The Gospel gives us the history of the Visitation as an important episode in the development of the divine action. Heaven, in the person of the archangel, had paid homage to Our Lady; now, the earth, in the person of St. Elizabeth, recognizes her as "the Mother of my Lord" and God. The venerable and holy woman, wife of the priest of God, humbles herself before her girl-relative, the spouse of the workingman. It is more than a queen who has condescended to come to her: "Whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should visit me?" (Luke i. 43). Again the benediction of the angel is renewed: "Blessed art thou amongst women," and again, as in Genesis and the Apocalypse, the woman is associated inseparably with the Child: "and blessed is the fruit of thy womb" (Luke vii. 42). It was from the revelation of the Holy Ghost that St. Elizabeth understood the mystery; under His inspiration she spoke the words of God. These words form the salutation which all those who recognize the Divinity of Jesus have addressed to His Mother ever since. Make frequent use of the words which the Holy Spirit Himself puts into your mouth. Imitate the inspired woman in the veneration which she, in the name of all generations to come, offered to the Mother of God. It is one of the most efficient ways of honouring Our Lord's Incarnation.
