The atmosphere surrounding this mystery we contemplate in the Holy Rosary, the atmosphere that permeates the episode of the Visitation, is joy; the mystery of the Visitation is a mystery of joy. John the Baptist exults with joy in the womb of Saint Elizabeth; she, filled with joy for the gift of motherhood, bursts forth in blessings to the Lord; Mary raises the Magnificat, a hymn overflowing with messianic joy.
To Elizabeth's praises, Our Lady responds with this song of jubilation. The home of Zechariah and Elizabeth exudes the purest spirit of the Old Testament. And Mary encloses within her womb the Mystery that will give way to the New. The Magnificat is "the canticle of messianic times, in which the joy of the old and the new Israel converge (...). The Virgin's canticle, expanding in scope, has become the prayer of the Church of all times."
It is in this context that the expression of what Mary holds in her heart makes perfect sense. The Magnificat is the purest manifestation of her intimate secret, revealed by the angel. There is no contrivance or artifice in it: these words are the mirror of Our Lady's soul; a soul filled with greatness and so close to its Creator: My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
And along with this song of joy and humility, the Virgin has left us a prophecy: from now on all generations will call me blessed. "Since ancient times, the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of Mother of God, to whose protection the faithful turn, in all their dangers and needs, with their prayers. And especially since the Council of Ephesus, the cult of the People of God toward Mary grew marvelously in veneration and love, in invocations and desire for imitation, in conformity with her own prophetic words: "From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me."
Our Holy Mother Mary did not distinguish herself by prodigious deeds; we do not know from the Gospel that she performed miracles while on earth; few, very few, are the words of her that the inspired text has preserved for us. Her life in the eyes of others was that of an ordinary woman, who must support her family. Nevertheless, this marvelous prophecy has been punctually fulfilled. Who could count the praises, the invocations, the shrines in her honor, the offerings, the Marian devotions...? For twenty centuries, people of all kinds and conditions have called her blessed: intellectuals and those who cannot read, kings, warriors, artisans, men and women, the elderly and children beginning to babble... We are now fulfilling that prophecy. Hail Mary, full of grace... blessed are you among women... we say to her in the intimacy of our hearts.
We have invoked her in a particular way throughout this month of May, "but the month of May cannot end; it must continue in our lives, because veneration, love, and devotion to the Virgin cannot disappear from our hearts; rather, they must grow and manifest themselves in a witness of Christian life, modeled after the example of Mary, the name of the beautiful flower I always invoke // morning and evening, as Dante Alighieri sings (Paradiso 23, 88)"16. In dealing with Mary, we discover Jesus. "How joyful Jesus' gaze must have been! The same joy that would shine in the eyes of his Mother, who cannot contain her joy—"Magnificat anima mea Dominum!"—and her soul glorifies the Lord, since she carries him within her and at her side.
"O Mother, may ours, like yours, be the joy of being with Him and of having Him."
Hablar con Dios