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Illustration: Visitation by Raphael, c. 1517
Pope Francis’ General Audience
Audience Hall – Wednesday, 5 February 2025
Cycle of Catechesis – Jubilee 2025.
Jesus Christ our Hope. I. The Infancy of Jesus. 4.
« Blessed are you who believed » (Lk 1:45).
The Visitation and the Magnificat
Luke 1:39-42 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 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today we will contemplate the beauty of Jesus Christ our hope in the mystery of the Visitation.
The Virgin Mary visited Saint Elizabeth; but it is above all Jesus, who visits his people in his mother’s womb,(Lk 1:68 – “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people), as Zechariah says in his hymn of praise.
After her astonishment and wonder at what the angel had announced to her, Mary rose and set out on a journey, like all those who are called to do so in the Bible, because “the only act with which man can respond to God who reveal himself to him is that of unlimited readiness” (Hans Urs von Balthasar, Vocation).
This young daughter of Israel does not choose to protect herself from the world; she does not fear dangers and the judgements of others but goes out towards others.
When we feel loved, we experience a power that moves us; as the Apostle Paul says, “the love of Christ impels us” (2 Cor 5:14).
Mary feels the impulse of this love and went to help a woman who was a relative of hers, but also an elderly woman who, after a long wait, had an unwanted pregnancy that was difficult to bear at her age.
But the Virgin also went to Elizabeth to share her faith in the God of the impossible and her hope in the fulfilment of his promises.
The meeting between the two women had a surprising effect: the voice of Mary, “full of grace”, who greeted Elizabeth provokes the prophecy in the child that the older woman was carrying in her womb, and inspired in her a double blessing: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Lk 1:42). And also a beatitude: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (v. 45).
Faced with the recognition of the Messianic identity of her Son and her mission as a mother, Mary does not speak of herself but of God, and she raises a praise full of faith, hope and joy, a song that resounds every day in the Church during the prayer of Vespers: the Magnificat (See Footnote below – Lk 1:46-55).
This praise to God the Redeemer, that poured out from the heart of his humble servant, is a solemn memorial that summarizes and fulfils the prayer of Israel.
It is interwoven with biblical echoes, a sign that Mary does not wish to sing “off-key” but to join in with the ancestors, exalting her compassion for the humble, those little ones whom Jesus in his preaching will proclaim “blessed” in his Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:1-12 – footnote 1 below).
The prominent presence of the paschal motif also makes the Magnificat a hymn of redemption, with the memory of Israel’s liberation from Egypt as its background.
The verbs are all in the past, imbued with the memory of love that enlightens the present with faith and the future with hope: Mary sings of the grace of the past, but she is the woman of the present who carries the future in her womb.
The first part of this hymn praises God’s action in Mary, a microcosm of the People of God who are fully faithful to the Covenant (vv. 46-50); the second part is the Father’s action in the macrocosm of the history of his Son (vv. 51-55), through three key words: memory, mercy, promise.
The Lord, who bowed down to the humble Mary to accomplish “great things” in her and to make her the Mother of the Lord, began to save His people beginning with the exodus, remembering the universal blessing promised to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3 – Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing).
The Lord God who is the faithful forever, has poured out an uninterrupted stream of merciful love “from age to age” upon the covenant people, and now reveals the fullness of salvation in His Son, who was sent to save the people from their sins.
From Abraham to Jesus Christ and the community of believers, the Passover thus appears as the hermeneutical category for understanding every subsequent liberation, up to that realized by the Messiah in the fullness of time.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us ask the Lord today for the grace to be able to wait for the fulfilment of each one of his promises; and to help us to welcome Mary’s presence in our lives.
Following her example, may we all discover that every soul that believes and hopes “receives and begets the Word of God” (Saint Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel according to Luke 2, 26).
Footnote 1: Luke 1:46-55
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.”
Footnote 2: Matthew 5:1-12 – Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he was seated his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for this is how men persecuted the prophets who were before you).
