The Visitation & Monteverdi "Magnificat"

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah,  and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit  and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."  And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord . . .  (Luke 1:39-46)

Ghirlandaio: "The Visitation"

     Today's Feast of the Visitation is touches so many different reasons why we honor the Blessed Mother, it's hard to know where to begin. For one thing, there is the way in which Luke's narrative connects Mary, who is the Arc of the New Covenant, with the Arc of the Covenant from the Old Testament (for an excellent explanation, see Steve Ray's article here). We also see the first example of how we can come to know Jesus through Mary: notice how it is the sound of Mary's voice that causes the unborn John the Baptist to leap for joy. We see, too, an explicit affirmation from Elizabeth that it is because of Mary's trust in God, her "yes", that she is blessed.

    This is far from an exhaustive list; we could spend a very long and fruitful time meditating on the meanings contained in this one brief passage.  I do want to mention one more thing, however: the beautiful and powerful prayer that Mary proclaims when she meets Elizabeth, whose opening words can be found at the end of the passage above (I include the entire prayer below).  This is, of course, the prayer we know as the Magnificat. Today's Office of Readings contains a passage from the early 8th century English monk St. Bede (more commonly called "The Venerable Bede"), who says:

    

Therefore it is an excellent and fruitful custom of holy Church that we should sing Mary’s hymn at the time of evening prayer. By meditating upon the incarnation, our devotion is kindled, and by remembering the example of God’s Mother, we are encouraged to lead a life of virtue.

Twelve centuries later the Magnificat is still part of Evening prayer, and it is still “excellent and fruitful” for us to join in her prayer.

    The clip below is a lovely musical version of the Magnificat composed by Claudio Monteverdi.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel

for he remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children forever.  

(Lk 1:46-55)