P.S. Only last day of May brings to mind both the the Artwork of the front cover of MAGNIFICAT and the Dominican article.
THE VISITATION
Front cover: The Visitation, Pietro di
Francesco degli Orioli (1458- 1496), Pinacoteca, Siena, Italy. © La Collection /
Domingie & Rabatti. (For more information on this painting, please see the commentary
on p.432.) MAGNIFICAT,May 2012
Leap For joy!
Artwork
of the front cover.
In the fifteenth century, the representation of
the Visitation becomes much more than a simple pictorial narration of the Gospel of
Luke (1: 39ff). It serves as a window through which to contemplate the mystery of God who visits and redeems his people. On the surface,
the Visitation by Pietro Orioli depicts
a touching family reunion, based on the apocryphal gospels. Here we see Zechariah and Elizabeth, first cousins of the Virgin Mary (An ne, the mother of Mary, had a sister, Esmeria, who was Elizabeth's mother), who greet Mary of Nazareth in the courtyard of their home. Our Lady is accompanied by two of her sisters (or sisters-in-law), Mary Salorne (blonde), wife of Zebedee, and Mary of Clopas (brunette). All four women are visibly pregnant, with, respectively, John the Baptist, Jesus, lames the Greater, and lames "the brother of the Lord" (and first bishop of Jerusalem). However, as a clear sign that Mary's pregnancy is incomparable to that of any other woman, the artist has clothed the Mother of God in an immaculate white dress, symbol of both the baptism she received in advance and her virginity.
Beyond
these anecdotal allusions, this family encounter conveys a profound symbolic meaning: the intertwined hands of Elizabeth, the elderly woman, and of Mary, younger than sin, enact the transition from the Chosen People to the Church, from the old Covenant to the new and eternal Covenant. At right in the painting, the Old Testament is represented by Zechariah the high priest, by Elizabeth who bears John the Baptist, the last of the prophets, and by a servant who personifies the Law that withdraws before the Word made flesh. At left, the New Testament is represented by the Virgin Mary. Present within the tabernacle of her womb, the Saviour of the world announced by the prophets is authenticated by the leaping of John the Baptist. And here we see the two other Marys, pregnant with apostles, future pillars of the Church. They will remain standing, faithful, at the foot of the cross, and at the tomb they will be among the first witnesses to the Resurrection.
•
Pierre-Marie Dumont
MEDITATION OF THE DAY
A Lesson of the Visitation
When Mary was greeted in this way by her elderly
cousin Elizabeth, she at once sang her Magnificat, that great song of
joy and of self-knowledge in God: "My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit
rejoices in the Lord God, my Saviour!" Mary was not able to respond in this way when she was greeted
by the angel Gabriel. No - what in the end occasioned her joy were words spoken
to her by Elizabeth, her elderly relative, very simple and very humble words of
delighted recognition: "Blessed are you among women, and
blessed is the fruit of your womb!" There is here, if I'm not
mistaken, an important but unexpected lesson. Sometimes we might be inclined to
think that, without the confirmation of some interior vision or some deep
experience in prayer, we cannot hope to know the joy of God's love for us. But
Mary's experience at the Visitation reminds us that such a deep and joyful
realisation can be the result of a simple good deed or act of generosity done
to someone in need. Again and again, to our astonishment, we discover that it
is in the poor, in those who need our help, that the Lord is waiting to fill us
with the knowledge, the joyful knowledge that we are loved. And this knowledge
is knowledge that heals. If we,
who know ourselves to be wounded in some way, make an effort to help others who
are suffering, if we "share our bread with the hungry" and try to "shelter
the homeless poor" or make a visit to someone in need like Mary, then, according
to the prophet Isaiah, not only will we experience enlightenment of some kind, but
"[our]
wound will quickly be healed over" (Is 58: 6-8) . And why? Because
in those who are most in need of help we will meet Christ himself: "Whatever
you do to one of these, the least of my brothers, you do to me."
Door into the Sacred: a Meditation on the Hail Mary 2011.By Father Murray OP. Also his books
include T S Eliot and Mysticism and A Journey with Jonah: The Spirituality of
Bewilderment.
