hill country with haste, into a city of Juda. She entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb (7), and Eliz abeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and she cried out with a loud voice, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me (8)? for behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy (9). Blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. Mary said then : My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Saviour, because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed, because he that is mighty hath done great things to me (10). Holy is his name, and his mercy is from generation unto generation to them that fear him." Cease to be surprised at such a wonderful sight. He has showed the might in his arm; and in exalting my lowliness to such a prodigious degree, he has merely acted in unison with his usual course of proceeding. His ordinary conduct is to elevate the lowly, to humble the proud and the great. We know that at all times "he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and hath exalted

(7) This was the moment of the sanctification of Saint John the Baptist. This sanctification was the first fruit of the Incarnation of the Word. Mary's voice was the instrument, and, as it were, the sensible sign of the invisible operation of grace. It is a motive of confidence in Mary, to find her assisting in the first application that was made of the merits of Jesus Christ, after his incarnation, and in the sanctification of the holiest of the children of women.

(8) Had Saint Joseph made the journey, and further, had he been present at this interview, he would have been instructed in that mystery, by his ignorance of which he was subsequently thrown into such great perplexities. This note regards painters, who, in their pictures of the Visitation, scarcely ever fail to represent Saint Joseph.

(9) Joy seems to include knowledge. Such knowledge, it is generally believed, was imparted to Saint John, with the enlightened sentiment of the incarnate Word's presence and of the miracle of sanctification, which the Holy Ghost, whose plenitude he then received, worked within him.

(10) By this canticle it is visible that Mary dwelt alone upon the power and goodness of God-the lowliness and happiness of herself. Saint Ambrose calls this the ecstasy of her humility.

the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent away empty."

Thus his fidelity and goodness appear with no less lustre than his power. By performing that which now makes the subject of your admiration, "He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever."

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Mary abode with Elizabeth about three months, and she returned to her own house (11)."

"Now Elizabeth's full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son, Her neighbors and kinsfólk heard that the Lord had shewed his great mercy towards her, and they congratulated with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by his father's name (12), Zachary. Not so, said his mother, but he shall be called John. They said to her: There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs (13) to his father how he would have him called. Demanding a writing-table, he wrote, saying: John is his name; and they all wondered. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed; he spoke, blessing God. Fear came upon all their neighbors; and all these things were noised abroad over all the hill. country of Judea. All they that heard them laid them up in their heart, saying: What a one think ye shall this child be? for the hand of the Lord was with him." This was the moment which God had chosen to accumulate his choicest blessings on this happy family. He gave to Zachary in addition to his speech, which he recovers by

(11) Without waiting for Elizabeth's confinement, although many other writers come to a different conclusion, and seem to think that Mary must have been present at the birth of Saint John. But besides that the Evangelist's recital naturally inclines us to believe that her departure was precedent, does it not seem that the absence was much more likely than the presence of the purest of virgins?

(12) The name was not conferred until the eighth day, and after the circumcision, for by circumcision alone the child was incorporated into the society of the people of God. 'Tis apparently for the same reason that, in Christianity, the name is given to the child when baptized.

(13) This statement gives us to understand that Zachary had also been rendered deaf, for had he been simply dumb, it would not have been necessary to speak to him by signs,

miracle, the gift of prophecy. This holy old man was filled with the Holy Ghost, and he poured forth that divine Canticle which comprises the entire plan of the Gospel, and a description of the Church in its sunniest days.

"Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people; and hath raised of salvation to us in the house of David his servant."

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"As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who are from the beginning, salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us."

"To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember his holy testament, the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant to us; that being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him without fear in holiness and justice before him, all our days."

Zachary, foreseeing the high destinies of his son, turns to him then, and addresses to him these sublime words, which the child of eight days old heard and understood: "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people, unto the remission of their sins."

So great a favor cannot be deserved; but it shall come to us "through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us, to enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet in the way of peace." Therefore the Messiah as represented here is not what the Jews represented to themselves-a warrior king and a conqueror; he is a Saviour, who, without a single motive but his mercy, and without a single interest but our salvation, brings down to us the remission of our sins. Thenceforth a new order of things succeeds to the ancient dispensation. Fear is replaced by love, and the just man passes his days in holiness and innocence. He enjoys the peace of a pure and tranquil conscience-a peace superior to all others, and which leads him by the only true happiness we can relish in this life to that eternal happiness which the Messiah has merited for us, and which, properly speaking, is the conquest he has made. Such is the picture which Zachary has drawn of the Messiah's reign.

The apostles,