The Visitation

The Visitation after James Tissot (1836-1902), Brooklyn Museum

The Visitation is reported only by Luke 1:36-56.

During the Annunciation, which takes place in Nazareth, the angel announces to the Virgin Mary that her "relative" Elizabeth is six months pregnant, she who was called barren. The angel indeed specifies that she was "in her old age." Mary, the Gospel says, immediately set out "to the hill country, to a town of Judea." And it adds "Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months, then returned to her home (in Nazareth)."

The gospel account raises several questions:

• What ties could unite Mary and Elizabeth to the point of deciding to undertake a several-days journey to a relative who seems happy to see her?
• How was this relative known to Joseph who does not seem surprised by this sudden departure?
• How does this distant trip unfold that Mary could not have accomplished without accompaniment while Joseph does not appear at all in the narrative?

In Maria Valtorta

Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph know each other

Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband, is a Judean priest of the class of Abijah (Abiyya), descended like his wife from Aaron. It was the eighth of the 24 priestly divisions established by David (1 Chronicles 24:10). It is in this capacity that he served at the Temple when the archangel Gabriel announced to him the late maternity of his wife Elizabeth. He doubted and was struck mute until the prophecy was fulfilled. These "relatives" of the Virgin Mary thus belong to the priestly aristocracy and Zechariah served at the Temple.

It is therefore quite natural that they welcomed, sixteen years before, Anne coming to the Temple for her ritual Purification (GRM 6) and to consecrate the young Mary who would be raised at the Temple (GRM 8), fulfilling the vow she had made since Anne was also barren. Later, Zechariah and Elizabeth welcomed again the young Mary and her betrothed: Joseph of the house of David like her (GRM 13).

It is thus not surprising and done in full confidence that Joseph lets Mary go to a relative who greets her with joy, and these details support the authenticity of the gospel account.

The young couple organize the journey

The young couple, who are only betrothed according to Jewish custom and who will only marry once Mary's pregnancy is obvious, organize the journey and the separation of "several months,"

"When would you like to leave?" asks Joseph – "As soon as possible. But I will stay there a few months." – "I shall count the days waiting for you. Go at ease, I will take care of the house and the garden. You will find your flowers as beautiful as if you had tended them yourself. Only... wait. I have to go to Jerusalem before Passover to buy some items useful for my work. If you wait a few days, I will accompany you there, but no further, for I must return quickly. But we can travel together up to that point. I will be calmer if I do not know you to be alone on the road. As for the return, you will let me know and I will come to meet you" (GRM 18.5)."

Arrived in Jerusalem, Joseph entrusts Mary to a little old man he knows well and who is going in her direction. They part (GRM 20.1)

Zechariah and Mary live in Hebron

The Visitation. Sketch by Lorenzo Ferri made from Maria Valtorta's directions. Archive fonds of the Fondazione Erede di Maria Valtorta. Isola del Liri.

Although a tradition places it in Ain Karem (En Karem), it is in Hebron that Mary meets Zechariah and Elizabeth around the end of March or beginning of April -5 (around 25 Nissan 3756).

Founded around 1720 BC, Hebron is one of the oldest cities in the world and also one of the few to have been continuously inhabited since its founding. Located in the heart of the Judean mountains it is the "highest" city in Palestine. It was also one of the 48 cities of refuge as indicated in the Bible, but also in the work.

David was crowned king there over the tribe of Judah and made it his capital until the capture of Jerusalem which then became the capital of the Kingdom of Israel. King Herod built the monument called today the "Tomb of the Patriarchs." It was built over a cave where Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah were buried.

It is therefore a city matching the gospel description and a worthy residence for the priestly aristocracy.

The exultations of Elizabeth and Mary

The two relatives embrace in joy. Elizabeth’s exultation is more developed than in Luke 1:41-45, but Mary’s, known as the Magnificat, is identical since Maria Valtorta only refers to the Gospel text.

ELIZABETH’S EXULTATION

In Luke In Maria Valtorta Now when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped within her. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and cried out with a loud voice: “You are blessed among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

But Elizabeth, after remaining for a moment as if recollected within herself, lifts a face so radiant that it seems rejuvenated. She looks at Mary with veneration, smiling as though she were seeing an angel, and then she bows in a deep greeting, saying: “Blessed are you among all women! Blessed is the Fruit of your womb!” (she thus pronounces two clearly distinct sentences). “How have I deserved that you should come to me, your servant, O Mother of my Lord? For at the sound of your voice, the child leapt for joy in my womb, and when I embraced you, the Spirit of the Lord spoke the most exalted truths within the depths of my heart. Blessed are you for having believed that for God even what seems impossible to the human mind is possible! Blessed are you because, through your faith, you will bring about the fulfillment of the things foretold to you by the Lord and the prophecies of the Prophets for this time! Blessed are you for the Salvation you have brought forth for the descendants of Jacob! Blessed are you for having brought Holiness to my son who, I feel, leaps like a young gazelle for the joy he experiences in my womb! For he feels himself freed from the burden of sin, called to be the Forerunner, sanctified before the Redemption by the Holy One who grows within you!”

Notes and references

Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.

Name given to characters of the Old Testament who had a long life and numerous descendants: Ex: Abraham. By extension: Elderly man having great authority over his people and inspiring deep respect.