“The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.” (Song of Songs 2:8)
On the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (In Visitatione B. Mariæ Virginis), the Church gives us a glimpse of profound joy and humble charity through two beautiful readings: the lyrical Song of Songs 2:8–14 and the deeply Marian Gospel of Luke 1:39–47. Read in light of one another, these texts reveal a spiritual landscape brimming with grace, divine encounter, and maternal intercession.
“The voice of my beloved”: A Prophetic Song
The passage from the Song of Songs is a poetic dialogue between the soul and the divine Bridegroom. In a mystical key, the Church has long interpreted this book as a figure of Christ’s love for His Bride, the Church, and also as a figure of Our Lady’s unique relationship with the Word made flesh. St. Ambrose tells us that in the Song of Songs, “the soul is taught how to ascend by stages to God, the Bridegroom, and how she is purified for union with Him” (On Virginity, I.7). Applied to the Visitation, we may see this passage as a prefigurement of Mary’s joyful movement—her soul leaping like the gazelle toward the hill country of Judah.
Mary, who bore the Beloved in her womb, arises swiftly “and went with haste into the hill country” (Lk 1:39). The Beloved comes “leaping upon the mountains”—not only metaphorically through her physical journey, but mystically through the Incarnation, for Christ has begun His redemptive work already in the womb. As St. Gregory of Nyssa writes: “As soon as the Word of God took up His dwelling in the Virgin’s womb, He leapt into the womb of Elizabeth like a young stag or a gazelle” (Homily on the Song of Songs).
The mountains and hills over which the Beloved comes symbolize, according to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, “the patriarchs and prophets,” over whom Christ comes “with ease and speed,” fulfilling all their longings in His Incarnation (Sermon 4 on the Song of Songs).
The Visitation: Charity and Magnificat
Mary’s Visitation to Elizabeth is not only a journey of maternal compassion but a sacred mission of intercession. She brings not only herself but the very presence of God Incarnate. The moment her voice reaches Elizabeth, the child in her womb leaps, and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Ghost. The voice of Mary becomes the voice of the Beloved—the cause of joy, the herald of salvation.
St. Bede the Venerable marvels at the spiritual fruitfulness of this meeting: “It was fitting that the beginning of God’s entrance into the world should be marked by this sanctification of the unborn John by the unborn Jesus.” (Homilies on the Gospels, I.3)
Mary’s song—the Magnificat—is the culmination of the mystery of the Visitation. It is not merely a hymn of personal thanksgiving, but a prophetic song of the Church, the song of the lowly exalted, of the covenant fulfilled. In it echoes the springtime imagery of the Song of Songs:
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past… the time of singing has come” (Song 2:10–12).
Indeed, with Mary’s visitation, the spiritual winter is past. The Word has come; the flowers of redemption have begun to blossom.
Spiritual Lessons from the Fathers
- Haste in Charity: St. Ambrose, commenting on Luke 1, writes: “The grace of the Holy Spirit does not admit of delays” (Commentary on Luke, II.19). Mary teaches us to respond promptly to God’s prompting—not merely with emotion, but with action.
- The Hidden Presence of Christ: St. John Chrysostom emphasizes that it was not merely Mary who entered the house of Zechariah, but “the Lord of all creation, hidden in her womb” (Homily on Matthew, 4.6). Christ acts even in silence, even in the hiddenness of the womb.
- The New Ark: The Fathers often draw a parallel between Mary visiting Elizabeth and the Ark of the Covenant coming to the house of Obed-edom (cf. 2 Samuel 6). The Ark remained for three months, just as Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months (Lk 1:56). The joyous leaping of the child John mirrors David’s dance before the Ark. As St. Gregory Thaumaturgus says: “The womb of Mary is the holy Ark, bearing within it the Lawgiver Himself.”
Conclusion: Come, My Beloved
On this feast, we are invited to imitate Mary: to bring Christ into the lives of others, to magnify the Lord with our souls, and to leap interiorly with joy at His presence. In the imagery of the Song of Songs, the winter is past and the flowers of grace are blooming—Christ is already present in our midst, hidden but active.
Let us arise and go out to meet Him with the same purity, humility, and charity with which Our Lady went to her cousin. And in doing so, may our souls also magnify the Lord, and our spirits rejoice in God our Savior.
Prayer for the Feast of the Visitation (Traditional)
O Lord, we beseech Thee, sanctify our hearts by the visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary: that we, who recognize her to be the Mother of Thy Son, may through her intercession be delivered from present evils and attain everlasting joys. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.