May is the month of spring and it is the month when we celebrate motherhood and, in the Catholic tradition, it is the month when we honor Mary, the mother of Jesus and our own mother, too.
The Order of the Visitation was founded to honor Mary in the mystery of her visitation to her cousin Elizabeth, as accounted in Luke 1:39-56. This is the second of the five joyful mysteries of the rosary. The founders of the Visitation, Saints Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal, chose the mystery for the name of their new religious order. They believed there were many spiritual riches to be gleaned in it for the spirit they wished to establish in their institute. St. Francis de Sales wrote to St. Jane that he was drawn to this mystery “because it was a hidden mystery and was not given solemn celebration in the Church as were others, it would at least be given a special place in our congregation”.
Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter on the rosary speaks about how the entire universe is touched in some way by God’s divine favor on Mary in making her the mother of His Son. God has done great things for Mary. In her acknowledgement of this, Mary echoes the words of Hannah, from the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament, in her canticle of praise: “My soul magnifies the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior”.
The key word of Mary’s encounter with Elizabeth is exultation. The mere sound of Mary’s voice and the presence of Christ in her womb inspired joy in both Elizabeth and the unborn John the Baptist. Visitation sisters are reminded in the beginning of their constitutions to imitate Mary’s magnificat in every area of their lives by sharing “in the freedom of her response, in the wonder of her praise, in her zeal for the world’s salvation”.
The Gospel Canticle of every Evening Prayer of the Divine Office, the official prayer of the Church, is Mary’s magnificat. This suggests the importance of Mary’s example of grateful praise in the Christian life. Just as Mary made the words of Hannah her own, may we make her words of praise our own as we go through each day.
