The Mariological Celebrations of Advent (Part II)

The Weekday of December 21: The Visit to Elizabeth

It is the feast of the Visitation in the season of Advent! This mystery is taken up again on May 31. 

The biblical, patristic, and liturgical tradition, of both East and West, has always associated this celebration with the image of the bride of the Song of Songs, which gives a joyful and lyrical tone to the celebration. What is said of the bride applies to Mary. The eager journey (in haste, Lk 1:39) shows Mary as the icon of the Church, loved by God, the Bridegroom, and in love with Him. The conclusion drawn from it is the theme of God’s presence in the Virgin, representative of the people of God. If this reading creates pastoral difficulties, a second, easier option is offered, but still on the theme of God’s presence among His people (He is in your midst: Zeph 3:14-18a) and in the daughter of Zion, in whom messianic expectation culminates.

The Gospel pericope presents Mary’s meeting with her cousin Elizabeth (Lk 1:39-45), postponing to the following day the proclamation of the Virgin’s canticle (Lk 1:46-55). Therefore, the commemoration of December 22 is the prolongation of this mystery. The encounter takes place in chiasm, between the two mothers and between the sons: John the Baptist is the first among the saints to receive the intercession of Mary. Sanctified, he leaps, while Jesus, in a paschal anticipation, pours out the spirit of prophecy upon the two women: the two mothers meet in a hymn of blessing to God, which resounds in Mary. Through this canticle, the fruit of her sapiential meditation on the sacred books, it is the whole of Israel that bursts forth with one voice into messianic joy. All the memorials of the Old Testament (blessings, praises, thanksgivings) that celebrate the mirabilia Dei are summed up in this canticle of the Magnificat.

The entrance hymn (cf. Is 7:14; 8:10) emphasizes the theme of coming: Jesus is carried by Mary, the new ark of the covenant, on her journey to go and serve her kinswoman, from Nazareth to Ain Karim. The words Emmanuel, God-with-us are also immediately perceived, as an anticipation of what the readings will develop. The Communion antiphon is the beginning of the Virgin’s canticle: the part stands for the whole. Those who receive the Body and Blood of the Lord are guided by the canticle of the Magnificat and led to have, in their thanksgiving, the experience of Mary: to carry Christ within themselves and to bring Him to their brothers and sisters.

The Collect contains no direct reference to the mystery being celebrated. The Son who comes in the humility of the human condition is, however, an allusion to the theme of Jesus’ coming, which corresponds to the visit to Elizabeth.

The Marian Sunday before Christmas (Fourth Sunday of Advent)  

The Sunday before Christmas has been redesigned and has once again become, for the Lectionary and for the euchological formularies, a major occasion of Marian piety, even though it is not highlighted by any particular name. It too, like the Marian weekdays, has absorbed the liturgical traditions connected with the December Tempora: thus the events of the infancy Gospels that preceded the birth of the Lord are inserted into a more organic framework.

The Lectionary suggests the following readings:

Five of them are already read on the great weekdays, but combined differently: the annunciation to Joseph (Mt 1:18-24) on December 18; the annunciation to Mary and the visit to Elizabeth on December 20 and 21, respectively; the oracle of Emmanuel (Is 7:10-14) and the prophecy of Nathan (2 Sam 7) on December 20 and at the morning Mass of December 24, respectively. Because the festive Lectionary takes precedence over the weekday, what is explored in depth by the small number of weekday faithful is thus presented to Sunday Christians: the Marian memorials, previously celebrated, are thus strengthened both by the festive celebration and by the more extensive use of biblical texts.

The choices of the Lectionary were made within a rather coherent and not very extensive literary context (the origins of Christ stand out historically only in the context of the Davidic dynasty, according to the insights of the Pauline letters and above all of the infancy Gospels). The Gospel pericopes remain at the center of the community’s reflection, punctuated by proclamations of faith of the early Church and illuminated by some royal and messianic oracles from the tradition of Israel. This favors the Marian dimension that emerges in the celebrations: the Virgin, the true daughter of Zion, sums up in her history of graces all the tension of the preceding history.

The Marian emphasis, without being the only one, is a characteristic component of this Sunday: as Christmas approaches, the figure of Mary leaps into the foreground, as had happened with John the Baptist on the two previous Sundays. The Virgin, chosen by God, is full of grace and a faithful servant, and she remains, in the community of men, believers and nonbelievers alike, a sign of total openness to the God who comes. In this context we understand why the readings from the Apostle are messianic. 

The euchology, too, turns to the mystery accomplished in Mary of Nazareth, with an allusion in the Collect and an explicit remembrance in the Prayer over the Offerings. The Collect, which in three lines presents the unity and totality of the mystery of Christ (incarnation, passion, death, and resurrection), has become the daily prayer in the recitation of the Angelus.

“Pour forth, O Lord, your grace into our souls,
that we, who by the annunciation of the angel
have come to know the incarnation of Christ, your Son,
by his passion and death on the cross
may attain the glory of the resurrection”.

The emphasis placed on the first event expressly recalls the angel’s announcement and the revelation of the incarnation: Mary’s discreet presence makes her appear intimately united to the mystery of the Son. The Prayer over the Offerings is an epiclesis: “Consecrate these gifts with your Spirit, who filled the womb of the Virgin Mary”. The parallel is bold and effective.

The discourse shows a careful sensitivity to Christological, pneumatological, and ecclesiological themes, at the basis of which lies the role of the Logos-Word. In this mystery of listening and obedience, Mary is the exemplary form for approaching the event of redemption.

Marian Masses in the Season of Advent

For occasions of pilgrimage to Marian shrines, local feasts, special celebrations in honor of Our Lady, and on Saturdays, the Missal offers a special formulary for Advent, which also serves as the common of Our Lady during this period. 

Formulary of the Masses of Our Lady: Advent

1. The Virgin Mary, Chosen Daughter of Israel
2. The Virgin Mary at the Annunciation of the Lord
3. The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Almost always, the formulary uses elements that we have already encountered in the various Marian celebrations of Advent. The only proper element, the Prayer after Communion, deserves to be recalled: “Lord our God, who have filled us with the Body and Blood of your Son, manifest your mercy in us always, so that, venerating with faith the mystery of the Virgin and Mother, we may prepare to receive the fruit of salvation”. At the moment of the celebration, this fruit is identified with the Eucharist, which is received as a pledge of salvation. In the mystery of Christmas, it is seen as the beginning of the good things to come.

Closing Prayer

God of infinite goodness, who see your people
faithfully awaiting the Nativity of the Lord,
grant that we may attain the solemnities of our salvation
and celebrate them with renewed joy.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who is God
and lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
for ever and ever. Amen.

To explore more deeply the Mariological celebrations of Advent, consult Paul VI’s apostolic exhortation Marialis Cultus, on the feasts of Mary throughout the liturgical seasons.

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