The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

From Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.

Our Lady’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth already engaged our attention while we were preparing for the Christmas festival. But it is only fitting to return again to an event so important in our Lady’s life; the mere commemoration of this mystery made on Ember Friday in Advent would be insufficient to bring forward all it contains of deep teaching and holy joy. Since in the course of centuries, the holy Liturgy has been gaining more and more completeness, it is but natural that this precious mine should come to be further opened in honor of the Virgin Mother. The Order of St. Francis, it would seem, as well as certain particular Churches, such as Rheims and Paris for example, had already taken the initiative, when Urban VI, in 1389, instituted today’s solemnity. The Pope counselled a fast on the vigil of the feast, and ordered that it should be followed by an octave; he granted for its celebration the same indulgences as Urban IV had, in the previous century, attached to the festival of Corpus Christi. The Bull of promulgation, stopped by the Pontiff’s death, was again taken up and published by Boniface IX, his successor on the Chair of Peter.

We learn from the Lessons of the Office formerly composed for this feast, that the end of its institution was, as Urban conceived it, to obtain the cessation of the schism then desolating the Church. The papacy, exiled from Rome for seventy years, had barely re-entered it, when hell, infuriated at a return which crossed all its plans, had taken revenge by ranging under two leaders the Flock of the one Sheepfold. So deep was the obscurity wherewith miserable intrigues contrived to cover the authority of the legitimate Shepherd, that numbers of Churches, in all good faith, began to hesitate, and ended at last in preferring the deceptive staff of a hireling. Thicker yet was the darkness to grow, till night should be so dense, that for a moment the conflicting mandates of three Popes would simultaneously spread through the world; while the Faithful, struck with stupor, would be at utter loss to discern accurately which was the voice of Christ’s true Vicar. Never had the Bride of the Son of God been in a more piteous situation. But Our Lady, to whom the true Pontiff had turned at the first rising of the storm, deceived not the Church’s confidence. During all those years while the unfathomable justice of the Most High let the powers of hell hold sway, she stood for the defense of holy Church, trampling the head of the old serpent so thoroughly under her victorious foot, that despite the terrific confusion he had stirred up, his filthy spume could not sully the faith of the people. Their attachment was steadfast to the unity of the Roman See, whosoever it might be, in this uncertainty, its veritable occupant. Thus the West, divided in fact, but, in principle, ever one and undivided, reunited herself spontaneously as soon as God’s moment came for the return of light. The hour having arrived for the Queen of Saints to assume the offensive, she would not content herself with merely re-establishing, at its former post, the army of the elect; hell now must expiate his audacity, by being forced to yield back to holy Church those conquests which for centuries had seemed his forever. The tail of the dragon had not yet ceased to whisk at Basle, when Florence had already beheld the heads of the Greek schism, the Armenians and Ethiopians, the cavilers of Jerusalem, of Syria, and of Mesopotamia, all compensating by their unhoped-for adhesion to the Roman Pontiff for the anguish just suffered in the West.

It was now to be shown that such a return of nations, in the very midst even of the tempest, was indeed the work of Her who had been called upon by the Pilot, half a century before, to succor the Bark of Peter. Even they of the factious assembly of Basle gave proof of this, in a way which has unfortunately been too much overlooked by historians who undervalue the high importance that liturgical facts hold in the history of Christendom. When about to separate, these last abettors of the schism devoted the forty-third session of their pretended council to the promulgation of this very feast of the Visitation, in the first establishment of which Urban VI had, from the outset, placed all his hoped. Notwithstanding the resistance of some of the more obstinate, the schism may, from that hour, be said to have ended. The storm was subsiding; the name of Mary, invoked thus by both sides, shone resplendent as the sign of peace amidst the clouds, (Genesis 9:12-17) even as the rainbow in its sweet radiance unites both extremities of the horizon. Look upon it, says the Holy Ghost, and bless him that made it: it is very beautiful in its brightness. It encompasseth the heaven about, with the circle of its glory: the hands of the most High have displayed it. (Ecclesiasticus 43:12-13)

But, it may be asked, why was the feast of the Visitation specially chosen, more than any other, as the monument of restored peace? The answer seems to be suggested in the very nature of the mystery itself and in the manner of its accomplishment.

Here, more particularly, does Mary appear as the Ark of the Covenant, bearing within her the Emmanuel, the living Testimony of a more true reconciliation, of an alliance more sublime between earth and heaven, than that limited compact of servitude entered into between Jehovah and the Jews, amidst the roar of thunder. By her means, far better than through Adam, all men are now brethren; for He whom she hides within her is to be the First-born of the great family of the sons of God. Scarce is he conceived than there begins for him the mighty work of universal propitiation. Arise, then, O Lord, into thy resting place, thou and the Ark which thou hast sanctified, (Psalm 131:8) whence thine own sanctity will pour down upon our earth! During the whole of her rapid passage from Nazareth to the mountains of Judea, she shall be protected by wings of Cherubim jealously eager to contemplate her glory. Amidst his truest warriors, amidst Israel’s choirs of singing men, David conducted the figurative Ark from the house of Adinadab to that of Obed-edom; (2 Samuel 6) but better far, the escort deputed by the Eternal Father for this sacred Ark of the New Covenant, troops of the noblest princes of the heavenly phalanx.

Favored with benediction was that Levite’s house, while for three months it sheltered the Most High hidden on the golden propitiatory: more favored still, the home of the priest Zachary, harboring, for the same lapse of time, Eternal Wisdom enshrined in the Virginal womb, wherein that union, so ambitioned by his Love, had just been accomplished. Yet beneath Zachary’s roof, blessed as it was, the enemy of God and man was still holding one captive: the angelic embassy that had announced John’s miraculous conception and birth could not exempt him from the shameful tribute that every son of Adam must pay to the prince of death, on entering into this life. As formerly as Azotus, so now Dagon may not remain standing erect in face of the Ark. (1 Samuel 5) Mary appears; and Satan, at once overturned, is subjected to utter defeat in John’s soul, a defeat that is not to be his last; for the Ark of the Covenant will not stay its victories till the reconciliation of the last of the elect be effected.

Let us then hymn this day with songs of gladness; for this Mystery contains the germ of every victory gained by the Church and her sons: henceforth the sacred Ark is borne at the head of every combat waged by the new Israel. Division between man and his God is at an end, between the Christian and his brethren! The ancient Ark was powerless to prevent the division of the tribes; henceforth if schism and heresy do hold out for a few short years against Mary, it shall be but to evince more fully her glorious triumph at last. In all ages, because of Her, even as today and under the very eyes of the enemy now put to confusion, little ones shall rejoice, all shall be filled with benediction, and pontiffs shall be perfected. (Psalm 131:8-9) Let us join the tribute of our songs to John’s exulting gladness, to Elizabeth’s sudden exclamations, to Zachary’s canticle; therewith let earth re-echo! Thus is bygone days was the Ark hailed as it entered the Hebrew camp. Hearing their shout, the Philistines learned that help had come from the Lord; and seized with terror, they groaned aloud saying: Woe to us; for there was no such great joy yesterday and the day before: Woe to us! Verily this day, the whole human race, together with John, leaps for joy and shouts with a great shout; (1 Samuel 4:5-8) verily this day has the old enemy good reason to lament: the heel of the woman, (Genesis 3:15) as she stamps him down, makes his haughty head to wince for the first time: and John, set free, is hereby the precursor of us all. More happy are we, the new Israel, than was the old, for our glory shall never be taken away; never shall be wrested from us that sacred Ark which has led us dry-shod across the river, (Joshua 3, 4) and has levelled fortresses to the dust at its approach. (Joshua 6)

Justly then is this day, whereon an end is put to the series of defeats begun in Eden, the day of new canticles for a new people! But who may intone the hymn of triumph, save She to whom the victory belongs? “Arise, arise, O Debbora, arise,—arise and utter a canticle. (Judges 5:12) The valiant men ceased and rested in Israel, until Mary arose, the true Debbora, until a Mother arose in Israel. (Judges 5:7) It is I, it is I,” saith she, “that will sing to the Lord, I will sing to the Lord the God of Israel. (Judges 5:3) O magnify the Lord with me, as saith my grandsire David, and let us extol his Name together. (Psalm 33:4) My heart hath rejoiced, like that of Anna, in God my Savior. (1 Samuel 2:1) For even as in his handmaid Judith, by me he (Judith 13:11) hath fulfilled his mercy, so that my praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord for ever. (Judith 13:25, 31; 1 Samuel 15:11) For mighty is he that hath done great things in me; (Exodus 15:2-3) there is none holy as he. (1 Samuel 2:2) Even as by Esther, he hath throughout all generations saved those who feared him; (Esther 9:28) in the power of his arm, (Judith 9:11) he hath turned against the impious one the projects of his own heart, driving proud Amam out of his seat and uplifting the humble; the bow of the mighty is overcome, and the weak are girt with strength; the abundance of them that were rich hath passed to the hungry and they are filled; (1 Samuel 2:4-5) he hath remembered his people, and hath had pity on his inheritance. (Esther 10:12) Such, indeed, was the promise that Abraham received and our fathers have handed down unto us: and he hath done to them even as he had promised.” (Esther 13:15, 14:5)

Daughters of Sion and all ye who groan in the thraldom of Satan, the hymn of deliverance has sounded in our land! Following in Her train, who beareth within her the Pledge of alliance, let us form into choirs; better than Mary, Aaron’s sister, and by yet juster title, she leads the concerts of Israel. (Exodus 15:20-21) So sings she on this day of triumph, and the burthen of her song gathers into one all the victorious chants which, in the ages of expectation, preluded this divine canticle of hers. But the past victories of the elect people were but figures of that which is gained by our glorious Queen on this day of her manifestation; for she, beyond Debbora, Judith, or Esther, has truly brought about the deliverance of her people; in her mouth the accents of her illustrious predecessors pass, from the burning aspiration of the prophetic age to the calm ecstasy which denotes her being already in possession of the long expected God. A new era is meetly inaugurated by sacred chants: divine praise receives from Mary that character which henceforth it is never to lose, not even in eternity.

The preceding considerations have been suggested by the special motive which led the Church to institute this feast in the fourteenth century. Again, in our own day, has Mary shown that this date is indeed for her a day of victory. On the Second of July, in the year 1849, Rome was restored to the exiled Pontiff, Pius IX. (Feast of the Precious Blood, see post for previous day) But we should far exceed the limits of our present scope, were we to strive to exhaust the teachings of this vast mystery, the Visitation. Besides, some have been already given in our Advent volume; and others, more recently on the feast and octave-day of Saint John’s Nativity. What we mean to add further on this subject, is brought to light by the Epistle and gospel of the Mass given below.

FIRST VESPERS

The antiphons used in the Office of this day are all taken from the Gospel, and reproduce historically the mystery we are celebrating.

ANT. Mary rising up, went into the hill country, with haste, into a city of Juda.

Ps. Dixit Dominus.

ANT Mary entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth.

Ps. Laudate pueri.

ANT When Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb: and she was filled with the Holy Ghost. Alleluia.

PSALM 121

I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go unto Mary, the house of the Lord.

Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem! Our heart loves and confides in thee, O Mary.

Mary is like to Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together.

For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: the testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord.

Because their seats have sat in judgment, seats upon the house of David; and Mary is of a kingly race.

Pray ye, through Mary, for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love thee, O Church of our God!

The voice of Mary; Let peace be in thy strength, O though new Sion! and abundance in thy towers.

I, a daughter of Israel, for the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbors, I spoke peace of thee.

Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for thee.

ANT. When Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb: and she was filled with the Holy Ghost. Alleluia.

ANT. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

PSALM 126

Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it.

It is vain for you to rise before light, rise ye after you have sitten, you that eat the bread of sorrow. When he shall give sleep to his beloved,

Behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb.

As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken.

Blessed is the man that hath filled the desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate.

ANT. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

ANT. For behold, as soon as the voice of thy saluation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Alleluia.

PSALM 147

Praise the Lord, O Mary, thou true Jerusalem: O Mary, O Sion ever holy, praise thy God.

Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, he hath blessed thy children within thee.

Who hath placed peace in thy borders: and filleth thee with the fat of corn, with Jesus who is the Bread of Life.

Who sendeth forth by thee his word to the earth: his word runneth swiftly.

Who giveth snow like wool: scattereth mists like ashes.

He sendeth his crystal like morsels: who shall stand before the face of his cold?

He shall send out his word, by Mary, and shall melt them: his wind shall blow, and the waters shall run.

Who declareth his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel.

He hath not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them, as he hath in these our days.

ANT. For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Alleluia.

The psalms have sung of the exalted greatness of him whom the humility of Mary has attracted to her, and by whom she has been manifested for the first time to the world, as the city of God, built by him with love; this she herself proclaims today while praising the Lord her God. The capitulum is borrowed as also are the psalms and hymn, from the common Office of our Lady; it tells of that august predestination wherein, before all ages, were inseparably united eternal Wisdom and this Woman  blessed above all those from whom she was one day to be born.

CAPITULUM
(Ecclus. xxiv)

From the beginning and before the world, was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in the holy dwelling-place I have ministered before him.

HYMN

Hail, Star of the Sea! Blessed Mother of God, yet ever a Virgin! O happy gate of heaven!

Thou that didst receive the Ave from Gabriel’s lips, confirm us in peace, and so let Eva be changed into an Ave of blessing for us.

Loose the sinner’s chains, bring light to the blind, drive from us our evils, and ask all good things for us.

Show thyself a Mother, and offer our prayers to Him, who would be born of thee, when born for us.

O incomparable Virgin, and meekest of the meek, obtain us the forgiveness of our sins, and make us meek and chaste.

Obtain us purity of life, and a safe pilgrimage; that we may be united with thee in the blissful vision of Jesus.

Praise be to God the Father, and to the Lord Jesus, and to the Holy Ghost: to the Three one self-same praise. Amen.

℣. Blessed art thou among women.

℟. And blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Every day the solemn evening Office borrows from Mary’s canticle its sweetest fragrance. Nor is Good Friday itself an exception: even on that day, at Vespers, holy Church throughout the world invites our Lady to sing it beside the Cross whereon the terrible drama has just been completed. The reason is, that this incomparable canticle has for its object the entire redemption. At the foot of the holy Rood, no less that on days such as this full sweetness, that which predominates in Mary and overrules alike all her anguish and all her joy is the thought of God’s glory being at last satisfied; of man’s salvation being at last secured. Now, on this feast, the mysteries of the entire cycle having so lately passed on by one before our eyes, the Magnificat resounds, as it were, in all its fullness of tone, whilst receiving, at the same time, from this solemnity itself all the freshness of the first day on which earth caught its notes.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Blessed art thou, O Mary, who hast believed: those things shall be accomplished in thee which were told thee by the Lord. Alleluia.

The Prayer is the Collect of the Mass below.

A commemoration is then made of the Octave of St John the Baptist from earlier in the volume.

On this day whereon Satan, for the first time, sees his infernal crew fall back in face of the sacred Ark, two warriors of the army of the elect take their rank in our Queen’s cortège. Deputed by Peter himself, during this his glad Octave, to wait upon Mary, they have earned this honor by reason of their faith, which taught them to recognize in Nero’s condemned criminal the chief of God’s people.

The Prince of the Apostles was awaiting his martyrdom in the dungeon of the Mamertine prison, when, led by divine Mercy, there came to him two Roman soldiers, the very ones whose names have become inseparable from his own in the Church’s memory. One was called Processus, the other Marinianus. They were struck by the dignity of the old man, confided for some hours to their ward, who should not again see daylight till he must perish on the gibbet. Peter spoke to them of Life Eternal and of the Son of God who so lived men as to give the last drop of his Blood for their ransom. Processus and Martinianus received with docile heart this unexpected instruction; they accepted it with simple faith, and craved the grace of regeneration. But water was wanting in the dungeon, and Peter must needs make use of that power to command nature, bestowed by our Lord upon the apostles when he sent them into the world. At the word of the old man a fountain sprang up from the ground, and the two soldiers were baptized in the miraculous water. Christian piety still venerates this fountain which never either brims over or dries up. Processus and Martinianus were not slow to pay with their life for the honor conferred upon them of being thus initiated into the Christian faith by the Prince of the apostles, and they are numbered among God’s martyrs. (St. Cecilia et la Societe romaine aux deux premiers siecles)

Their cultus is as ancient as that of Peter himself. In the age of peace, a Basilica was raised over their tomb. St. Gregory pronounced there, on the solemn anniversary of their combat, his thirty-second Homily on the Gospel. The great Pontiff therein renders testimony to the miracles which were operated on that holy spot, and he celebrates, in particular, the power which those two Saints have of protecting their devout clients on the day of the Lord’s Justice. (In Ev. Hom. 32:7-9) Later on, St. Pascal I enriched the Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles with their bodies. They now occupy the place of honor in the left arm of the Latin cross formed by the immense edifice, and they give their name to the whole of this side of the transept, wherein the Vatican Council held its immortal sessions; fitting was it that this august assembly should carry on its labors under the patronage of these two valiant warriors, who were not only St. Peter’s guards, but his conquest in the days of his own glorious confession. Let us not forget these illustrious protectors of Holy Church. The Feast of the Visitation, of more recent institution, has not lessened theirs; though their glory is now, so to say, lost in that of Our Lady, their power can but have gained in strength by this very approximation to the gentle Queen of earth and heaven.

MASS

The Introit is that of the Votive Masses of Our Lady for this part of the year. It is taken from Sedulius, (Carmen Paschale, Book 2:63-69) the Christian poet of the fifth century, from whom the holy Liturgy borrowed so many graceful pieces at Christmas and Epiphany. Who can fail to recognize today in the sublime Magnificat which is the glory of this festival, the good Word of which our Intriot-Verse sings, or in other words, the Work which the Virgin Mother offers to the King!

INTROIT

Hail, holy Mother, who didst bring forth the King; who rules heaven and earth for ever.

Ps. My heart hath uttered a good word; I speak my works to the King. ℣. Glory, etc. Hail.

Peace is the precious gift which earth was ceaselessly imploring since the original fall. Rejoice then now: for the Prince of Peace this day reveals himself by Mary. The solemn commemoration of the Mystery which we are celebrating will develop within us the work of salvation begun in that of Christmas at the opening of our cycle. Let us beg this grace, in the words of the Church, in her Collect.

COLLECT

We beseech thee, O Lord, to bestow on thy servants the gift of heavenly grace, that for those to whom the blessed Virgin’s child-birth was the beginning of salvation, the votive solemnity of her Visitation may procure increase of peace. Through our Lord, etc.

In private Masses, at the end of the Collect, Secret, and Postcommunion of the feast, a commemoration is made of the holy Martyrs Processus and Martinianus.

O God, who dost surround and protect us by the glorious confessions of thy holy Martyrs, Processus and Martinianus; grant us to profit by their example, and rejoice in their intercession. Through our Lord, etc.

EPISTLE

Lesson from the Book of Song of Solomon 2:8-14

Behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills. My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart. Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices. Behold my beloved speaketh to me: Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come. The voice of my beloved: that is, the preaching of the gospel surmounting difficulties figuratively here expressed by mountains and little hills. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come: the voice of the turtle is heard in our land: The fig tree hath put forth her green figs: the vines in flower yield their sweet smell. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come: My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall, shew me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely.

The Church introduces us into the depth of the Mystery. What she has just been reading to us is but the explanation of that word of Elizabeth’s which sums up the whole of today’s feast: when they voice sounded in mine ear, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. O Voice of Mary, voice of the turtle, putting winter to flight, and announcing spring-tide flowers and fragrance! At this sweet sound, John’s soul, a captive in the darkness of sin, casts off the badge of slavery, and suddenly developing germs of highest virtues, appears beauteous as a bride decked in nuptial array: and therefore, how Jesus hastes unto this well-beloved soul! Between John and the Bridegroom, oh! what ineffable outpourings! what sublime dialogues pass between them, from womb to womb of Mary and Elizabeth! Admirable Mothers! Sons yet more admirable! In this happy meeting, the sight, the hearing, the voice of the Mothers belong less to themselves than to the blessed fruit each bears within her; thus their senses are the lattices through which the Bridegroom and Friend of the Bridegroom see one another, understand one another, speak one to the other!

The animal man, it is true, understands not this language. (1 Corinthians 2:14) Father, the Son of God will soon exclaim: I give thee thanks for that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. (Matthew 6:25) Let him, therefore, that hath ears to hear, hear; (Matthew 6:15; 13:9) but, Amen I say unto you, unless ye become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven, (Matthew 18:3) nor know its mysteries. (Matthew 13:11) Wisdom shall nevertheless be justified by her children, as the Gospel says. (Matthew 11:19) The simple-hearted in quest of light, with all the straightforwardness of humility, let pass unheeded those mocking flickers that sport across the marshes of the world; they know right well that the first ray of the Eternal Sun will disperse these thin phantoms, leaving sheer emptiness before those who run in pursuit of them. For their part, these wise little ones already feed upon that which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, (1 Corinthians 2:9) having a foretaste, here below, of eternal delights.

Ineffably is John the Baptist experiencing all this. Accosted by the divine Friend who has been beforehand in seeking him, his soul at once awakens to full ecstasy. Jesus, on his side, is now making His first conquest; for it is to John, that is first addressed amongst all creatures (Mary of course excepted) the sacred Nuptial-song uttered in the Soul of the Word made Flesh, making His divine Heart throb with emotion. Yes, it is today (our Epistle tells us so), that in concert with the Magnificat, the divine Canticle of Canticles is likewise inaugurated, in the entire acceptation that the Holy Ghost wishes to give it. Never more fully than on this happy day shall the sacred ravishments of the Spouse be justified; never shall they find a more faithful response! Let us warm ourselves at these celestial fires; let us join our enthusiasm to that of Eternal Wisdom who makes His first step, this day, in His royal progress towards mankind. Let us unite with our Jesus in imploring the Precursor at last to show himself. Were it not ordered otherwise from on High, his inebriation of love would verily have made him at once break down the wall that held him from appearing, then and there, to announce the Bridegroom. For well knows he that the sight of his countenance, preceding the Face of the Lord Himself, will excite the whole earth to transports; he knows that his own voice will be sweet when once it has become the organ of the Word calling the Bride unto Him.

Together with Elizabeth, let us extol, in our Gradual, the Blessed Virgin to whom we owe all these joys of ours, and within whom love still keeps enclosed Him whom the whole world could not contain. The distich which is sung in the Verse was especially dear to the piety of the Middle-Ages; it is to be found in different Liturgies, either as the opening line of the Hymn, (Virgo Dei Genitrix, Hymnus Completorii in fesit B. Mariæ. Antiphonar. Senoni. 552) or under the form of an Antiphon, in the composition of Masses or of Offices.

GRADUAL

Thou art blessed and venerable, O Virgin Mary: who without any violation of purity, wert found the Mother of our Savior.

℣. O Virgin Mother of God, He whom the whole world is unable to contain, being made Man, enclosed Himself in thy womb.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Thou art happy, O Holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise: because from thee arose the Sun of Justice, Christ our God. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke 1:39-47

At that time, Mary rising up 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. 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? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.

Mary, having learned from the archangel that Elizabeth was about to become a mother, is preoccupied with the thought of the services that will soon be needed by her cousin and the infant; she, therefore, starts at once on her journey across the mountains, amidst which stands the house of Zachary. Thus does the charity of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14) act, thus does it press, when it is genuine. There is no state of soul, in which under the pretext of more exalted perfection, the Christian may be allowed to forget his brethren. Mary had just contracted the highest union with God; and our imagination might perhaps be inclined to picture her, as it were, in a state of powerlessness, lost in ecstasy during these days in which the Word, taking Flesh of her flesh, is inundating her in return with the floods of his Divinity. The Gospel, however, is explicit on this subject: it particularly says that it was in those days (Luke 1:39) even, that the humble Virgin, hitherto quietly hid in the secret of the Lord’s face, (Psalm 30:21) rose up to devote herself to all the bodily as well as the spiritual needs of a neighbor in such condition. Does that mean to say that works are superior to prayer, and that contemplation is not the better part? No, certainly not; for indeed never did Our Lady so directly and so fully adhere to God with her whole being as at this very time. But the creature when he has attained the summits of the unitive life, is all the more apt and fitted for exterior works, inasmuch as no lending of himself thereto, can distract him from the immovable center wherein he is fixed.

A signal privilege is this, resulting from that division of the spirit and the soul, (Hebrews 4:12) to which all attain not, and which marks one of the most decisive steps in the spiritual life; for it supposes a purification of man’s entire being so perfect, that in very truth he is no other than one spirit with the Lord; (1 Corinthians 6:17) it entails so absolute a submission of the powers, that without clashing one with the other, they yield, each in its particular sphere, obedience simultaneously to the divine breathing.

So long as the Christian has not yet crossed this last defile, defended with such obstinacy by nature to the last, so long as he has not yet won that holy liberty of the children of God, (Romans 8:21) he cannot possibly turn to man, without, in some way, quitting God. Not that he ought, on that account, to neglect his duties towards his neighbor, in whom God wishes us to see no other than Himself; but, nevertheless, blessed is he who (like Mary) loses naught of the better part, the whole he attends to his obligations towards others! Yet how few are such privileged souls! and what a delusion it is to persuade ourselves to the contrary!

We shall return to these thoughts on the day of Our Lady’s triumphant Assumption; but the Gospel to which we have just been listening makes it a duty for us, even now, to draw the attention of the reader to this point. Our Lady has especially on this feast a claim to be invoked as the model of those who devote themselves to works of mercy; and if to all it is by no means given to keep their spirit, at the same moment, more than ever immersed in God, all, nevertheless, ought constantly to strive to approach, by the practice of recollection and divine praise, to those luminous heights whereon their queen shows herself, this day, in all the plenitude of her ineffable perfections.

The Offertory sings the glorious privilege of Mary, Mother and Virgin, bringing forth Him who made her.

OFFERTORY

Thou art blessed, O Virgin Mary, who didst bear the Creator of all things: thou didst bring forth Him who made thee, and thou remainest for ever a Virgin.

The Son of God, being born of Mary, consecrated her Virginal integrity. Let us beg of him in today’s Secret, to vouchsafe, in memory of his Mother, to purify us of every stain, and so render our offering acceptable to God on high.

SECRET

May the Humanity of thy Only-begotten Son succor us, O Lord; that Jesus Christ our Lord, who, when born of a Virgin did not diminish, but consecrated the integrity of his Mother, may, on this solemnity of her Visitation, deliver us from our sins, and make our oblation acceptable to thee. Who liveth, etc.

Commemoration of SS. Processus and Martinianus.

Receive, O Lord, our prayers and offerings, and that they may be worthy of thy regard, may we be helped by the prayers of thy Saints. Through our Lord, etc.

PREFACE

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should always, and in all places, give thanks to thee, O holy Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God: And that we should praise, bless, and glorify the Visitation of the Blessed Mary ever a Virgin, who by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost conceived thine Only-Begotten Son, and, the glory of her virginity still remaining, brought forth the eternal Light to the world, Jesus Christ our Lord. By whom the Angels praise thy Majesty, the Dominations adore it, the Powers tremble before it; the Heavens, the heavenly Virtues, and blessed Seraphim, with common jubilee glorify it. Together with whom we beseech thee that we may be admitted to join our humble voices, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy.

The Church possesses now within her, in the sacred Mysteries, the same Son of the Eternal Father whom Mary bore for nine months in her blessed womb. Therein did he take flesh, in order to come to us all. Let us then hail, in our Communion Antiphon, both the Mother and the Son.

COMMUNION

Blessed is the womb of the Virgin Mary, which bore the Son of the Eternal Father.

The celebration of each one of the mysteries of our Salvation, by the participation of the divine Sacrament which contains them all, is a means of obtaining that evil be kept afar from us, both in this world and the next. This thought is expressed in the Postcommunion, touching on today’s mystery.

POSTCOMMUNION

We have received, O Lord, the votive mysteries of this annual celebration, grant, we beseech thee, that they may bestow upon us remedies both for time and eternity. Through our Lord, etc.

Commemoration of SS. Processus and Martinianus.

Replenished with the nourishment of thy sacred Body and precious Blood, we beseech thee, O Lord our God, that what we perform with pious devotion, we may receive with assured redemption. Through the same, etc.

SECOND VESPERS

The antiphons, psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle are the same as in First Vespers, above.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

All generations shall call me blessed, because God hath regarded his humble handmaid. Alleluia.

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries have celebrated, in graceful compositions, the mystery of this day. The following hymn, by its warm expressions of tender piety towards the Mother of God, more particularly excited the rage of the pretended reformers. What specially roused their wrath was the call to unity which is addresses to the erring. According to what we were saying above as to the motive which prompted holy Church to establish this festival of the Visitation, Mary is in like manner invoked, in other formulas of this period, proper to the same feast, as the light which dissipates clouds, (Hymn. O Christi mater fulgida. Dan. iv 276) which puts an end to schisms. (Hymn. O Christi mater cælica. Dan. iv 236)

HYMN

Come, O co-redemptrix of the world, take away the filth of sin, by visiting thy people, remove their peril of chastisement.

Come, O queen of nations, extinguish the flames of the guilty, rectify whatsoever is wrong, give us to live innocently.

Come, and visit the sick, O Mary, fortify the strong with the vigor of thy holy impetuosity, so that brave courage droop not.

Come, O thou star, O thou light of the ocean waves, shed thy ray of peace upon us; let the heart of John exult with joy before the Lord.

Come, O thou regal scepter, lead back the crowd of erring ones to the unity of the faith, in which the heavenly citizens are saved.

Come, and willingly implore for us the gifts of the Holy Ghost, so that we may be directed aright in the actions of this life.

Come, let us praise the Son, let us praise the Holy Ghost, let us praise the Father, one God, who giveth us succor.

Amen.

Who is she that cometh forth beautiful as the morning rising, terrible as an army set in array? (Song of Solomon 6:9) O Mary, this is the day that thine exquisite brightness, for the first time, gladdens our earth. Thou bearest within thee the Sun of Justice; and his early beams striking first the mountain tops whilst the vales below are yet left in darkness, he at once illumines the precursor, than whom a greater hath not been born of woman. The divine Luminary, swift on his ascending course, will soon bathe the lowly valleys in his radiant fires. But how full of grace and beauty are these his first gleams peering through the veiling cloud! For thou, O Mary, art the light cloud, the hope of earth, the terror of hell. (1 Kings 18:44; Isaiah 19:1) Contemplating from afar, through its heavenly transparency, the mystery of this day, Elias, the father of prophets, and Isaias, their prince, did both of them descry the Lord. They beheld thee speeding thy way across the mountains, and they blessed God; “for,” saith the Holy Ghost, “when winter hath congealed the waters into crystal, withered the valleys, and consumed as with fire the green mountains, a present remedy to all is the speedy coming of a cloud.” (Ecclesiasticus 43:21-24)

Haste thee, then, O Mary! Come thou to all of us, and let not the mountains alone enjoy thy benign influence; bend thee down to those lowly ignoble regions wherein the greater part of mankind but vegetates, helpless to scale yonder mountain heights; yea, let thy kindly visit reach down even to the deepest abyss of human perversity well-nigh bordering on the gulf of hell; let the beams of saving light reach even there. Oh! would that from the thraldom of sin, from the plain where the vulgar throng is swaying to and fro, we were drawn to follow in thy train! How beauteous are thy footsteps along these our humble pathways, (Song of Solomon 7:1) how aromatic the perfumes wherewith thou dost inebriate earth this day! (Song of Solomon 1:5) Thou wast all unknown, nay, thou wast even an enigma to thyself, O thou fairest among the daughters of Adam, until this thy first going forth, led thee unto our poor hovels, (Song of Solomon 1:7) and manifested thy power. The desert, suddenly embalmed with heavenly fragrance, hails the passage, not of the figurative Ark, but of the “Litter of the true Solomon,” in these days of the sublime nuptials which has vouchsafed to contract. (Song of Solomon 3:6-11) what wonder then, if at rapid pace thou dost speed across the mountains, since thou art bearing the Bridegroom who, as a giant, (Psalm 18:6-7) strideth from peak to peak?

Far different art thou, O Mary, from her who is portrayed in the divine Canticle as hesitating, in spite of the heavenly call, to betake herself to active work, foolishly captivated by the sweets of mystic repose, in such way as to dream of finding it elsewhere than in the absolute good pleasure of the Beloved! Thou art not one, at the voice of the spouse, to make difficulties about clothing thyself again with the garment of toil, of exposing thy feet, were it never so little, to be soiled with the dusty roads of earth. (Song of Solomon 5:2-6) Nay, rather; scarce has he given himself to thee immeasurably, as none else can know, than (ever on thy guard against the mistake of remaining all absorbed in selfish enjoyment of his love) thou thyself dost invite him to begin at once the great work which brought him down from heaven to earth: “Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the fields, let us get up early to see if the vineyard flourish, to hasten the budding of the fruits of salvation in souls; there, there it is, that I wish to be all thine.” (Song of Solomon 7:10-13) And, leaning upon him, (Song of Solomon 8:5) no less than he upon thee, without thereby losing aught of heavenly delight, thou dost traverse our desert; and the holy Trinity perceiveth between this Mother and her Son sympathies, harmonious agreements, unknown until then even to her; and the friends of the Bridegroom, hearing thy sweet voice, (Song of Solomon 8:13) on their side also comprehend his love and partake in thy joy. With him, with thee, O Mary, age after age shall behold souls innumerable, who, swift footed even as the mystic roe and the young hart, will flee away from the valleys and gain the mountain heights where, in the warm sunshine, heaven’s aromatic spices are ever fragrant. (Song of Solomon 8:14)

Bless, O Mary, those whom the better part so sweetly attracts. Protect that Order whose glory is to honor in a special manner thy Visitation. Faithful to the spirit of their illustrious Founders, they still continue to justify their sweet title by perfuming the Church on earth with the fragrance of that humility, gentleness, and hidden prayer, which made this day’s mystery so dear to the angels eighteen hundred years ago. In fine, O Lady, forget not the crowded ranks of those whom grace presses, more numerously than ever, nowadays, to tread in thy footsteps, mercifully seeking out every object of misery; teach them the way in which alone it is possible to devote themselves to their neighbor, without in any way quitting God: for the greater glory of God and the happiness of man, multiply such faithful copies of thee. May all of us, having followed in the degree measured out to us by him who divides his gifts to each one as he wills, (1 Corinthians 12:11) meet together in our home yonder, to sing in one voice together with thee, an eternal Magnificat!