May 31, 2012

Feast of the Visitation (Part 1 of 2)



The Visitation by Carl Bloch
Today is the feast of the Visitation!  It’s one of my all-time favorite feast days, for so very many reasons:

“During those days, Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah ....” (Luke 1:39)

In haste.  Mary traveled in haste.  Had she briefly planned the trip, quickly assembling what was needed, then making an organized yet hasty departure?  Or had she been more impulsive, simply grabbing her shawl and departing in haste the moment she heard the news of her cousin, Elizabeth’s, situation?  Was it cold the day she left?  Did the wind lash at her hair as she stepped outside, reminding her that in her haste she'd forgotten her cloak or a warmer veil?  Did she even have one?  Did she hurry on anyway?

How many times have we gone to aid someone else “in haste”?  How many times have we immediately put aside our own comfort or convenience to serve others so readily?

Remember, at this point, Mary already was pregnant with the Infant Christ Child.

Being pregnant, just how much “haste” could Mary muster?  Did she have an easy pregnancy, because she was sinless and He was God?  Or did she suffer the usual discomforts of creating a brand new human being?  Even if her pregnancy was flawless, Mary surely still swelled in size the way pregnant women do.  She still had to carry around physically the extra weight of her ever-growing holy burden each day, perhaps even bumping into things or requiring a larger tunic with the seam let out because of her unaccustomed size.

She still had to find a comfortable position in which to lie on her side so she could sleep at night.

In “hill country.”  Hill country?  That doesn't sound easy.  Certainly not paved.  Are you familiar with the terrain around Jerusalem?  The city sits on a limestone platueau amidst steep valleys.  Surrounded by mountainous hills.  Mountains, really.  At least four ruggedly impassable mountains.   Sharp and wide ravines.  To the east lies the Judean desert, which in 10 miles descends 4,000 feet to the Dead Sea.  Between the mountains, ravines, and surrounding deserts, Jerusalem at this time only could be approached safely from the north.  It was considered easily defensible, not easily reached.

Mountains.  Ravines.  Deserts.  Hill country.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m pregnant, anything more than a speed bump constitutes an arduous climb.  How did Mary climb?  On foot?  By donkey?  Was she alone?  Accompanied?  Did the weather cooperate?  Or was she hampered by blistering sun?  Driving wind?  Pelting rain?  Cold nights?

The more I think of these things, the more “Mary went as quickly as she could” doesn’t sound so simple as it seems.

The Wizard of Oz told the Tin Man that the true measure of a heart is not how much you love others, but how much others love you.  How very much Elizabeth must have been loved by Mary!  How much Mary must have loved her elder cousin to venture out several days throughout this terrain to reach her!  Mary completely gave herself over to the journey, not just the physical journey of getting there, but the interior journey of selflessness, of service to others.

“….she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.” (Luke 1:40)

Mary not only went for a “visit” to see how Elizabeth was doing, and thereby become “company” for Elizabeth to host.  The Blessed Virgin stayed for three months, more than likely humbly making herself useful around Elizabeth and Zechariah’s home, sweeping, cleaning, cooking, laundering, tidying, mending, sewing, tending a garden, gathering wood, feeding the animals.  Mary would have bent readily to these tasks, not only because of her own inherent selflessness, but perhaps especially inspired to empathy by Elizabeth’s advanced age, yet similar expectant condition.

Remember – Elizabeth was old.  Quite old.  Far past typical child-bearing age.  How marvelous it must have been for her to have her young cousin, Mary, there at her side, not only helping her in physical tasks, but also to cheer and encourage Elizabeth in her own burden of pregnancy.

Just how difficult was it for Elizabeth to carry the future John the Baptist with grace and ease?

This is the other side of the Visitation story – Elizabeth’s story.

(To Be Continued Soon In Part 2 of 2)

READ THIS:   The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, www.tanbooks.com

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