The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

While the ancient Roman liturgy of the sixth century already read the passage of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth on the Friday of the Advent Tempora, it was only at the end of the Middle Ages that this Gospel mystery received a feast of its own in the calendar of the Western Church.

Although the feast is generally said to have originated at the meeting of the Franciscan Chapter in Pisa in 1263, under the leadership of Saint Bonaventure, the reliable evidence dates from the following century. In fact, it was the bishop of Prague, John of Jenstein, who in 1386 introduced into his diocese the feast of the Visitation, to be celebrated on April 28 (in evident chronological agreement with March 25), and composed texts for the Mass and the Office. Eight years had passed since the Great Western Schism, which saw Christendom divided between Pope Urban VI and the Avignon antipope, Clement VII. This bishop, John of Jenstein, worked passionately to spread the feast: he not only wrote to bishops and religious superiors, but also begged Urban VI to introduce it throughout the Church, in order to put an end to the scandal of division. Thus, in the declared desire to see the unity of the Church restored, the request of the bishop of Prague was granted by the Pope in 1389. 

He proclaimed an extraordinary jubilee for the following year, also counting Saint Mary Major among the jubilee basilicas, in accordance with the decision of Gregory XI: there, on July 2, the new feast was to be solemnly celebrated, with a vigil and an octave, and placed on a par with Corpus Domini as regards indulgences. But, overtaken by death, Urban VI was unable to publish the official bull promulgating the feast. It was issued by his successor, Boniface IX, at the request of John of Jenstein, who came to Rome as a pilgrim for the Holy Year of 1390. Since the bull made no mention of the liturgical texts, besides the texts of the Nativity of Mary, those composed by the bishop of Prague and by the English cardinal Adam Easton were also used.

According to historical criticism, the feast of the Visitation was received only by the faithful in communion with the Pope of Rome, whereas it was ignored by the supporters of the antipope. Only in 1441, when the Council of Basel, albeit illegitimate, reconfirmed the bull of Boniface IX, with new texts composed by Thomas de Corcellis, was the Visitation gradually proposed to the whole Church. At the Council of Florence (1438-1445), under Eugene IV, the feast was included in the calendars of the Syrian, Maronite, and Coptic Patriarchates. 

In 1475, Sixtus IV reaffirmed in an encyclical the fittingness of solemnizing the Visitation, to which the church of Santa Maria della Pace in Rome had been dedicated; he had new liturgical texts drawn up for the feast and granted indulgences for its octave.

In the post-Tridentine revision of the liturgical books, Saint Pius V abolished the various texts in use, as well as the vespers and the octave of the feast of the Visitation, adopting for it the Mass and Office of the Nativity of Mary. In 1602, Clement VIII made it a feast of the greater double rite, retouching the texts and composing new ones. Finally, in 1850, Pius IX raised the Visitation to a double rite of the second class. A double rite is a particular form in the recitation of the Divine Office, used in the Catholic liturgy for an especially solemn feast. It was so called because it had first and second vespers, and the antiphons were repeated in full before and after each psalm of the major canonical hours.

Our current liturgical calendar has logically placed the Visitation before the birth of John the Baptist (June 24). It replaced the feast of the Queenship of Mary, instituted by Pius XII on May 31, a feast of popular Marian tradition that is now celebrated on August 22. Celebrated today near the time of Pentecost, it can be described, as the Gospel texts suggest, as a particular memorial of the Virgin in her Pentecost: under the breath of the Holy Spirit, the ark of the covenant that anticipates the early Church, filled with enthusiasm in the prayer of the Magnificat.

What Mysteries Are Celebrated?

1. The recognition by Mary and Elizabeth that the new times have already begun, and with them the outpouring of messianic joy (cf. Lk 1:41, 44), of the gift of the Spirit (cf. Lk 1:41), and of the charism of prophecy: by a twofold miracle the mothers prophesy under the inspiration of the sons they bear, and by prophesying they foretell the birth of their sons. And this is fitting, for as sin began with a woman, so too grace regenerates the world through two women; and just as the world received death through the deceit of a woman, so too its life is restored through two women who prophesy.

2. This is the first evangelizing mission: an initiative of the Holy Spirit in Mary for the salvation of mankind. She brings Christ to John. It is also the first testimony given by John to Jesus: from the womb, the Precursor recognizes the presence of the Messiah. Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice, but John was the first to perceive the grace. She heard according to the order of nature; he rejoiced by virtue of the mystery. She sensed the arrival of Mary; he, that of the Lord. The woman sensed the arrival of the woman; the son, the arrival of the Son. It is also the first manifestation of the saving grace of Christ, which sanctifies John in his mother’s womb.

3. The proclamation of the singular blessedness that comes to Mary from her motherhood: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb (Lk 1:42). The recognition of the Virgin’s dignity as “mother of the Lord” (Lk 1:43) and of Mary’s faith, set against the unbelief of Zechariah (cf. Lk 1:20): “Blessed is she who believed in the fulfillment of the words of the Lord” (Lk 1:45). The prophetic announcement of a perennial cult of praise to the Virgin, who has become the object of divine favor: “From now on all generations will call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (Lk 1:48-49).

4. The celebration of the mercy of God, who, looking upon the humility of Mary, His handmaid (cf. Lk 1:48), has helped his servant Israel (Lk 1:54). The proclamation of the Lord’s faithfulness to the promises made to the fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever (Lk 1:55). The glorification of the divine action, wise and just, which thwarts the designs of the wicked, scatters the proud and exalts the humble, fills the hungry with good things, and sends the rich away empty-handed (cf. Lk 1:51-53).

Hymns for Lauds from the Liturgy of the Hours

The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth is explored theologically in John Paul II’s encyclical Redemptoris Mater, which presents this Gospel episode as a model of Mary’s journey of faith and of her mission to bring Christ to the world.

Further your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.