J.M.J. Generally, May 31st, which was yesterday, is the Feast of the Visitation; however, this year, yesterday was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.
Here is a reflection about Our Lady as the Visitrix--the one who went out of her way to see her cousin.
The Servant of God Terence James Cooke
(1921-1983) was the Archbishop of New York for fifteen years
(1968-1983). Over two decades after his death, he is fondly remembered
for his tranquility and his willingness to suffer silently and
uncomplainingly from grave illness.
In Meditations on Mary (New York:
Alba House, 1993), which has an Introduction from Father Benedict J.
Groeschel, C.F.R., one finds a series of conferences that the
then-Monsignor Cooke, who was secretary to the famous Francis Cardinal
Spellman, gave at Lourdes , France
In one of his meditations, the future shepherd of Gotham
described the Madonna as one who visited others. “Mary’s life has been
and still is a continual series of visitations of which that first visit
to Elizabeth
was the prototype. She is ever bringing Jesus to souls, and leading
souls to Jesus. Alone she never comes, for Jesus is always with her. To
her we owe every Holy Communion we receive, for it is the same Body,
conceived and nourished in her immaculate womb, that is the food of our
souls. To her we owe every spiritual visitation of Divine Grace, for she
is the Mediatrix of all graces, interceding and obtaining for us favors
and blessings even before we are aware of their necessity. To her we
owe every good accomplished, every evil avoided, every temptation
overcome, for ‘without Him we can do nothing.’ If He is with us or near
us, in some way she is responsible for His nearness.”
We need not try hard to imagine Mary as
seeking every opportunity to visit us—her sons and daughters. Her visits
urge us, in turn, to “visit” her and her Son. How is this possible?
Monsignor Cooke asserted: “Your daily sacrifices are your visitation to
Jesus and Mary, to honor them, to offer thanksgiving, to make
reparation, and to petition some new blessing. But before you began to
make these sacrifices, or even to plan them, Mary has already made a
visitation to you inspiring you to make them.”
Mary is justly hailed as the “Visitrix.” Now from Paradise ,
she cares for her beloved children. And we, according to Cardinal
Cooke, approach her because we have been touched by her visits to us.
In encouraging his listeners to the sacred
Grotto of Lourdes to consider attentively their relationship with the
Risen Lord Jesus and His chaste Mother the Ever-Virgin, Monsignor Cooke
concluded his remarks thus:
“In the Gospel for Christmas there are two
lines which, no matter how often they are read, always have a sad,
melancholy tone: ‘He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.’
‘There was no room for them in the inn.’ Your coming on this pilgrimage
of Our Lady is a sign that you have made room for them in the inn of
your heart. They have come unto their own, and their own have received
them.”
“It has been said, ‘Happy is the house
which the Mother of God visits.’ We might say, ‘Happy is the heart which
the Mother of God visits.’”
May our hearts be visited by the Queen of Heaven and embrace every chance to visit her in return.
Our Lady of the Visitation, pray for us!
