ANNEXE
Mary’s Visitation to Elizabeth
TEXTS OF THE HIERERARCHY
From the Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II: “REDEMPTORIS MATER”.[1]
“35 – […] The Virgin Mary is constantly present on this journey of faith of the People of God towards the light. This is shown in a special way by the canticle of the ‘Magnificat’, which, having welled up from the depths of Mary’s faith at the Visitation, ceaselessly re-echoes in the heart of the Church down the centuries […].
36 – When Elizabeth greeted her young kinswoman coming from Nazareth, Mary replied with the Magnificat. In her greeting, Elizabeth first called Mary ‘blessed’ because of ‘the fruit of her womb’, and then she called her ‘blessed’ because of her faith (cf. Lk 1: 42, 45). These two blessings referred directly to the Annunciation. Now, at the Visitation, when Elizabeth’s greeting bears witness to that culminating moment, Mary’s faith acquires a new consciousness and a new expression. That which remained hidden in the depths of the ‘obedience of faith’ at the Annunciation can now be said to spring forth like a clear and life-giving flame of the Spirit. The words used by Mary on the threshold of Elizabeth’s house are an inspired profession of her faith, in which her response to the revealed Word is expressed with the religious and poetical exultation of her whole being towards God. In these sublime words, which are simultaneously very simple and wholly inspired by the sacred texts of the people of Israel, Mary’s personal experience, the ecstasy of her heart, shines forth. In them shines a ray of the mystery of God, the glory of his ineffable holiness, the eternal love which, as an irrevocable gift, enters into human history.
Mary is the first to share in this new revelation of God and , within the same, in this new ‘self-giving' of God. […] Her words reflect a joy of spirit which is difficult to express […] In her exultation Mary confesses that she finds herself in the very heart of this fullness of Christ. She is conscious that the promise made to the fathers, first of all ‘to Abraham and to his posterity for ever’ is being fulfilled in herself. She is thus aware that concentrated within herself as the Mother of Christ is the whole salvific economy, in which ‘from age to age’ is manifested he who, as the God of the Covenant, ‘remembers his mercy’.”
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Words of John Paul II during the General Audience of 21st March 2001: “MARY, PILGIM OF FAITH, STAR OF EVANGELIZATION”.
“4 – The visit to Elizabeth is sealed by the canticle of the Magnificat, a hymn that has come down through all Christian centuries as a perennial melody: a hymn that unites the hearts of Christ’s disciples beyond the historical divisions, which we are committed to overcoming in view of full communion. In this ecumenical atmosphere, it is good to remember that in 1521 Martin Luther devoted a famous commentary to this ‘holy canticle of the Blessed Mother of God’, as he expressed it. In it he says that the hymn ‘must be learned well and remembered by all’, because ‘ in the Magnificat Mary teaches us how we should love and praise God […]’.
5 – From the moment when God looked on her with love, Mary became a sign of hope for the multitude of the poor, the earth’s least ones who become the first in the kingdom of God. She faithfully followed the choice of Christ, her Son, who repeats to all of history’s afflicted: ‘Come to me, all who labour and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest’ [Mt 11, 28]”.
Words of MGR. GILSON on THE CHRISTIAN DUTY OF BEARING THE INCARNATE WORD IN THE SITUATION OF OUR DAILY LIVES [2]
“’In our own time, the last days, God has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that he has appointed to inherit everything and through whom he made everything there is. He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature, sustaining the universe by his powerful command’ [He 1, 1-3].
We possess a diamond. And often we go and hide it in the hollow of our hand … It radiates with an extraordinary beauty on account of the fire which dwells within it. And this is our responsibility as apostles in these modern times: to hold our hands open so that the Christly diamond may radiate with the light of the Spirit. This is what Jesus did in the synagogue of Nazareth, when he read a passage from the prophet:
‘The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me […]. This text is being fulfilled today’ [Lk 4, 16].
What more can I say to you? Except to be missionaries in the third millennium: and have a sense of urgency! We must find again the courage to propose our faith. We have to believe in this world that is able to welcome the authentic presence of God recognised in Jesus Christ, in the light of the Spirit. We have to see that there are the necessary conditions to allow a new Pentecost to happen.
The third millennium must be the ecumenical era of the Holy Spirit. Christ, in the light of the Spirit is the revelation of the thrice holy God and the way to universal brotherhood.
Let us get going, the time is hastening on … There is an urgency for mission […]” [3]
TEXTS OF MARY OF THE PASSION
The radiation of missionary charity
“This feast of the Visitation is resplendent with missionary charity; this virtue drew Mary from her peaceful retreat and led her to the home of […] Elizabeth for the sanctification of souls, in particular that of Saint John the Baptist.
[…] this feast […] is particularly suited to us, and we should try to obtain on this day great zeal for the salvation of souls and that forgetfulness of self which does not recoil before any sacrifice in order to do good “ (Coutumier, edition of 1938, n. 104, 2 July)
Mary “Ark of Peace”
“As soon as Mary, [the Ark of the Covenant, the Missionary who brings Jesus] appears […] together with John the Baptist, the whole human race thrills with joy, because, for the first time, the enemy has been crushed by the woman.” [4] (Meditations, Vol. 3, 2 July).
The canticle of Mary
“[…] the Magnificat […] expresses love’s ecstasy at the sight of God’s gifts, together with the certitude of her own nothingness, hence with true humility.” (He speaks to me … n. 183, 10 February 1883)
“May the ‘Benedictus’ and the ‘Magnificat’ always be for us full of teaching about the spirit of our vocation.” (Meditations, Vol. 3, 1st July)
Union with God
“On this day [of the Visitation] let us learn the secret of remaining united to Jesus, in the midst of our works of mercy. This is the soul of missionary life.” (Meditations, Vol. 3, 2 July)
FROM THE GENERAL LETTERS OF SR. CHRISTIANE MÉGARBANÉ
Nº 9 – “Would our mission, our passion for mission, not be a communion with God’s passion for our world: “God so loved the world that He gave his only Son” (Jn 3: 16). Is it not to this that our next General Chapter invites us: “Gospel women, let us revive the gift of God for a new world”?
To be Gospel women is to go out to meet the other, no matter who this person may be, in order to share a unique experience, that of a God whose Word became flesh out of love for us and who confided this world to us to build up so that his Kingdom may come. It is to be women of hope who open the eyes of their intelligence and heart to perceive what this world says, expects and hopes.
To be Gospel women is to share the meeting taking place inside us with the God of our lives. This meeting is essentially a sending (cf. Const. art 3). God always brings us out of ourselves to go towards the other, to go beyond our frontiers, beyond geographical barriers, but also beyond those which we ourselves erect, in order to witness to his passion for us.
To be Gospel women is, like Mary, to welcome life and not hold on to it, in order to give it and not to possess it. Mary left in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth. In Mary, the Word had become Life. In Mary of the Passion, on 23rd January, today, when we remember her Fiat, the Word became offering and mission: “Mary Victim of Jesus and of Jesus Crucified”. In Mary as in Mother Foundress, the Word of God meets a human word and becomes Good News for the world.” [23 January 2001]
Nº 1 – “… Mary … is the Ecce and Magnificat, the Yes and Thank You.” [13 October 1996]
FROM THE GENERAL LETTERS OF SR. MAURA O’CONNOR
Nº 11 – “Mary stands at the heart of our vocation in her wholehearted acceptance of the Lord’s plan for her which became a pledge to serve. And so, soon she is on her journey of love to Elizabeth, not only to serve, but to bring a message of joy and peace because of Him whom she bears, He who came to establish a Kingdom of peace and justice. As we are aware, the Visitation of Mary is the model of the missionary vocation of the Institute.
“Harmonising courageous missionary action and deep communion with God in intense, adoring prayer, Mary of the Passion expresses this ideal in a brief concise note: ‘Jesus obtained and given, then obscurity. This should be the way’.”[5] . From the start is noted that attitude of minority which we know to be so essential in evangelisation today. In the house of the Visitation there is a wonderful dialogue of faith, a shared prayer, through which we contemplate the Eternal Word in the womb of the Virgin, his Mother, who brings Him who is the source of all goodness and peace; Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit; John the Baptist who prepares the coming of Christ; Zachariah, a man of deep silence, with closed lips but with open eyes and heart, his silence is a true participation, listening and presence. …
The deep bond of our unity that comes from sharing in the mission of Jesus, strengthens us in the great responsibility we each share in today’s world to be messengers of hope, reconcilers, bridgebuilders, bearers of peace in fidelity to our charism and in communion with the Church. “We will work as missionaries in Mary’s way: through Jesus. In this way she was a true missionary in the shadow of Jesus and the Apostles. We bring both Jesus and Mary with us at the same time” (NS 341). It is not a matter of doing what Christ or Mary did or said. But behind all our activity, … there is a particular attitude, mentality, presence, that was theirs.” [31 May 1986]
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[1] “On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the pilgrim Church”, 25th March 1987
[2] Former Bishop of Le Mans, speaking to the Christians of his diocese, on the occasion of the opening of the Jubilee Year 2000.
[3] Quoted in “Eglise du Mans”, n.3, 20/2/2000.
[4] Cf. Gn 3, 15.
[5] “Gift of God” , p. 14