In the Footsteps of Mary, the First Missionary

“At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her!’ And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed’” (Lk 1:39-48).

What transparency of the Holy Spirit had to fill the person of Mary, if her greeting made Elizabeth in turn be filled by the Spirit, so she recognized in her young relative the Mother of the Lord? What fullness of grace was to flood the heart of Mary if just her greeting could convey the presence of the Savior and make the Precursor leap for joy in the womb of His mother?

This Gospel passage, in which Luke describes the visit of Mary to Elizabeth, reveals the missionary soul of Mary, which held a strong attraction for Maximilian Kolbe, to the point of inspiring him “to become herself living, speaking, acting in this world,” to become a missionary of Jesus in the world.

St. Maximilian’s missionary manner, in fact, was born here: from the daily contemplation of Mary, the Woman of the Gospel, this great and humble Woman, who walked the dusty roads of her land carrying God in the heart and singing her Magnificat; this Woman who, as we read in the great conciliar document on the lay apostolate, “While leading the life common to all here on earth, one filled with family concerns and labors, was always intimately united with her Son and in an entirely unique way cooperated in the work of the Savior”; this strong Woman who advanced in her pilgrimage of faith repeating her fiat to the Will of God in all the seasons of her life, under the Cross... and beyond! Kolbe’s missionary approach everywhere (in Rome, in his country, in Japan) wanted to be a reflection of Mary’s manner: a manner at the same time interior and practical, spiritual and active.

Closing Prayer

Hail Mary… 

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you, and for all those who do not have recourse to you, especially the enemies of Holy Church and all those recommended to you.

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