Published June 6, 2017
The Visitation
When for the first time He filled you, you were not yet an outer place; you were but His Mother's womb. How I long to know that he stones I am treading in Nazareth are the same which her feet touched when she was Your only place on earth. Meeting You through the stone touched by the feet of Your Mother. ~ Karol Wojtyla, "Identities," translated by Jerzy Peterkiewicz
Mary started showing signs of pregnancy while she was staying with Elizabeth and Zechariah. Though Elizabeth was also experiencing her first pregnancy, she was a few months ahead of Mary, and had already helped other women in childbirth. Being so young, Mary had never been called upon for this task, so Elizabeth told her the details of what she could expect.
Mary was amazed at what she heard, and incredulous when she considered that it would soon happen to her, with this Child, the Son of God. "It seems … unbecoming, for Him to enter the world the same messy way as us. Why couldn't the Lord just make a Savior?"
"It is not a matter of what He could but what He would," Elizabeth said.
"Then why would He choose to be born of woman?"
"Perhaps He wants to allow mankind to play a role in its own salvation." Elizabeth looked at her thoughtfully. "You know the story of our first parents?"
"Of course." None of the women could read, but everyone heard the scriptures at the synagogue, and parents told the stories to their children.
"It was woman who brought evil into this world, was it not?"
Mary bit her lip. She had heard this many times, often as a man's justification for being cruel to women. "Yes," she admitted.
"Yet now God chooses to enter the world through a woman," Elizabeth pointed out. "You are playing a part in His plan to remedy our mother Eve's error. You'll be the Mother of all that God is—Grace and Mercy and Goodness and Love."
Mary did not know how to respond. Such grand ideas were beyond the reach of an uneducated peasant girl like her. She spent long periods of time in reflection, pondering the changes in her body and trying to understand the God outside and inside of her.
In his months of muteness, Zechariah mostly communicated with people by signs. Sometimes, though, when he wanted to express a more complex thought, he sought out a male friend or neighbor to read what he wrote on a tablet.
When Mary began to feel her unborn Child move inside her, and invited Elizabeth and Zechariah to feel her stomach, he seemed overcome with emotion, and rushed to find a neighbor who read his words to Mary:
"No one in this world will ever be as close to the Lord as you are."
Author's Notes
Many of these vignettes are inspired by my reflections while praying the rosary. What I love about the rosary is how it encourages us to imagine what Jesus, Mary, and other people were thinking and feeling during each event. Thinking about motherhood increases my awe for Mary and her unique physical and emotional relationship with Jesus.
I used to wonder about the words of the the "Hail Holy Queen" prayer, because the titles and praise it gives to Mary sound attributable to Jesus. But then it occurred to me that "Mother of Mercy" is an accurate title for Mary because she is the mother of Jesus, Who is Mercy.