Our lives: a Magnificat !

FEAST of the VISITATION

May 31

Blessed is she who believed that what the Lord

has said would be fulfilled. ~ Luke 1:45

"O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all, O Ark of the Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which Divinity resides." ~ St Athanasius

Jacques Daret ~ Visitation (detail)

 

"Carrying the recently conceived Jesus in her womb, Mary goes to visit her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, whom everyone considered sterile, and yet she had reached the sixth month of a gestation gifted by God.  In a certain sense, we can say that Mary’s trip was… the first Eucharistic procession in history.

When she enters Elizabeth's home, her greeting is brimming with grace: John leaps with joy in his mother's womb, as if perceiving the coming of the One whom he will have to announce to Israel.The sons exult, the mothers exult. This meeting, full of joy of the Spirit, finds its expression in the canticle of the Magnificat.

Is not this also the joy of the Church, which receives Christ incessantly in the holy Eucharist and takes Him to the world with the testimony of active charity, full of faith and hope?

Yes, to receive Jesus and to take Him to others is the true joy of the Christian! Let us follow and imitate Mary, profoundly Eucharistic soul, and our whole life will become a Magnificat."

Pope Benedict XVI

May 31, 2005

Blessed Mother Mary and St Elizabeth, ora pro nobis!