Legion of Mary (National Shrine of Guadalupe)

SERVANT OF GOD FRANK DUFF
Founder of the Legion of Mary (June 7, 1889 – November 7, 1980)
Frank Duff was born in Dublin, Ireland, on June 7, 1889. He entered the Civil Service at the age of 18 and had a distinguished career. His free time he at first dedicated to sporting activities, but at the age of 24 he joined the Society of St. Vincent de Paul where he was led to a deeper commitment to his Catholic faith and at the same time he acquired a great sensitivity to the needs of the poor and underprivileged.
Along with a group of Catholic women and Fr. Michael Toher, a priest of the Dublin Archdiocese, he formed the first branch of what was to become the first praesidium of the Legion of Mary on September 7, 1921. From that date until his death, November 7, 1980, he guided the world-wide extension of the Legion with heroic dedication. He attended the Second Vatican Council as a lay observer. He died on the evening of November 7, 1980 aged 91 years. His Cause for Beatification was introduced by His Eminence Desmond Cardinal Connell, the then Archbishop of Dublin, in June 1996.
His profound insights into the role of the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the plan of Redemption, and the role of the lay faithful in the mission of the Church, are reflected in the Official Handbook of the Legion of Mary, which is almost entirely his composition.
FRANK DUFF
Getting To Know Him.
Frank Duff had an insatiable love of reading. He read (and spoke fluently) in English, French and Latin. He regretted that he had not kept up his knowledge of his native Irish, although he had gained first prize in his class in that subject. Nine bookcases in his house contain a huge variety of books, many of them about the Blessed Mother. He frequently arrived home with yet another bundle of books and it is said that his mother vowed that she would one day see books making their way down the stairs.
Nancy Huddock in her ‘Short Biography’ declared Frank Duff to have a penetrating and precise mind, a remarkable memory and the moral courage to face up to a problem as he saw it. He went to Blackrock College, a private school run by the Holy Ghost Fathers in Dublin. He had a strong dislike for ‘Maths’ believing that he had no aptitude for that subject and preferred instead history and languages, especially the Classics. He was one of the school’s most brilliant pupils.
Frank was athletic and strong, an exceptionally good runner and cyclist, fond of boxing, tennis and cricket. Cycling was, indeed, his favorite. He longed to get away for cycling trips around his beloved Ireland, a practice he continued until his death. He had a letter statue of the Blessed Mother which he affixed to his camera when he used it and a miraculous medal on the handlebars of his bicycle (these last two items are on view in his house which is open to the public).
As for his experience with cars – he was in one once when the engine exploded, he never drove again! He preferred the two-wheel variety of transportation! Frank had a marvelous sense of humor, but was shy during his schooldays, even at Blackrock College. This shyness stayed with him and mellowed in time into a gracious gentleness that was one of his loveliest characteristics.
(Source: Maria Legionis, Vol. 43, No. 1, 2000)
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
Dreaming Dreams of Conquest!
‘Conquest comes through Mary,’ says the present Holy Father. And just now we are engaged in a special dream of conquest. We are looking out over Asia and wondering how we are going to set the mother-influence of Mary flowing over that Continent where lives the greater part of the human race; few of them Christians.
As the chief ingredient of this dream of faith we are looking to the Philippines. That country, declared in the 1930s to be so religiously collapsed as to be virtually impossible of restoration, was rapidly enough brought back to practice by the Legion. So much so in fact that the then Archbishop O’Doherty of Manila could propose to it the converting of the East. ‘Why not?’ he said, ‘Are you not the only Catholic nation in the Orient?’
When originally we heard that sublime suggestion, it at once came to our minds that more than a thousand years before, Ireland had accomplished a feat of no less impossibility in restoring Europe to Faith after its collapse with the Roman Empire. That was the epic from which we have derived the name: Peregrinatio pro Christo.
Father Aedan McGrath is out there now. He is working along with the Filipino authorities to mobilize, as they say, a great army of peaceful apostles who will pe*****te Asia and perhaps also the multi-thousand Islands of the Pacific. Legionaries are responding eagerly and soon enough perhaps the first ones will be beginning to move off on their epoch-making adventure. What it is going to land them into – one can only just imagine. Will their more simple ways bring them across frontiers which would effectively stop us, and enable them to exist and work where we could not? The very thought of it is thrilling and that is why I give it to you. Likewise for example so that you may be tempted to follow it.
Excerpt from Bro. Frank Duff’’s speech delivered at the Annual Peregrinatio Conference on 25th October 1980, his last public address to Legionaries before his death on 7th November 1980. This text is part of Chapter 43, Final Testament to the Legion, of the book ‘Victory Through Mary’.

"The priest is not a priest for himself; he does not give himself absolution; he does not administer the Sacraments to himself. He is not for himself, HE IS A PRIEST FOR YOU.
When you see a Priest, think of Our Lord Jesus Christ."
-St. John Vianney

Happy Feast Day of Saint John Vianney, the Patron Saint of Priests.

Happy 71st Anniversary Legion of Mary National Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

Happy 83rd Anniversary LEGION OF MARY – PHILIPPINES (July 21, 1940 - July 21, 2023)
One day, in the archives of the Archbishop’s Palace in Manila, a Spanish Vincentian priest, Fr. Manuel A. Gracia stumbled upon a copy of the The Boston Pilot, a Catholic paper published in America. Inserted in its pages was an advertisement of the Legion of Mary inviting readers to try to organize a legion branch in their parishes. Fr. Gracia remembered having been told earlier about this association by another Spanish Vincentian priest, Fr. Agapito Sacristan, CM, then rector of the seminary in Naga, Camarines Sur. He promptly answered the advertisement. Soon, particulars and materials about the Legion of Mary arrived from Dublin, Ireland. Fr. Gracia lost no time in reprinting some of these materials in the Rafagas, official organ of the Sisters of Charity of which he was the editor. Having gathered some adherents, he sought the permission of Archbishop O’Doherty to propagate the Legion.
The first praesidium established in the Philippines was named Purification of Our Lady in July 21, 1940 at the obrador (sewing room) of the Hospicio de San Jose located at the Isla de Convalesencia, an islet on the Pasig river in Manila. Entrance is at the Ayala Bridge. Fr. Manuel Gracia presided the first formal meeting. Purification of Our Lady became the first praesidium in the Far East as well. Initial membership was fifteen. Ms. Joaquina Lucas, then a professor at the University of Santo Tomas, her alma mater, became its first President, and Fr. Gracia, its Spiritual Director.
Later, Fr. Gracia set up another unit in the Hospicio. It was named Visitation of Our Lady. It was composed of Hospicio alumnae except Ms. Pacita D. Santos, who was appointed its President. Ms. Santos was a law graduate from the University of Santo Tomas also. Organized in October 1940, this praesidium had, for its assignments, catering to the spiritual needs of girls in bars and night clubs.
Subsequently, a praesidium of major seminarians was established in San Carlos Seminary, then located on San Marcelino, Ermita. Later it moved to Mandaluyong where Don Bosco Technical School now stands. This was known as Praesidium Sedes Sapientiae. The significance of the title is that Mary, the Seat of Wisdom, is model and patroness of young men studying for the priesthood. Among the members of “Sedes Sapientiae” are the late Bishop Pedro N. Bantigue of San Pablo Diocese, late Msgr. Jesus Arcellana and the late Msgr. Justino Ortiz, who has been the Spiritual Director of Curia Maria Milagrosa.
Another institutional praesidium composed of student boarders of Santa Rosa College in Intramuros was organized. Named the Praesidium of the Immaculate Conception, their President was Victorina Vicente, who later became Mother Mary Therese Vicente, H.F.J.
There being now four existing praesidia, the need for a council to provide them with close supervision was felt. Fr. Gracia and his “devoted assistants and co-workers” Ms. Lucas and Ms. Santos did not hesitate to form it. Arrangements were made and the inaugural meeting was held on February 2, 1941 at the Santa Rosa College library in Intramuros. The seminary praesidium could not send its officers to that meeting, but all the other officers of praesidia, including their Spiritual Directors were present. As in the first praesidium meeting, Fr. Gracia presided at the inaugural meeting of the council which was named Curia Maria Milagrosa. The officers were: Joaquina Lucas, President; Pacita Santos, Vice President; Victorina Vicente, Secretary; and Isabel de Geronimo, Treasurer. Instead being elected by the members, all were appointed by Archbishop O’Doherty – an irregularity which the Concilium Legionis later on allowed under the circumstances. Fr. Zacarias Subinas was the Spiritual Director. Significantly, this council earned the distinction of being the first Curia to be established in the Philippines and in the entire Far East. (Curia Maria Milagrosa later on has been elevated to Manila Comitium)

Source:Bro.Danny Ochoco Senatus of Northern Philippines

"Therefore, it is not proper to prohibit the raising of hands in praying the Lord's Prayer and equally, it is not proper to demand from the faithful to raise their hands in this part of the Mass. The faithful are to be respected with the decision they make on this matter."

Happy Feast Day of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

On November 7, 1980, Frank died on the afternoon of the 1st Friday staring at the picture of the Sacred Heart. He had a wonderful devotion to the Sacred Heart and its associated 1st Friday devotion. Father Ahearne and other priests celebrated Mass in the presence of a great number of legionaries. Among them were government ministers, bishops, priests, nuns, and religious. There were nurses from hospitals, school children, – poor women and children from the Regina Coeli and the residents of the Morning Star. On November 21, the remains were transferred to Saint Andrew's Church where the Most Rev. James Kavanagh, Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, con-celebrated Mass with a large crowd of spiritual directors of the Legion. Canon Francis Ripley, a lifelong friend of Frank's, preached the homily. The following morning, a Solemn Requiem Mass was con-celebrated by his Eminence the Cardinal, archbishops, many other bishops and Legion spiritual directors.

Today, April 4, His Eminence Jose F. Cardinal Advincula celebrates his 47th sacerdotal ordination anniversary. We thank the Lord for the gift of your ministry as our listening shepherd. Tu es sacerdos in aeternum!

The Holy Father, Pope Francis, has Appointed His Excellency, the Most Rev. Victor B. Bendico, D.D., as the 4th Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Capiz. Congratulations Bishop and to the Archdiocese of Capiz.

Pacita Santos La filipina que trajo a España la Legión de María.
Sent from the Concillium of Dublin by Frank Duff, the founder of the Legion of Mary. Pacita Santos a. k. a. Maria Paz Santos Diaz left Dublin for London and then Bilbao by way of Paris then Lourdes. She arrived in Bilbao on February 04, 1950.A decade and a year after the end of the Spanish Civil War and the out break of World War II in Europe. Pacita was prepared for the worst. But she found attentive ear in a diplomatic cardinal who received her ultimately gave her permission to set up the Legion of Mary in his jurisdiction. The priest were not so diplomatic however they and some lay people thought that for a woman, Pacita was too daring. In one seminary, she was not allowed as a woman to speak to the seminarians. She suggested that they could place a curtain so only her voice could be heard and her presence could not be seen. Some response were downright frustrating "you want my advice? Better go home" You have more faith than us"A Bishop asked her " Don't you know that it was Spain that evangelized the Philippines? He gave her impression that he thought she was trying to teach him the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. So she humbly explained that she was very grateful indeed for the faith handed down by the mother country and she was there to demonstrate to him that Filipinos have zealously guarded that faith and in return she was there to propagate the devotion as part of that Faith. The Bishop ultimately softened. Bilbao became the first Curia in Spain and the first praesidium was established in Madrid.
Mission accomplished, somewhere, somehow, there's a lesson.
# from memoirs of the founding of Legion of Mary in Spain.

“There can be no holiness without humility.”
-Servant of God Frank Duff

"Those who believe are never alone - neither in life nor in death."

Pope Benedict XVI lies in state in his home chapel in the Monastery Mater Ecclesiæ. From tomorrow his body will lie in state in St Peter’s Basilica.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.

📸 Vatican Media

“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible.”

“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible.”

Statement of Matteo Bruni
Director of the Holy See Press Office

"I would like to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who in silence is supporting the Church. Remember him - he is very ill - asking the Lord to console him, and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church, until the end." (General Audience, December 28, 2022)

A Blessed Christmas to All!

Lord Jesus Christ, thou Son of the Most High,
Prince of Peace, be born again into our world.
Wherever there is war in this world,
wherever there is pain,
wherever there is loneliness,
wherever there is no hope,
come, thou long-expected one,
with healing in thy wings.

Holy Child, whom the shepherds and the kings
and the dumb beasts adored, be born again.
Wherever there is boredom,
wherever there is fear of failure,
wherever there is temptation too strong to resist,
wherever there is bitterness of heart,
come, thou Blessed One, with healing in thy wings.

Savior, be born in each of us
as we raise our faces to thy face,
not knowing fully who we are or who thou art,
knowing only that thy love is beyond our knowing
and that no other has the power to make us whole.

Come, Lord Jesus,
to each who longs for thee
even though we have forgotten thy name.
Come quickly.
Amen.

- Frederick Buechner
-Fr Xavier Olin

November 07, 2022 42nd Anniversary in Commemoration of The Servant of God Frank Duff Founder of the Legion of Mary

Frank Duff founded the Legion Mary in 1921 at a critical moment in Irish history. It was a time of political uncertainty, which eventually would explode into civil war. It was a time in which this city was marked by very harsh poverty and also of widespread moral impoverishment. Frank Duff was a man who in face of a major social challenge did something. He did not write a letter to the Editor. He gathered likeminded men and women around him into a movement of spiritual renewal, prayer and Christian service. He was not discouraged either by the size of the challenge or by the paucity of his means. He was a man of the Church- misunderstood by many in the Church, including Archbishops of Dublin. Like Mary, his model, he never flinched. Frank Duff pondered the Word of God day by day and through him then the Lord worked great things.

We know that the Victory of the Battle of Lepanto was achieved when Pope St. Pius V interrupted a meeting with Cardinals at the Vatican and went to a window and started to pray the Rosary. He was deeply concerned about the future of the Church and Christendom that was being decided in those mediterranian waters. Aftet the Pontiff finishing praying the Rosary. He returned to the meeting and told the Cardinals that the Catholic fleet had been victorious. That is he had a revelation while ge was praying the Rosary. It was the way Our Lady showed him that she linked that victory to his praying of the Rosary. understanding this St. Pope Pius V instituted the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary which was extended to the whole Church in commemoration for another great victory over the Mohammedans in 1716...

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary pray for us!

"Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if-and mark well what I say-if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins."

– St. Louis de Montfort

The month of October is dedicated to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.

"When you follow her, you will not go astray;
When you pray to her, you will not despair;
When you think of her, you will not err;
When she holds you up, you will not fall;
When she protects you, you will not fear;
When she leads you, you will not be fatigued;
When she favors you, you will arrive safely.

She keeps her Son from striking us;
She keeps the devil from hurting us;
She keeps our virtues from escaping us;
She keeps our merits from being destroyed;
She keeps our graces from being lost."

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Happy Happy Happy Birthday our INA, Mama Mary! 🎂🎂🙏😇❤️

A Hundred and One years of Celebration and beyond A Legionaries gift of Yes to Our Blessed Mother.

On September 7, 1921, the eve of Our Lady's birthday, 15 women, mostly in their late teens and early twenties, Fr. Michael Toher, curate of St. Nicholas, and Frank Duff met at Myra House to discuss how the group could better serve the poor. One of the women dressed the meeting table with a white table cloth, Joe Gabbett's statue of the Immaculate Conception, 2 vases of flowers and 2 lighted candles. During the meeting, the group asked the Holy Spirit's guidance, prayed the Rosary and discussed future projects. The women wished to visit poor female patients at nearby Union Hospital, just as the men of St. Patrick's Conference were already visiting male patients. Father Toher gave a short inspirational talk. Each participant accepted a particular assignment at the hospital and agreed to report the result of their efforts at the following week's meeting. The decided to call themselves The Association of Our Lady of Mercy and elected Mrs. Elizabeth Kirwan, the group's senior member, President.

That was the first praesidium meeting of the Legion of Mary....and the rest is history.

“Mary is more than a faithful messenger. She has been set by God to be a vital element in his gracious scheme, in such sort that both his glory and our grace are the greater by reason of her presence there.” - Servant of God Frank Duff

________________________
a.) For favors granted through the intercession of Frank Duff, you can access the testimonial template in below link to share your Frank Duff story:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q3Ic3kYIEfpLjwvP1rjMnOhfB1dZ8VhB/view?usp=sharing

b.) For a copy of the prayer for the Beatification of the Servant of God Frank Duff, you can access in below link:
facebook.com/frankduffLOM/photos/a.478223199232253/478529109201662/

“The man who thus makes the Holy Spirit his helper enters into the tide of omnipotence.”
- Servant of God Frank Duff

________________________
a.) For favors granted through the intercession of Frank Duff, you can access the testimonial template in below link to share your Frank Duff story:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q3Ic3kYIEfpLjwvP1rjMnOhfB1dZ8VhB/view?usp=sharing

b.) For a copy of the prayer for the Beatification of the Servant of God Frank Duff, you can access in below link:
facebook.com/frankduffLOM/photos/a.478223199232253/478529109201662/

“We must always be concerned about souls as Christ was.” - Servant of God Frank Duff

________________________
a.) For favors granted through the intercession of Frank Duff, you can access the testimonial template in below link to share your Frank Duff story:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q3Ic3kYIEfpLjwvP1rjMnOhfB1dZ8VhB/view?usp=sharing

b.) For a copy of the prayer for the Beatification of the Servant of God Frank Duff, you can access in below link:
facebook.com/frankduffLOM/photos/a.478223199232253/478529109201662/

"The Eucharist is absolutely pivotal in the spirituality of Frank Duff. He always remembered with deep gratitude the Holy Ghost Father who instructed and prepared him for his First Communion. Years later he was asked at a public meeting if he believed that children could really understanding what they were doing at First Communion time and he replied with an emphatic yes based on his own experience and the teaching of St. Pius X."

Taken from the allocutio of Fr. Bede McGregor entitled Frank Duff and the Eucharist

________________________
a.) For favors granted through the intercession of Frank Duff, you can access the testimonial template in below link to share your Frank Duff story:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q3Ic3kYIEfpLjwvP1rjMnOhfB1dZ8VhB/view?usp=sharing

b.) For a copy of the prayer for the Beatification of the Servant of God Frank Duff, you can access in below link:
facebook.com/frankduffLOM/photos/a.478223199232253/478529109201662/

Happy 82nd Anniversary LEGION OF MARY – PHILIPPINES (July 21, 1940 - July 21, 2022)
One day, in the archives of the Archbishop’s Palace in Manila, a Spanish Vincentian priest, Fr. Manuel A. Gracia stumbled upon a copy of the The Boston Pilot, a Catholic paper published in America. Inserted in its pages was an advertisement of the Legion of Mary inviting readers to try to organize a legion branch in their parishes. Fr. Gracia remembered having been told earlier about this association by another Spanish Vincentian priest, Fr. Agapito Sacristan, CM, then rector of the seminary in Naga, Camarines Sur. He promptly answered the advertisement. Soon, particulars and materials about the Legion of Mary arrived from Dublin, Ireland. Fr. Gracia lost no time in reprinting some of these materials in the Rafagas, official organ of the Sisters of Charity of which he was the editor. Having gathered some adherents, he sought the permission of Archbishop O’Doherty to propagate the Legion.
The first praesidium established in the Philippines was named Purification of Our Lady in July 21, 1940 at the obrador (sewing room) of the Hospicio de San Jose located at the Isla de Convalesencia, an islet on the Pasig river in Manila. Entrance is at the Ayala Bridge. Fr. Manuel Gracia presided the first formal meeting. Purification of Our Lady became the first praesidium in the Far East as well. Initial membership was fifteen. Ms. Joaquina Lucas, then a professor at the University of Santo Tomas, her alma mater, became its first President, and Fr. Gracia, its Spiritual Director.
Later, Fr. Gracia set up another unit in the Hospicio. It was named Visitation of Our Lady. It was composed of Hospicio alumnae except Ms. Pacita D. Santos, who was appointed its President. Ms. Santos was a law graduate from the University of Santo Tomas also. Organized in October 1940, this praesidium had, for its assignments, catering to the spiritual needs of girls in bars and night clubs.
Subsequently, a praesidium of major seminarians was established in San Carlos Seminary, then located on San Marcelino, Ermita. Later it moved to Mandaluyong where Don Bosco Technical School now stands. This was known as Praesidium Sedes Sapientiae. The significance of the title is that Mary, the Seat of Wisdom, is model and patroness of young men studying for the priesthood. Among the members of “Sedes Sapientiae” are the late Bishop Pedro N. Bantigue of San Pablo Diocese, late Msgr. Jesus Arcellana and the late Msgr. Justino Ortiz, who has been the Spiritual Director of Curia Maria Milagrosa.
Another institutional praesidium composed of student boarders of Santa Rosa College in Intramuros was organized. Named the Praesidium of the Immaculate Conception, their President was Victorina Vicente, who later became Mother Mary Therese Vicente, H.F.J.
There being now four existing praesidia, the need for a council to provide them with close supervision was felt. Fr. Gracia and his “devoted assistants and co-workers” Ms. Lucas and Ms. Santos did not hesitate to form it. Arrangements were made and the inaugural meeting was held on February 2, 1941 at the Santa Rosa College library in Intramuros. The seminary praesidium could not send its officers to that meeting, but all the other officers of praesidia, including their Spiritual Directors were present. As in the first praesidium meeting, Fr. Gracia presided at the inaugural meeting of the council which was named Curia Maria Milagrosa. The officers were: Joaquina Lucas, President; Pacita Santos, Vice President; Victorina Vicente, Secretary; and Isabel de Geronimo, Treasurer. Instead being elected by the members, all were appointed by Archbishop O’Doherty – an irregularity which the Concilium Legionis later on allowed under the circumstances. Fr. Zacarias Subinas was the Spiritual Director. Significantly, this council earned the distinction of being the first Curia to be established in the Philippines and in the entire Far East. (Curia Maria Milagrosa later on has been elevated to Manila Comitium)

Source:Bro.Danny Ochoco Senatus of Northern Philippines

Today (June 29), we celebrate the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, The Apostles. The veneration of the two great Apostles, Peter and Paul, has its roots in the very foundations of the Church. They are the solid rock on which the Church is built. They are at the origin of her faith and will forever remain her protectors and her guides.

Today also marks Pope,'s day

Long live the Pope!

Today 07 June 2022 is the 133th Birthday of Servant of God Frank Duff. Founder Legion of Mary.

A saint is one who does his ordinary duties extra ordinarily well in order to pleased God from the founding of the Legion of Mary to the day of his death,Servant of God Frank Duff worked hard for the kingdom of God at a pressure that few could match. He was a more a man of faith than theorist, A man of extraordinary courage too, who knew the back streets and sordid surroundings where those whose lives he helped to change, live. His Legion expanded in his lifetime to every continent and then to practically every land on earth. His uncompromising Catholicism and his absolute reliance on Mary were a bulwark in an age of doctrinal turmoil. He is known especially for bringing attention to the role of the laity during the Second Vatican Council in his lifetime he had met five Popes all of whom have expressed deep appreciation of the work he had done for the Church.

https://www.facebook.com/107426003973211/posts/790808515634953/

Prayer on the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
May 31

Luke 1:39-56
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, for the Mighty One has done great things for me holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.