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Reading
Luke 1:39
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
Devotion
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| The Embrace of Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary. St. George Church, Kurbinovo, North Macedonia |
This week's art is a fresco from a church in North Macedonia. A fresco is a method of painting a mural in plaster. The artist is unknown. More about the church and its beautiful fresco's may be found here: Church of St. George, Kurbinovo - Wikipedia.
Mary is the theme for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the Sunday before the Feast of the Incarnation AKA Christmas. This year the emphasis in the readings is on the visit between Mary, portrayed on the left and her kinswoman Elizabeth, the figure on the right. The blue robe of Mary is under her traveling cloak. Elizabeth's aged countenance, deftly etched by lines in her face and throat and framed by her gray hair, seems to convey both joy and sorrow. She is a woman who knows, who understands what the cost of the call of God may well hold for the young Mary.
I marvel at Mary's wisdom. She has had an encounter with an angel who has asked her to do a remarkable thing to which she said, "Yes". Perhaps needing more clarity or seeking guidance she has gone to visit with Elizabeth, who, you may remember is aged, yet miraculously with child and will give birth to John the Baptist. Notice she has not gone to visit with Zechariah the priest who is Elizabeth's husband. This is perhaps fortunate as Zechariah is unable to speak at the moment, perhaps indicative of his lack of understanding of what God is doing--a theme about the officially religious folk which will be repeated over and over in the Gospel. For Zechariah and Elizabeth's story see Luke chapter 1.
In her encounter with Elizabeth, who responds with words of blessing, Mary is moved to say the powerful words of the Magnificat (see Luke 1:46-55) which contains the wonderful image of a soul magnifying the Lord.
This week, dear reader, who is it that you seek after you have had a spiritual encounter that is perhaps only partially understood? I hope they respond with blessing and in a way that allows you to see how your own soul magnifies the Lord and gives birth to Christ!
Prayer
Almighty ever-living God, who, while the Blessed Virgin Mary was carrying your Son in her womb, inspired her to visit Elizabeth, grant us, we pray, that, faithful to the promptings of the Spirit, we may magnify your greatness with the Virgin Mary at all times. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. (From Catholic Culture)