After the Annunciation, the Blessed Mother dropped everything to hurry to her cousin Elizabeth and help her in the last few months of her miraculous pregnancy.
When Mary appeared on her doorstep, Elizabeth cried out, “And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?”
Mariotto Albertinelli’s Visitation
Elizabeth’s words echo those spoken by King David a thousand years earlier.
David received the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. Containing the Law of Moses, the staff of Aaron the High Priest, and heavenly manna from the desert, the Ark was the dwelling place of the Lord. To be in the presence of the Ark was to be in the presence of God.
Aware that he was in the presence of God, David was filled with holy fear and cried out, “How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?”
So, by repeating David’s awe-filled query, Elizabeth reveals who Mary is: the Ark of the New Covenant.
Mary contained within her body the Messiah, who would give the final law as the new Moses; who would offer the final sacrifice as the great High Priest; and who would give the final heavenly bread—His very presence—in the Eucharist.
St. Elizabeth knows that she is standing in the presence of God.
John the Baptist—unborn as he is—confirms this. Like David before the previous Ark, he leaps with joy before Jesus and His Mother.
Commemorate the Blessed Mother’s response to Elizabeth with a stunning reproduction of the Madonna of the Magnificat. Encased in an ornate, round gold frame, Boticelli’s masterpiece reminds us of the glory Mary enjoys in being the perfect Handmaid of the Lord. Available today at The Catholic Company!
