Wednesday 31 May

the Visitation of the Blessed
Virgin Mary

Zephaniah 3:14-18; Canticle of Isaiah, 12:2-6; Luke 1:39-56

My soul magnifies the Lord

Today we travel with Mary, the pregnant teenager, to visit her older cousin. We would expect Elizabeth to visit the Mother of the Son of God. However, it is Mary with Jesus who visits. As Jesus will say later, 'the Son of Man has come to serve not to be served.' Elizabeth praisesMary for her faith in God's word. In response Mary speaks the hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God - a hymn which resembles the hymn that Hannah sang when she gave birth to her son, the prophet Samuel. She praises all who submit themselves in loving obedience to God.