Fr Alex Swain
Beloved in Christ,
According to Lesser Feasts and Fasts (2024), today’s observance of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary commemorates the visit of the Mary with her cousin Elizabeth as recorded in Luke 1:39-56.
Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John (who will become the baptizer), proclaims, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
These poignant words become central to the Ave Maria, or Hail Mary. This beautiful prayer of powerful intercession can sometimes be dismissed from those who are more protestant. But there is nothing inherently Roman about the prayer. In fact, it’s very scriptural, and I commend all of us to pray it more frequently—with or without the Rosary.
“Hail Mary, full of grace, The Lord is with thee;” comes from Luke 1:28, when the angel Gabriel comes to Mary.
“Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” This comes from Luke 1:42, and are the words of Elizabeth, from what we celebrate today.
“Holy Mary, Mother of God,” Mary has been venerated as being a person of profound importance and sanctity since the earliest Christian traditions, hence the term “holy.”
The title “Mother of God” or Theotokos, God-bearer, was officially given to Mary during the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD to combat the heresy of Nestorianism, which claimed that Mary only birthed Jesus’ human nature, and not his divine nature (which according to Nestorius came to be applied to Jesus later in life, among other things).
“Pray for us sinners, Now and at the hour of our death.” This comes from the common practice of seeking the intercession of holy people (see James 5:16). This theological development happened early in Christian tradition, drawing from passages like Hebrews 12:1 which speaks of the great cloud of witnesses and Revelation 5:8 and 8:3-4 when angels come before the altar of God offering incense before God as the prayers of the saints.
It is meet and right to honor Mary in our worship of God. Without her saying yes to God the incarnation would not have happened. Thanks be to God for Mary, her faith, her witness, her ministry!
May she pray for us to the Lord our God!
Yours in Christ,
—Fr Alex Swain