Message of Abbot Paul - Friday - 31st May 2024

​It’s the last day of May, the feast of the Visitation of Our Lady, with which we round off the month dedicated to Mary, the Virgin Mother of God and our Mother too. We remember the visit that Mary made to her elderly relation Elizabeth, who was also expecting a child and was coming to the end of her pregnancy. Mary, who was much younger, hurried to the town where Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah lived, so that she could assist her cousin in the birth of her child. Our Gospel today comes from Luke, (Lk 1: 39-56), and includes that wonderful hymn of praise sung by Mary, the Magnificat.

 

​“Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’” This is no short journey that Mary sets out on and there is no mention of her taking along someone for company and security. She is young and pregnant. Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit the moment the Angel announced that she would conceive Jesus, the Son of God, in her womb, whereas Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit only when greets the Mother of God, bearing the child Jesus in her womb. The sign is John the Baptist leaping in her womb. Mary remains silent, it is Elizabeth who speaks. Praising God, she utters blessings on Mary, she who is most blessed among women, whose infant in her womb is also blessed. She proclaims Mary to be the Mother of her Lord, Theotokos, God Bearer or Mother of God. The scene is marked with joy, as John leaps for joy in his mother’s womb. Mary is the woman of faith, who believed in the promises of God, or rather put her whole trust in God on account of his promises to her. It is at this point that Mary breaks into song

 

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord

and my spirit exults in God my saviour;

because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.

Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,

for the Almighty has done great things for me.

Holy is his name,

and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

He has shown the power of his arm,

he has routed the proud of heart.

He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.

He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy

– according to the promise he made to our ancestors –

of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.”

All the Churches sing this song with Mary each evening at Vespers or Evensong, as each one of us makes this song our own. Like Mary we sing of the Lord’s greatness and of the wonderful things he has done for us and in us. There are times when perhaps we have difficulty recognising God’s blessings. Mary never lost faith in God. As she stood at the foot of the cross, a silent witness to her divine Son’s Passion and Death, she did not give up singing this song in her heart. She sang at his Resurrection and Ascension and she sang with the disciples and the early Church as they waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Today she sings her song with all those who turn to her for protection, guidance and consolation. She sings her song with those who suffer and with those who rejoice. In any and in every circumstance of our life, Mary is with us as our mother and she sings her song in our hearts. Mary encourages us to turn to her Son and to follow him faithfully. As she hastened to Elizabeth’s house to help her in the hour of her need, so today she rushes to our side and to the side of all who need her. “Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.” Mary will never let us down. Mary our Mother, blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.

 

​This is my last daily message, let’s say for the time being. I feel the need to take a break, especially as I retire this evening as Abbot of Belmont and look forward to the election of the new Abbot early next week. Please pray for the Belmont community at this important moment in its history. I thank God for all he has done to bless our monastic community both here and in Peru, together with our oblates, parishioners, former pupils, friends, relatives and benefactors, and ask for his continued blessing in the years ahead. May the good Lord bless and keep us all in his love and tender mercy. Amen.