Second Mystery of Joy: the Visitation
of p. Ottavio De Bertolis sj
Lhe scene we contemplate is not just an example to imitate; first of all, it is an event that happens and that marks the life and in some way the very vocation of Mary. After all, the Visitation is only the first of many visits that Mary makes to men: she enters into our lives, brings us her Son, takes charge of us, of our distance, and comes to visit us. Every time we acclaim her with Elizabeth's own words: "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb", it continues to happen, but this time, precisely for us, that first and original Visitation that we contemplated in the mystery .
Saint Paul teaches us that "no one can say that Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12, 3), and at the center of the angelic greeting there is precisely the name of the Son, of the Blessed One par excellence, whose blessing is the reason for the blessing of his Mother and it falls on her. Mary is the "most blessed": Hebrew does not have the absolute superlative like Italian and to make it we must resort to a broader expression, namely "blessed among all women". But Elizabeth must also be filled with the Holy Spirit to bless Mary, St. Luke observes, just as we must be filled with the Holy Spirit to say that Jesus is Lord. When we recite this praise to Jesus and Mary, we are sure that we are in the grace of the Holy Spirit; this is why it is the safest and most infallible prayer. The Rosary gives us the certainty of praying in the Holy Spirit because he makes us pray with the Lord's prayer and with this greeting from the angel and Elizabeth, that is, with the very words of Scripture. And when we say to Mary: "Pray for us sinners", we have said everything necessary: she knows what she must ask for.
We can, while we bless Jesus and Mary with our lips, keep in mind the many people and situations for which we intend to pray, and ask the Mother of God to visit them, to enter into the lives of those people. We can ask for the grace to also be bearers of that joy that is Jesus and in this sense we can ask to enter into the mystery of Mary's charity which brings joy, into the mystery of her apostolic charity. We can pray for priests, so that they bring joy, not the law or boredom or the little lessons learned in the seminary, so that they are bearers of something bigger than themselves and that people perhaps no longer even expect.
So you see that Mary does not visit Elizabeth as we would, to have a coffee or to chat; she stays there for three months and she makes a long journey "to the mountains", which were dangerous areas for everyone and especially for a single woman. Maria is not sure that it will be easy to go and serve Elizabeth, she is not sure that the trip will go well. But whoever loves her is capable of daring. We often reduce charity to simple good manners, but it is something much greater. Furthermore, charity is not towards those from whom we expect reciprocation; it is towards those who cannot, and perhaps do not even want, to reward us.
Finally, Mary teaches us to rejoice in God our savior. The Magnificat, which the Church recites every evening in the service of Vespers, is the model of praise. We can ask ourselves if we have ever experienced what praise is. It is obvious that prayer is also a request, it is also supplication, it is also meditation or contemplation of the things of God. However, it would be worth underlining that it is necessary not only to think about God or ask God, but also to praise him from the heart, and not "out of duty", of what he is and does for us. A psalm tells us to "taste and see how good the Lord is" (see Ps 34:9); in the same way the Rosary should be a time in which we appreciate how and how much "God looked at the humility of his servant", that is, at our poverty. With Mary, let us contemplate how and when and how many times we have been the object of God's faithfulness and compassion: in fact, praise flows from gratitude and charity is born from praise, since "we love because God loved us first". Mary teaches us precisely this: "he loved me and gave himself for me", and so we too can magnify the Lord, that is, say the great things that he has done for us.