Festival of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Posted on July 2, 2022 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 40:27-31 (NKJV)
40:27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall,
31 but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Devotion
Three months before, the angel Gabriel appeared to the blessed Virgin Mary and proclaimed that she was highly favored for she would give birth to the Savior of the world. Now on this day, the eighth day after St. John the Baptist was born, the day of his circumcision and naming, we hear of when the Virgin Mary greeted Elizabeth and the baby John, being only six months in the womb of his mother, leaped for joy at the arrival of his Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ, who was in the womb of blessed Mary.
The prophet Isaiah speaks about the work of our Savior. The Lord gives power to the weak. He gives might to those who lack strength. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint. This is what faith produces. It renews that which has been destroyed by sin. This is the purpose for which our Lord Jesus came into the world. This is the reason why St. John leaps for joy. This gift is for all the world. It is for all those who cling in faith to the works and merits of the Christ. He never grows faint or weary in His work of redemption for us.
Prayer: Almighty God, Who hast dealt wonderfully with Thy handmaiden, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and hast chosen her to be the mother of Thy Son, and hast graciously made known that Thou regardest the poor and lowly and the despised: Grant us grace in all humility and meekness to receive Thy Word with hearty faith, and so to be made one with Thy dear Son; Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Second Sunday after Trinity Sunday
O Lord, Who never failest to help and govern those whom Thou dost bring up in Thy steadfast fear and love: Make us to have a perpetual fear and love of Thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
