Every Christian is called to live out the mystery of the Visitation by bearing Christ to the world, seeing Christ in everyone we meet, and rejoicing in what the Lord has done. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the exemplar in this vocation of joyfully overflowing with the presence of God. Just before the Visitation, the Blessed Virgin Mary uttered her fiat in submission to the will of God. She became the paradigm of obedience to the Lord and the perfect Israel. It was then when she conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and became the Ark of the New Covenant who would bear Christ to the world.
In an overflowing spirit of joy, Mary rushed out to her relative Elizabeth, who miraculously conceived John the Baptist. The richness of this mystery lies in the fulfillment of the Old Testament, seeing the Virgin Mary, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist in relation to King David. Luke uses the word σπουδῆς (spoudēs), which is translated as “with haste” but the word can also mean “with zeal.” As David zealously made haste and journeyed to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant in the hill country of Judah, so Mary zealously set out with haste to a Judean town in the hill country. Out of reverence for the Lord, David asked, “How can the ark of the Lord come into my care?” (2 Sam 6:9). Upon seeing the Ark of the New Covenant, Elizabeth asks, “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43). Full of joy, David danced around the Ark of the Covenant. In a similar way, the unborn John the Baptist leapt in the womb of Elizabeth before the Ark of the New Covenant, overflowing with joy at the arrival of the Messiah. The Greek word for “leap” is ἐσκίρτησεν (eskirtēsen), which can also be translated as “skipping.” This helps the reader further understand how full of joy the unborn John the Baptist was in the presence of Jesus.
A leaping and dancing caused by joy in the very depth of our soul is the proper response of the true disciple after hearing the Gospel and encountering the Word made flesh. It is thus fitting, after the Word became flesh within her, that the Virgin Mary begins her Magnificat by saying her soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. Like a chalice overflowing, the Virgin Mary joyfully pours forth the first Christian hymn of praise. While the Virgin Mary’s hymn most noticeably resembles the Song of Hannah (1 Sam 2:1–10), Mary also pulls from various parts of the Old Testament to show that God has acted throughout human history, all leading to this moment when she sees what God is doing through her. She represents the ideal Israel because everything God has done for Israel is fulfilled through her, and this comes about by her obedience as the perfect disciple.
As Luke finishes the account of this mystery, Mary remains with Elizabeth for about three months. King David ordered that the Ark of the Covenant repose in the house of Obed-edom for three months (2 Sam 6:11). Luke is not only conveying that Mary is the New Ark, but also the perfect disciple who discerns when to take action and when to rest in the contemplation of the Word.
This Advent, let us contemplate on the deepest yearning of our soul which can only be satisfied by the coming of Jesus through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let us imitate the perfect disciple Mary by rejoicing and resting in what Jesus has done by becoming flesh to save his people.
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Image: Mariotto Albertinelli, The Visitation.
