Mary went to see Elizabeth “in those days”.  Gabriel had already told Mary that Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy.   The rather artificial connective “in those days”  could also be translated “about the same time . . . “,  indicating that the Visitation occurred during Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Or better still, immediately after Mary had been visited by the angel. Although a strange phrase in English, “arose and went” signifies nothing more than the fact that Mary began her journey.

A journey to where? Evidently to the “house of Zechariah“.  Luke gives no further information on where Zechariah  lived than his few words, “into the hill country, to a city of Judah”.   Exactly what territory Luke wanted to indicate, precisely what town, is a disputed point which cannot be resolved with certainty.  For many centuries, pilgrims to the Holy Land identified the village of Ain Karim, about five miles west of Jerusalem, as the site of the Visitation. In that hypothesis, Mary’s journey would have been a long and tiring one from the hill country of Galilee, over the plain of Esdraclon, through the mountains of Samaria and into the hill country of Judaea.  Such a trip would not be made alone by a young pregnant girl; she would have joined in with a caravan  going south to the capital, Jerusalem.

Luke tells us that Mary made this journey “with haste“, which could also mean “with eagerness“.  She needed only the hint that God wanted her to visit Elizabeth;  the words of Gabriel revealing to her that Elizabeth had conceived in her old age and was already in her sixth month. For Our Lady, telling her that her elderly relative was advanced in her pregnancy, was more than sufficient. Mary was eager to visit her and be of assistance.

The sacred author details nothing about the journey for that was not his purpose. Luke has no interest in how she travels there, but in the visit of Mary to Elizabeth.  The core of his account at the visitation deals with the mutual greetings between the young woman and her elderly relative.

2. The greeting of Mary to Elizabeth – the inspired narrative describes Mary as greeting Elizabeth. No words are given, no actions indicated. Simply, “she greeted Elizabeth”.

However, the Lucan pageant does portray that the salutation of Mary was powerful indeed, for “when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb”.  The encounter then is not only of Mary with Elizabeth; it is of Jesus living in Mary, with John in Elizabeth’s womb.  The leaping of the future Baptizer is indicative of the great joy (v. 44) that the universe experiences at the incarnation of its savior, perhaps echoing the joyful dancing of David before the Ark of the Covenant (2 Sam 6:16).

Mary, the dwelling place of God, the New Testament Ark of the Covenant, is on her first journey carrying the Lord of Hosts. Jesus performs his first miracle, this first conquest of redemption he brings good news to John.  And all at the sound of Mary’s voice. Her voice becomes the echo of God (TD 225), the means by which the Lord’s grace is showered on the future precursor. Saint Louis de Montfort, along with many authors, sees in this leaping by John a sign of his sanctification (MR 8). The saint writes; “It was by her word that he (Jesus) sanctified St. John the Baptist in the womb of his mother, St. Elizabeth;  no sooner had Mary spoken than John was sanctified. This was his first and greatest miracle of grace”.  (TD 19).

Before continuing the study of the Visitation, it may be well to stop here for a moment and ask ourselves what the inspired word is saying to us today through this narrative. It is always important to remember that the work of God is not just a recall of events which took place centuries ago. It is a present happening, God’s word is creative and, when heard with the openness of faith, molds us into the image of Christ. What, then, is the divine word creating in us as we prayerfully ponder the Visitation of Mary to her relative, Elizabeth?

Saint Louis de Montfort replies to this question clearly and rather often. He says that meditating upon this second joyful mystery we share in Mary’s charity toward others; “we ask of you (Jesus) through the intercession of your most holy mother, great charity toward our neighbor”. (MR 8). Montfort’s insistence on joyful love of one’s neighbor is a paramount theme of his writings and of his life. The love of neighbor follows upon his stress that the “neighbor,” especially the sick and the rejected, are images of Christ.  In them, God  himself hides. This first part of the Visitation brings with it the needed grace – perhaps even more necessary these days than in the time of Montfort – of destroying divisions, hatred, prejudice, by the power of effective fraternal love.

Finally, in describing this mystery, Saint Louis-Marie speaks of “the mutual dependence of Jesus and Mary and the dependence we should have upon them both”. (MR 18). In his mysterious plan, God chose Mary to be his inseparable companion in the work of redemption. Jesus and Mary, one heart, are one love for us. We could more easily separate the light from the sun than Jesus from Mary.  It is “at the sound” of Mary’s voice that God’s miracles are still  performed;  this is especially true of the greatest miracle of all, our sanctification and the sanctification of our sisters arid brothers. At the sound of her voice, our souls leap for joy in the Lord Jesus Christ.

(To be continued: Link to Part II)