II. The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin - The First Gift of Jesus

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 for joy. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she cried out with a loud 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?' - Luke 1:39,40,41,42

There is commotion in a humble home at Nazareth. They who live in it seem agitated, hurried; they are preparing for a journey. What is its purpose? Is Mary, till then so humble and discreet, now hastening to publish the wonders performed under her roof and in her womb? No; filled with the Holy Spirit, she carefully guards the secret of the King of Kings. But an interior voice says to her: Go. It is Jesus who wishes to justify His Name of Saviour without delay, to begin His mission of redemption, to destroy in souls the empire of sin, and to show Himself beneficent and merciful. One day the Apostle Saint Peter will say of Him: 'He went about doing good' (Acts x. 38). Even before He was born He merited this testimony. Hidden from human view, silent and imprisoned, He goes to manifest Himself and to give expression to His omnipotent goodness by visiting His Precursor.

Why does He not call the Precursor to Him? Is it not the duty of the servant to go to his master, of the sick man to seek his physician, of the poor man to go to the rich whose alms he begs? But love reverses all these rules; the King of Kings, the heavenly Physician, the Author of grace anticipates the advances of His creatures. Not yet in a condition to move of Himself, He wishes to be carried. 'Behold,' says Saint Ambrose, 'the inferior has need of succour, and his superior goes to his aid - Mary goes to Elizabeth, Christ to John. The wonderful meeting of the mothers is the signal for divine benefits. Elizabeth hears the voice of Mary; John is touched by the grace of his Redeemer.' At the same instant the severe laws of nature, which confine the infant in a mysterious repose, yield to the pressure of the Author of nature. 'Before he is born John speaks by his motions of joy. Before entering into the world he announces his God; before seeing the light he points out the Eternal Sun. Still a prisoner in his mother's womb, he nevertheless performs the office of precursor, and says to all: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh away the sins of the world".' These are the words of Saint John Chrysostom.

Let us admire the full and sudden correspondence of the Precursor with the grace which purifies him from sin, illumines his soul, and calls him to the service of God. Let us consider the mystery of the Visitation is a type of the sweet anticipations of the divine bounty in our own regard, and of the line of conduct we should follow when we are visited by God's grace.

After the days, too quickly passed, which our Lord spent on earth, in which men could see and feel and touch Him, in which they could contemplate His charms, hear His words, admire His works, condole with Him in His sufferings, and receive His promises. He is again hidden from human view in a manner even more profound than in His Mother's womb. Hidden indeed He is, but He has not withdrawn Himself to an inaccessible distance. 'His delight is to be with the children of men.' He is with us in our tabernacles, more imprisoned, more immovable than He was as an infant in the living sanctuary in which He first learned to live.

Thither He calls to Him His priests, and commands them to carry Him with reverential hands to visit our souls and fill them with His presence. What do I say? He stands night and day at the door of our hearts, knocking and demanding an entrance. 'Behold I stand at the door and knock.' (Apocalypse 3) Every grace that we receive, every advance He makes to us, every light, every good counsel, encouragement, or impulse towards good, is a visit of Jesus.

O dearly-beloved Saviour! How do we respond to so much honour and to so many benefits? Our souls, in order to become the abode of their Spouse in His sacramental visits, ought to deck themselves out in the most tender and perfect virtues. Like docile harps they ought to resound and thrill with joy at the touch of the Saviour's hand in the same manner as the unborn Precursor leaped for joy in His presence. But alas! we meet Him more frequently with coldness, indifference, hesitation, and even a refusal to accept His heavenly visits. Oh, how shameful!

Thou seest us, O Lord! penetrated with confusion and remorse at the thought of Thy many visits we have lost. Grant that they may not be lost again! Strengthen our faith, that we may be able at all times to adore Thy holy presence under the veil by which Thou concealest Thyself from our eyes. Make our souls delicately sensitive to the touch of Thy grace. Let every good impression received be at once transformed into a virtue. Let the prompt and abundant growth of Thy gifts draw from those who will see our spiritual transformation the words of the Psalmist: 'Thou has visited the earth and hast plentifully watered it; Thou hast many ways enriched it' (Psalm 64)

- text taken from Jesus in the Rosary, by Father Jacques-Marie Louis Monsabre, O.P.