Mary set out for the hill country and hurried to a town in Judea. 40 She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

 

Mary set out for the hill country and hurried to a town in Judea. 40 She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 She exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" 43 How can I be worthy that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who believed that what the Lord had promised her would be fulfilled." 46 Then Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, 50 and his mercy is from generation to generation to those who fear him. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in their hearts. 52 He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, 55 as he promised our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever. 56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then returned home.

1. After speaking with the angel Gabriel, Mary hurried to her cousin Elizabeth. Saint Ambrose says: “Indeed, what could Mary, already filled with God, have done but ascend with haste to the heights?” (Catena Aurea, 67). Origen adds: “Jesus, who was in her womb, was in a hurry to sanctify John, who was still enclosed in his mother’s womb. Hence it continues: in haste” (Catena Aurea, 67). She did not doubt the archangel’s words. Her visit to her cousin’s house shows, above all, her availability, her interest in caring for a pregnant woman, since Elizabeth was advanced in age. Mary certainly thought about what the Angel Gabriel had told her, but it was not her intention to want to know if the Angel had really been right in what he said. That would be doubting God. Mary did not doubt the word that was addressed to her, so much so that she placed herself absolutely at the Lord’s disposal: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word”. Mary is therefore presented as the Handmaid of the Lord. 2. In addition to a factual observation, Luke presents an important biblical hermeneutic. The text reveals a profound theology, what he and the Church experienced after the resurrection of Jesus. Mary's visit to meet Elizabeth is a sign of the encounter between the New and the Old Covenant. In Mary's greeting, the arrival of the awaited Messiah, “the Prince of Peace” (Is 9:5), the presence of “abundant peace” (Ps 71:7), the peace necessary for the construction of a new world, is solemnly proclaimed. Mary, then, is the bearer of peace. Elizabeth calls Mary “Blessed among women”. Jael and Judith also received this type of greeting (Judges 5:24 and Jt 13:23), two fragile women who, by the grace of God, overcame. Now, by applying this greeting to Mary, Luke is trying to affirm that she is the fragile and poor instrument through which God performs His wonders, giving the world the Savior. Furthermore, Elizabeth represents the Old Testament; Mary, the New. She was sterile, She is fertile. 3. Mary is blessed, first of all, because she was thought of, prepared and chosen by God; also because she was entirely turned towards her Lord; and, further, because of the Blessed Fruit of her womb, by which she was graced to be his Mother. “This is the fruit that was promised to David: A descendant of your line I will set upon your throne (Ps 131:1)” (St. Bede - Catena Aurea, 69). Elizabeth says that this child is the fruit of his Mother’s womb “because he did not come from a man, but from Mary alone, for those who are sown by their parents are the fruit of their parents” (Origen - Catena Aurea, 68). “From this passage, in which it is declared that Christ is the fruit of the womb, a refutation of Eutyches is drawn. In fact, every fruit is of the same nature as the plant from which it comes. From this it is deduced that the Virgin was of the same nature as the second Adam, who takes away the sins of the world. Even those who say that the flesh of Christ is merely an appearance are confused by the true birth of the Mother of God, because the fruit comes from the very substance of the tree. Where are those who say that Christ passed through the Virgin as through an aqueduct? Note the words of Elizabeth, who was filled with the Holy Spirit: Christ was the fruit of the womb. She continues: Whence is this blessing to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Severus of Antioch – Catena Aurea, 69).