Old Testament meets New at Visitation, Pope tells Sunday audience
December 24, 2012
The Visitation—the Virgin Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth—represents “the encounter of the Old Testament with the New Testament,” Pope Benedict XVI told his Sunday Angelus audience on December 23.
The pregnant Elizabeth, the Pope explained, represents the people of Israel, awaiting the coming of the Messiah. He added that her greeting to Mary—“blessed art thous among women”—is found in the Old Testament, applied to the female warriors, Jael and Judith, who saved their people. “Now it is spoken to the gentle young woman who shall before too long give birth to the Savior of the World,” the Pope said.
The Pontiff encouraged Christians to imitate Mary’s example during the Christmas season by visiting those who are in special need: “the sick, the imprisoned, the elderly, and little children.”
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