Second Joyful Mystery: The Visitation

And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth.

And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord.

And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.
He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy: As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her about three months; and she returned to her own house. (Luke 1, 39-56)

If I haven't fallen asleep by now, I have a fairly easy time imagining this Mystery. Mary, having been told by the Archangel Gabriel about the pregnancy of her elderly kinswoman, immediately gets up and sets out to her house. She knows Elizabeth will need assistance in the last few months. The Bible doesn't say if Joseph went with her or not; I always imagine her alone on the journey. What was she thinking as she traveled? Practical things perhaps; or maybe wondering how she was going to tell Elizabeth about the Angel. No doubt she prayed too. And then she sees Elizabeth and calls out to her. That's when all the interesting things happen: Elizabeth's child (St. John the Baptist) leaps in her womb and being filled with the Holy Spirit calls Our Lady the "Mother of my Lord" and praises her for believing. Mary in turn praises God in her beautiful Magnificat for all the wonderful things He has done for her (and us). Her prophecy that the world shall call her Blessed has indeed come spectacularly true.

Fisheaters.com has a great page about the Visitation. I particularly like the parallel between Luke and II Kings; that Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant.

The fruit of this mystery is charity towards our neighbor.

1st Joyful Mystery: The Annunciation

And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,
To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin's name was Mary.
And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Who having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.
And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.
Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.
And of his kingdom there shall be no end.
And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?
And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren.
Because no word shall be impossible with God.
And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38 Douay Rheims)

I've always loved this picture of the Annunciation. It's almost as if someone had gone back in time and snapped a photo of the Event. The film only picks up the Archangel Gabriel as a source of Light, but undoubtedly, Our Lady sees him as he really is. (I did some background and discovered it was painted by Henry Ossawa Tanner, in 1898.)

So, I've always wondered what Our Lady was doing right before St. Gabriel appeared to her. Was she doing some household chore? Baking or preparing to bake? Cleaning? Perhaps she was thinking about Joseph and how kind and gentle he was. No matter. But no doubt she was startled to find an Angel right there in the room with her! Then he addresses her as "Full of Grace", and now she is confused as well. He puts her at ease and tells her the reason for his visit. Now she is even more confused. "How can this be?" He assures her that her vow of Virginity will not be compromised. Mary, whose will is most intimately united to the Will of God, humbly responds that she is a "handmaid of the Lord" and to "let it be done". Her trust in God is complete and absolute.
The virtue or fruit of this Mystery is Humility.

The Joyful Mysteries: My wandering meditations

Christmas is only 5 weeks away, and I thought, for the edification of my readers (both of you) I would, each Sunday leading up to Christmas, explain a bit my meditations on the 5 Joyful Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary. These are merely what I try to meditate upon when praying the Rosary. I don't always succeed as my mind tends to wander greatly; or I fall asleep. Some come easily, some come rather reluctantly. So, next up: The Annunciation.