This week the Episcopal Lectionary celebrates the visitation of Mary visiting Elizabeth for three months in the hills of Judea. Her unborn son, John, senses the nearness of the foretold Messiah, Jesus, being carried in Mary’s womb and “leaps with joy”.
The birth of John the Baptist to Elizabeth is also a result of God’s intervention as Elizabeth remained barren until what many sources say was 88 years of age. Traditionally she is represented as a young woman as fertility is associated with you.
Elizabeth’s greeting of Mary in Luke 1:39-57 becomes the basis of the Hail Mary prayer. “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
By the time of Pope Gregory in the 6th century early forms of the prayer were recited with a rosary of beads. The practice gained growing favor over the next centuries.
Roman Catholics around the world frequently pray the traditional prayer at funerals and other religious ceremonies. Mary is also admired as a Holy Person or Saint in the Anglican Tradition who lived a righteous Christian life. Some Episcopalians and Anglicans also will pray versions of Hail Mary with the Anglican rosary.
Although the Anglican/Episcopal view of Mary does not clearly say she was born without sin as does the Roman Catholic tradition, the example of her life teaches us how to be faithful. Her subsequent apparitions seven times in the world including in Mexico and Portugal are considered significant events of faith.
This link leads to a video about the Anglican Rosary
+ There are no comments
Add yours